Textile reinforced mortars (TRM), also known in the international literature as textile reinforced concrete (TRC) or fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) materials, have been widely studied during the last two decades as they constitute a promising alternative to the fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) retrofitting solution for strengthening of reinforced concrete members. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review on the strengthening of concrete structures with TRM. First, the tensile and bond behavior of TRM is described. Next, an overview of studies on the use of TRM for flexural, shear, confinement, and seismic retrofitting of concrete or RC members is included, and the key parameters are investigated.

This paper presents an extended experimental study on the bond behaviour between textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) and concrete substrates. The parameters examined include: (a) the bond length (from 50 mm to 450 mm); (b) the number of TRM layers (from one to four); (c) the concrete surface preparation (grinding versus sandblasting); (d) the concrete compressive strength (15 MPa or 30 MPa); (e) the textile coating; and (f) the anchorage through wrapping with TRM jackets. For this purpose, a total of 80 specimens were fabricated and tested under double-lap direct shear. It is mainly concluded that: (a) after a certain bond length (between 200 mm and 300 mm for any number of layers) the bond strength marginally increases; (b) by increasing the number of layers the bond capacity increases in a non-proportional way, whereas the failure mode is altered; (c) concrete sandblasting is equivalent to grinding in terms of bond capacity and failure mode; (d) concrete compressive strength has a marginal effect on the bond capacity; (e) the use of coated textiles alters the failure mode and significantly increases the bond strength; and (f) anchorage of TRM through wrapping with TRM jackets substantially increases the ultimate load capacity

This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of TRM jacketing in shear strengthening of full-scale reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams focusing on the behaviour of a novel end-anchorage system comprising textile-based anchors. The parameters examined in this study include: (a) the use of textile–based anchors as end-anchorage system of TRM U-jackets; (b) the number of TRM layers; (c) the textile properties (material, geometry); and (d) the strengthening system, namely textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) jacketing and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jacketing for the case without anchors. In total, 11 full-scale RC T-beams were constructed and tested as simply supported in three-point bending. The results showed that: (a) The use of textile–based anchors increases dramatically the effectiveness of TRM U-jackets; (b) increasing the number of layers in non-anchored jackets results in an almost proportional increase of the shear capacity, whereas the failure mode is altered; (c) the use of different textile geometries with the same reinforcement ratio in non-anchored jackets result in practically equal capacity increase; (d) non-anchored glass fiber textile TRM jacket develops almost 4 times higher effective strain compared to equivalent carbon fiber textile TRM jacket; (e) TRM jackets can be as effective as FRP jackets in increasing the shear capacity of full-scale RC T-beams. Finally, a simple design model is proposed to calculate the contribution of anchored TRM jackets to the shear capacity of RC T-beamsJRC.G.4-European laboratory for structural assessmen

In recent decades, the urgency to protect and upgrade cultural heritage structures (CHS) has become of primary importance due to their unique value and potential areas of impact (economic, social, cultural, and environmental). Structural health monitoring (SHM) and the management of CHS are emerging as decisive safeguard measures aimed at assessing the actual state of the conservation and integrity of the structure. Moreover, the data collected from SHM are essential to plan cost-effective and sustainable maintenance solutions, in compliance with the basic preservation principles for historic buildings, such as minimum intervention. It is evident that, compared to new buildings, the application of SHM to CHS is even more challenging because of the uniqueness of each monitored structure and the need to respect its architectural and historical value. This paper aims to present a state-of-the-art evaluation of the current traditional and innovative SHM techniques adopted for CHS and to identify future research trends. First, a general introduction regarding the use of monitoring strategies and technologies for CHS is presented. Next, various traditional SHM techniques currently used in CHS are described. Then, attention is focused on the most recent technologies, such as fibre optic sensors and smart-sensing materials. Finally, an overview of innovative methods and tools for managing and analysing SHM data, including IoT-SHM systems and the integration of BIM in heritage structures, is provided.

The application of textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) as a means of increasing the flexural capacity of two-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs is experimentally investigated in this study. The parameters examined include the number of TRM layers, the strengthening configuration, the textile fibers material (carbon versus glass), and the role of initial cracking in the slab. For this purpose six large-scale RC slabs were built and tested to failure under monotonic loading distributed at four points. It is concluded that TRM increases substantially the precracking stiffness, the cracking load, the postcracking stiffness, and eventually the flexural capacity of two-way RC slabs, whereas the strengthening configuration plays an important role in the effectiveness of the technique. Simple design equations that provide good estimation of the experimental flexural moment of resistance are proposed.