Four-point bending tests were adopted to investigate the influences of the number of textile layers, volume content of steel fibres, and prestress on the flexural behaviour of carbon textile-reinforced concrete (TRC). The failure mode of the specimen changed from debonding failure to shear failure, accompanied by the matrix-textile interfacial debonding with an increasing number of textile layers. The interfacial bonding performance between the textile and matrix improved with the addition of steel fibres in the TRC specimens. The presence of prestress or steel fibres improved first-crack and ultimate stresses of the TRC specimen. In comparison with the first-crack stress, a more pronounced enhancement in the ultimate stress was achieved by the addition of steel fibres. However, the effect of prestress on the first-crack stress was found to be more significant than on the ultimate stress. The prestress combined with steel fibres further improved the flexural behaviour of the TRC specimens. The prestressed TRC specimens with 1% volume content of steel fibres effectively avoided debonding. Thus, the utilization of the textiles could be improved.

This paper investigates the effects of the reinforcement ratio, volume fraction of steel fibers, and prestressing on the uniaxial tensile behavior of carbon textile reinforced mortar (CTRM) through uniaxial tensile tests. The results show that the tensile strength of CTRM specimens increases with the reinforcement ratio, however the textile–matrix bond strength becomes weaker and debonding can occur. Short steel fibers are able to improve the mechanical properties of the entire CTRM composite and provide additional “shear resistant ability” to enhance the textile– matrix bond strength, resulting in finer cracks with smaller spacing and width. Investigations into the fracture surfaces using an optical microscope clarify these inferences. Increases in first-crack stress and tensile strength are also observed in prestressed TRM specimens. In this study, the combination of 1% steel fibers and prestressing at 15% of the ultimate tensile strength of two-layer textiles is found to be the optimum configuration, producing the highest first-crack stress and tensile strength and the most reasonable multi-cracking pattern.

The flexural capacity of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with fabric-reinforced cementitious plates in the tension zone can be greatly enhanced. Two contrast beams and eight strengthened beams were used to investigate the flexural performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with fabric-reinforced cementitious plates. Four kinds of fabric-reinforced cementitious plates with different fabric layers and prestress values were used in the eight strengthened beams. Load, deflection, midspan strain, fabric strain and crack development were recorded simultaneously during the tests. Results indicated that cracking, yielding and ultimate loads increased with the increase in the number of carbon fabric layers and prestress value. The largest increase in the ultimate load was 41% in the strengthened beams. The ductility of the strengthened beams decreased to a certain extent. A well-established analytical formula to calculate flexural capacity and deflection was proposed, and the analytical values agreed with those measured through experiments.

In this study, carbon textile reinforced concrete (CTRC) and engineered cementitious composites (ECC), together with steel fibers, were combined to fabricate two-layer concrete, called CTRC-ECC concrete. The dynamic compressive behavior of CTRC-ECC concrete was studied through the quasi-static compressive test and the impact test using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). The effects of the thickness of CTRC, steel fibers, and impact face on the dynamic compressive strength, dynamic increase factor (DIF), strain at peak, and impact toughness of CTRC-ECC concrete were discussed. The results showed that as the thickness of CTRC increased, the dynamic compressive strength followed an increasing trend generally; the DIF decreased; and the strain at peak and the impact toughness increased firstly and then decreased. The addition of steel fibers to CTRC could increase the dynamic compressive strength significantly when the thickness of CTRC is less than 10 mm, improve the impact toughness slightly, but reduce the DIF significantly. In terms of the strain at peak, it firstly increased and then reduced and lastly did not change too much by steel fibers. The effect of impact face on the dynamic compressive strength, DIF, and impact toughness was not significant; however, when the CTRC face was subjected to impact load, the strain at peak could be slightly higher.

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber reinforced cementitious composites (PFRCC) and steel fiber reinforced cementitious composites (SFRCC) were combined to develop two-layer cementitious composites (PF/SFRCC) with extraordinary strength and strain capacity. The flexural behavior of the PF/SFRCC plates was studied through the flexural test. The effects of the thickness of PFRCC and the loading face on the load-deflection relationship, cracking load and deflection, and ultimate load and deflection of the PF/SFRCC plates were discussed. The results showed that as the thickness of PFRCC increases, the behavior of specimens transforms from deflection softening to deflection hardening if the SFRCC is the loading face; however, the specimens always exhibit the deflection softening behavior if the PFRCC is the loading face. Also, the cracking load and the cracking deflection do not change too much, and the ultimate load gradually decreases; however, the ultimate deflection increases significantly if the SFRCC is the loading face but changes slightly if the PFRCC is the loading face. When the SFRCC instead of PFRCC serves as the loading face, the specimens tend to exhibit the deflection hardening behavior; the cracking load, cracking deflection, and ultimate load do not change too much; however, the ultimate deflection is significantly higher.