Flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with textile reinforced mortar

Textile reinforced mortar (TRM) stands as an alternative for strengthening or repair reinforced concrete (RC) structures. It presents some advantages when compared to other consolidated techniques, however, as an innovative solution, more research and developments are needed. Therefore, this work is an exploratory study using a locally manufactured AR fiberglass textile (TEXIGLASS AR-360-RA-04) to flexural strengthening reinforced concrete beams. The beams geometry consisted of a rectangular section (1500 mm long, 200 mm deep and 120 mm wide) and were subjected to four point bending test. The experimental program investigates the influence of distinct textile layers (2, 3 and 4), age of TRM (3, 7 and 28 days) and the level of beam precracking (no precracking, 50% and 100% of the yielding load) on the flexural behavior of strengthened RC beams. It was mainly found that: (a) all beams presented an increment of ultimate load and the load at serviceability conditions (b) different TRM ages and precracking levels affect the cracking and yielding loads, but no significant influence on the ultimate load; (c) the load-carrying capacity enhances as the number of textile layers increases, as expected. Finally, the results indicate that the tested Brazilian textile has potential to be used in TRM.