Residual textile reinforced mortar‐to‐concrete bond after exposure to harsh environments

Abstract

Textile reinforced mortars (TRM) are materials whose mechanical behavior has been extensively investigated during the last few years. However, studies on the behavior of these materials after exposure to various aggressive environments are still limited and, hence, their performance during their entire service life remains to be determined. The present study contributes to the knowledge pool regarding the behavior of concrete specimens furnished with TRM overlays post their exposure to various harsh environments, specifically through the analysis of shear bond tests. More specifically, 120 concrete substrates were reinforced with one and two layers of carbon textile which were embedded into a high and a low strength cementitious mortar and exposed to various harsh environments (carbonation, chlorides, carbonation and chlorides, different number of freeze–thaw cycles). It was concluded that: (i) a reduction of more than 25% is possible regarding failure stress; (ii) the number of textile layers plays an important role in TRM‐concrete bond behavior; and (iii) the influence of mortar strength is limited.