Dynamic Behavior of Textile Reinforced

Polymer Concrete Using Split Hopkinson

Pressure Bar

Mahmoud Abdel-Emam1, Eslam Soliman1*, Amr Nassr1, Wael Khair-

Eldeen2, Aly Abd-Elshafy1
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt 71516
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt 71516

*Corresponding Author: esoliman@aun.edu.eg

Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) and textile reinforced mortar (TRM) have been
introduced into the construction due to its relatively high tensile strength, high
ductility, and ease installation compared to other types of ordinary cementitious
materials. A typical thin TRC plates consist of multi directional fiber fabric rein-
forcement embedded in fine grained cementitious concrete or mortar. One of the
disadvantages of the TRC system is the potential early debonding that would oc-
cur between the fibers and the cementitious matrix. This paper discusses the pos-
sible use of textile fabric with polymer matrix in polymer concrete (PC) as an al-
ternative material system to the conventional PC and TRC materials. The dynamic
behavior of the new textile reinforced polymer concrete (TRPC) is quantified us-
ing modified split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system. Circular plates were
prepared from TRPC with different number of fabric layers and centrally loaded
using SHPB. In addition, the performance of TRPC specimens was compared to
PC control specimen with no fiber fabric. The results show the ability of TRPC to
withstand higher dynamic loads than the traditional PC. Such improvements in the
dynamic behavior of the TRPC can benefit the design and construction of concrete
panels against extreme loading scenarios.

1 Introduction

Over the last decades, rehabilitation and strengthening of existing reinforced con-
crete (RC) structures have become of great importance due to deterioration of
these structures as a result of ageing, environmental conditions, and lack of
maintenance or the need to meet the current design codes requirements. Common
strengthening techniques include the use of concrete jackets or fiber reinforced
2

polymer (FRP) composite materials. However, the behavior of such structural sys-
tems against extreme loading events (i.e. impact, blast, fire) is questionable [1].
Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) materials have gained popularity as strengthen-
ing systems over the last two decades due to their light-weight, resistance to corro-
sion, resistance to high temperatures, high strength, and superior ductility [2,3]. A
typical TRC composite consists of high-strength fibers made of carbon, basalt, or
glass in the form of textile fabrics embedded in fine grained cementitous concrete
or mortar. Applications for TRC in construction industry extend to thin concrete
facades and claddings, parapet sheets, and noise/water protection walls [3]. Such
structural applications are prone to extreme loading conditions.

The main disadvantage of using TRC is the potential early debonding between the
fiber fabrics and the surrounding cementitious matrix. Several research articles
have recognized and discussed the premature early debonding between fi-
bers/cement matrix and its effect on the overall mechanical performance of TRC
[4-6]. It was reported that the fiber pullout is the main load transfer mechanism in
TRC due to fiber/matrix early debonding [6]. The poor bond between the fibers
and cement matrix in TRC is attributed to the absence of chemical bonding mech-
anisms at the fiber/cement interface and the absence of contact between the inner
filaments of the fiber threads and the cement matrix [7]. The problem of fi-
ber/matrix debonding magnifies further when TRC is subjected to high loading
rates. Materials subjected to high rate of loading exhibit a change in its mechanical
response as oppose to static loading conditions [8], which may alter its structural
capacity and failure mode [9]. In this paper, the use of polymer matrix as a re-
placement of cementitious matrix is suggested. The new textile reinforced poly-
mer concrete (TRPC) is expected to have strong bond between the fibers and pol-
ymer matrix due to the presence of chemical bond components. As a result, TRPC
would exhibit better dynamic response than that of the conventional TRC. In this
study, the dynamic punching shear behavior of TRPC is investigated using Split
Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB). The effect of number of fiber fabrics of TRPC
on the punch shear strength and absorbed energy is examined.

