Bond induced concrete splitting failure in textile-reinforced fine-grained concrete

Textile-reinforced concrete is an innovative combination of high-performance fine-grained concrete and textile reinforcements. This combination allows the production of thin, efficient, and durable structural elements. Impregnation is commonly used to improve the textile's mechanical performance. When stiff impregnation materials are used, a fiber strand with high transverse stiffness is formed. Textile-reinforced concrete structures with such fiber strands are prone to splitting failures. This paper investigates splitting failure in textile reinforced concrete experimentally and numerically. In the experimental part, the effect of concrete compaction, casting method, and position are studied as parameters. Finite element analysis is performed to investigate failure mode, tensile and bond stress distributions, and the effect of the varying cross-section of the fiber strand. Compaction improved the splitting resistance for the vertically cast specimens. The compacted vertically cast specimens showed a higher splitting resistance than their horizontally cast equivalents. The finite element model indicated that the main cause of splitting failure is the textile reinforcement's varying cross-section coupled with its flat elliptical shape. The model also showed that the bond stress distribution depends on the fiber strand's geometric configuration.