In this study, nine specimens were experimentally tested to analyze the strengthening efficiency of textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) and the difference in flexural behavior between prestressed and non-prestressed TRM-strengthened reinforced concrete beam. The test results show that TRM strengthening improves the flexural strength of TRM-strengthened reinforced concrete beams with alkali-resistant-(AR-) glass textile as well as that with carbon textile. However, in the case of textile prestressing, the strengthening efficiency for flexural strength of the AR-glass textile was higher than that of the carbon textile. The flexural stiffness of AR-glass textiles increased when prestressing was introduced and the use of carbon textiles can be advantageous to reduce the decreasing ratio of flexural stiffness as the load increased. In the failure mode, textile prestressing prevents the damage of textiles effectively owing to the crack and induces the debonding of the TRM.

In this study, to compare strengthening efficiency and flexural behaviors of textile- reinforced mortar (TRM) according to various types of strengthening methods without the textile being impregnated, ten specimens were tested. The results showed that TRM was beneficial for uniform distribution of cracks and increased the strengthening efficiency and load-bearing capacity, as textile reinforcement ratio and textile lamination increased and the mesh size of the textile decreased and mechanical end anchorage applied. However, the strengthening effect was shown obviously until the yield load considering structural safety and serviceability.

In this study, one reinforced concrete specimen and six textile reinforced concrete (TRC) specimens were produced to analyze the flexural behavior of steel-textile-reinforced concrete. The TRC specimen was manufactured using a total of four variables: textile reinforcement amount, textile reinforcement hook, textile mesh type, textile lay out form. Flexural performance increases with textile reinforcement amount, textile reinforcement hook type and textile reinforcement mesh type. The flexural performance was improved when physical hooks were used. Furthermore, textile reinforcement was verified as being effective at controlling the deflection.

This study applies a new method of mixing colloidal nano-silica (CNS). Previous studies have used powdered nano-silica or colloidal nano-silica and applied a binder weight substitution method. In this study, we tried to use ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as a binder and replace CNS with weight of mixing water. CNS was replaced by 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of the mixing water weight. The flow value, setting time, compressive strength, hydration reactant (X-ray diffractometer; XRD), pore structure (mercury intrusion porosimetry; MIP), thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were performed. Experimental results show that the new substitution method improves the mechanical and microstructural properties through two effects. One is that the weight substitution of the mixing water shows a homogeneous dispersion effect of the nano-silica particles. The other is the effect of decreasing the w/b ratio when the CNS is substituted because the CNS is more dense than the mixing water. Therefore, we confirmed the applicability of mixing water weight replacement method as a new method of mixing CNS.

This study investigates the mechanical and microstructural properties of paste comprising ordinary Portland cement (OPC) added with polyaluminum chloride (PACl). The properties of the resulting mixture are analyzed using compressive strength, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results show that the addition of PACl improves the mechanical properties of OPC paste, that calcium-(aluminum)-silicate-hydrate (C-(A)-S-H) gel and Friedel’s salt are the major products forming from the reaction with the aluminum and chloride ions in PACl, and that the portlandite content decreases. Moreover, the size and number of micropores decrease, and compressive strength increases. All these phenomena are amplified by increasing PACl content. SEM images confirm these findings by revealing Friedel’s salt in the micropores. Thus, this work confirms that adding PACl to OPC results in a mixture with superior mechanical and microstructural properties.