2 Experimental Program

2.1 Materials and Mixing Procedures

The polymer concrete mixture consisted of epoxy and filler. The epoxy was Ke-
mapoxy 165 G two-component epoxy system obtained from Chemicals for Mod-
ern Building (CMP) Inc., Egypt. The epoxy system had resin-to-hardener ratio is
4:1. The filler was fine grained aggregate with maximum nominal size of 4 mm.
Approximately, 1700 kg of the fine grained aggregates were added to 286 kg of
 3

epoxy to produce a cubic meter of polymer concrete. The average compressive

strength of polymer concrete mixture after 7 days was 90 MPa. Bi-directional bal-
anced glass fiber fabric is used to produce TRPC specimens. The glass fiber fabric
had a mean yarn spacing of 5 mm, a Young’s modulus of 72 GPa, and a tensile
strength of 1700 MPa. The TRPC specimens were produced by first mixing the
epoxy resin and hardener for 2 minutes using mechanical mixer rotating at speed
of 300 r.p.m. The fine grained filler was then added gradually and the mixing con-
tinued for 5 more minutes. The polymer concrete mixture was cast to produce 27-
mm thick, 100-mm diameter circular plates and the appropriate number of fabric
layers were added during casting the fresh concrete to produce four types of TRPC
specimens with four different number of fabric layers. The produced specimens
were the control TRPC specimens with no fabric layers (denoted as TRPC-0), and
three other TRPC specimens with one (TRPC-1), two (TRPC-2), and three
(TRPC-3) fabric layers. The TRPC specimens were demolded after 24 hours and
were then cured at room temperature for 7 days before testing.

2.2 Punch Shear Test

The TRPC specimens were tested under dynamic punching shear. Split Hopkinson
Pressure Bar (SHPB) setup was modified to enable applying dynamic punching
shear load following Huang et al. 2011 test setup [10] as shown in Fig. 1. The
SHPB consisted of 40-mm diameter striker, incident, and transmission bars. The
TRPC specimens were inserted between the incident and transmission bars and
were supported using a conical holder with inner diameter of 75 mm as shown in
Fig. 1. A 2.0 ± 0.25 bar pressure gas gun was used to launch the striker bar to im-
pact the incident bar with impact velocity of 22 ± 3 m/s and to generate an elastic
compressive incident and reflected waves in the incident bar and transmitted wave
in the transmission bar. To measure incident, reflected and transmitted waves, two
strain gauges were mounted on the incident and transmission bars. Digital oscillo-
scope with 1.0 MHz sampling rate was used to record the strain data. Based on
strain and time measurements, the load-displacement response and the punch
shear strength are determined. The punch shear force P1 t  is computed using Eq.
1 as follows:
P1 t   EA i t    r t  ……………………………………………………….…1
where E is the Young’s modulus of incident bar, A is the cross-section area,  i t 
is the incident strain, and  r t  is the reflected strain. The displacement u t  is cal-
culated using Eq. 2.
t
u t   c   i   r dt ……….………………………………………………………2
0

where c is the stress wave velocity of steel which equals to 5100 m/s.
4

Strain gauges

Striker Incident Bar Transmission Bar

TPRC specimen Conical Holder
Fig. 1: Schematic for SHPB modified test setup for punching shear load.

3 Results and Discussion

Fig. 2 (a) shows the load-displacement response of TRPC specimens with differ-
ent number of fabric layers. The figure shows maximum dynamic punching shear
forces of 231, 230, 211, and 239 kN for the TRPC specimens with zero, one, two,
and three fabric layers. The changes in maximum dynamic forces with respect to
the control specimen were 0, -8%, and +4% with the addition of one, two, and
three fabric layers respectively. Such changes in maximum dynamic force can be
considered insignificant given the nature of the test and the material statistical var-
iability. It is therefore suggested that statistical analysis be conducted in many rep-
licas of each specimens to confirm the significance of the difference in maximum
force. It is also to be noted that for the control specimen, a sudden increase in a
single data point for the force measurement is observed at a displacement of 0.03
mm. Such data point was excluded from the analysis as it does not present a grad-
ual increase in force to approach a maximum value, which differs from other force
peaks indicated in Fig. 2 (a).

