Bond behaviour and crack development in non-metallic textile- reinforced concrete members under cyclic loading with regard to serviceability

Non-metallic reinforcement increases the sustainability of concrete structures by facilitating a substitution of conventional reinforcing steel and allowing for a design of slender members with a reduced concrete cover or an increase in structural capacity. These advances draw attention to serviceability criteria, such as crack width limitation, which become decisive for design. To characterise the bond behaviour and the crack development under cyclic loading, experimental investigations were conducted using uniaxial tensile tests. The bond behaviour was detected with fibre optic sensors placed on the textile grids. Digital image correlation was used to determine the crack widths and openings during the loading cycles. The results provide insight in the behaviour of concrete members reinforced with a carbon textile grid in respect to the serviceability criteria of crack width limitation.