Innovative Textile-Based Composites for Strengthening and Seismic Retrofitting of Concrete and Masonry Structures

The author reviews experimental studies which have provided fundamental knowledge on the use of a new generation of composite materials, namely textile-reinforced mortars (TRM), as strengthening and seismic retrofitting materials of concrete and masonry structures. TRMs are investigated as a means: to provide confinement in plain and reinforced concrete (RC), to increase the deformation capacity of old-type RC columns subjected to simulated seismic loading, to increase the shear and flexural resistance of RC members and to increase the out-of-plane or in-plane strength of unreinforced masonry walls. In all cases, the ef-fectiveness of TRM systems is quantified through comparison with equivalent fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) ones. Based on the results it is concluded that TRM jacketing is an extremely promising new technique, which will enjoy the attention of the research community and will be employed in numerous applications in the next decades.