On the shear behavior of natural curauá fabric reinforced cement-based composite systems

• Published in: Engineering structures Vol. 246; p. 113054
• Main Authors: Teixeira, Felipe Pinheiro, Cardoso, Daniel Carlos Taissum, de Andrade Silva, Flávio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Beams (structural); Cement reinforcements; Cement-based composites; Composite materials; Concrete; Concrete structures; Digital imaging; Fabrics; Mechanical properties; Metallic fabrics; Natural fibers; Reinforced cements; Shear strain; Shear tests; Strain hardening; Structural applications; Structural beams; Ultimate tensile strength; Shear tests; Natural fibers; Structural applications; Cement-based composites
• ISSN: 0141-0296; 1873-7323
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113054

•Sustainable composites reinforced with natural fibers can be used as shear reinforcement in R/C structures.•The reinforcement with natural fibers for shear strength is comparable to conventional reinforcement materials.•The used composite did not show any signs of delamination during shear loading.•A new shear model is proposed using experimental data from Iosipescu tests.
The use of fabric reinforced cementitious matrix for shear strengthening of concrete structures has been widely investigated and its field of application is not an uncommon practice. However, the majority of previous works has been limited to synthetic or metallic fabrics. Thus, the present study seeks to investigate the shear mechanical behavior of a cementitious composite reinforced with natural curauá fabrics and its application as a shear structural reinforcement. The experimental program includes Iosipescu tests and the use of Digital Image Correlation technique for material characterization and flexural tests for strengthened structural beams. The developed composite material under shear tests demonstrated a shear strain-hardening behavior with well-defined stages. The beam externally reinforced with the composite presented an improved ultimate strength of 28%. Analytical model predictions were compared to experimental results and a good agreement was achieved.