Textile-reinforced concrete

Textile-reinforced concrete is a type of reinforced concrete in which the usual steel reinforcing bars are replaced by textile materials. Instead of using a metal cage inside the concrete, this technique uses a fabric cage inside the same. Materials with high tensile strengths with negligible elongation properties are reinforced with woven or nonwoven fabrics. The fibres used for making the fabric are of high tenacity like jute, glass fibre, Kevlar, polypropylene, polyamides (Nylon) etc. The weaving of the fabric is done either in a coil fashion or in a layer fashion. Molten materials, ceramic clays, plastics or cement concrete are deposited on the base fabric in such a way that the inner fabric is completely wrapped with the concrete or plastic. As a result of this sort of structure the resultant concrete becomes flexible from the inner side along with high strength provided by the outer materials. Various nonwoven structures also get priority to form the base structure. Special types of weaving machines are used to form spiral fabrics and layer fabrics are generally nonwoven. The initial creation of textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) began in the 1980s. Concepts for TRC originated from the Sächsisches Textiforschungs-institut e.V. STFI, a German institute focusing on Textile technology. The first patent for textile-reinforced concrete design, granted in 1982, was for transportation related safety items. These items were specifically meant to be reinforced with materials other than steel. In 1988, a patent was awarded for a safety barrier that used a rope-like reinforcement as its design. This reinforcement was made from concrete waste and textiles, and the innovative arrangement and size of the reinforcing fibers inside was notable. The reinforcements were set in place so that the concrete could be poured in, and the size of the reinforcement was described using diameter and mesh size. In 1996, German university students created two concrete canoes using textile reinforcement. One boat utilized alkali-resistant glass as its textile reinforcement.