300 250
TRPC-0 TRPC-0
250 TRPC-1
TRPC-1
TRPC-2 200 TRPC-2
200 TRPC-3
TRPC-3
Energy (N.m)

150
Force (kN)

150

100 100

50
50
0

-50 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Displacement (mm) Displacement (mm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 2: Dynamic behavior of TRPC specimens with various number of fabric
layers (a) load-displacement response and (b) absorbed energy
 5

On the other hand, Fig. 2 (a) also shows that the TRPC specimens with fiber fab-
rics sustain high post-peak residual forces as opposed to the control TRPC speci-
men, which observed abrupt drop in the force after reaching the peak force. This
observation indicates that the addition of fabric layers increases the ductility of the
TRPC under dynamic shear loading. The observation is also in line with the re-
sults of energy absorption curves shown in Fig. 2 (b). The figure shows that the
accumulative absorbed energy reached 96 J, 188 J, 155 J, and 237 J with adding
zero, one, two, and three fabric layers respectively. This correspond to a signifi-
cant increase in the absorbed energy reaching 96%, 62%, and 147% associated
with the use of one, two, and three fabric layers respectively. Such increase in ab-
sorbed energy demonstrates significant improvements in the ductility of TRPC
materials, which in turn would yield similar improvements in the material re-
sponse under dynamic loading. The results of the absorbed energy also show that
the TRPC-1 observed higher absorbed energy than the TRPC-2. This could be at-
tributed to the difference in the actual applied loading rate to the two specimens.
The actual loading rates for the TRPC-1 and TRPC-2 specimens were obtained di-
rectly from the initial linear slope of the load-time curves and they were 10.1
kN/µs and 7.5 kN/µs respectively. Clearly, the higher applied loading rate for the
TRPC-1 yields higher maximum dynamic force and energy absorption than that of
TRPC-2. More consistent loading rate is suggested for future testing.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 3: Failure images of TRPC specimens with various number of fiber fab-
rics (a) control, (b) one layer, (c) two layers, and (d) three layers

The failure images for different TRPC specimens are shown in Fig. 3. The figure
shows severe damage for the control TRPC specimen (TRPC-0) with the applica-
tion of dynamic punching shear loading [Fig. 3(a)]. Similar level of damage was
6

observed for the TRPC specimens with one and two layers as shown in Fig. 3(b)
& (c) respectively. However, the damage intensity for the two TRPC specimens
was lower than that observed for the control TRPC specimen. Furthermore, the
TRPC specimen with three fabric layers observed little damage with large pieces
of the fractured specimens remained intact after dynamic loading [Fig. 3(d)]. The
trend for the damage intensity of the four specimens is in agreement with the trend
observed in the energy absorption between all the specimens.

3 Conclusions

In this study, dynamic punching shear test is conducted using modified SHPB on
textile reinforced polymer concrete (TRPC) specimens incorporating various
number of glass fiber fabrics. The load-displacement curves and the absorbed en-
ergies are calculated and compared. It was found that by adding three layers of
glass fiber fabric, the increase in absorbed energy reached 147%. Moderate im-
provements are observed with the use of two and one fabric layers. Such im-
provement demonstrates the benefit of using TRPC materials as a construction
material subjected to extreme loading conditions.

4 References

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[2] Roye, A., Gries, T., & Peled, A. (2004). 139. Spacer fabrics for thin walled concrete elements. In
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Publications SARL.
[3] Brameshuber, W. (Ed.). (2006). Report 36: textile reinforced concrete-state-of-the-art report of
RILEM TC 201-TRC (Vol. 36). RILEM publications.
[4] Häußler-Combe, U., & Hartig, J. (2007). Bond and failure mechanisms of textile reinforced con-
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[5] Häußler-Combe, U., Jesse, F., & Curbach, M. (2004, April). Textile reinforced concrete-
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