Confinement of medium strength concrete cylinders with basalt Textile Reinforced Mortar

The lack of knowledge and specific regulations during the first half of 20th century led to a generation of concrete structures which do not suit with current standards. More-over, the use of locally available and, sometimes,inappropriate materials, contributed to de-crease the quality and the mechanical characteristics of concrete.

Hence, several structures need to be strengthened. The aim of this study is to check the behaviour of a new structural material, named textile-reinforced mortar (TRM), used in jacketing technique in order to improve the per-formance of concretes with limited resistance capacity. Tests were carried out on basal fabrics and TRM under tension forces and low strength (mud slab) concrete cylindrical specimens.

Thirty samples were made using combinations of two mortars for the matrix with different number of plies. Therefore, it can be concluded that TRM is a promising solution in confine-ment to improve the structural performance of ancient concrete structures.

David García, Pello Alonso, José-Tomás San-José and Leire Garmendia LABEIN-Tecnalia, Bilbao, Spain.
Céline Perlot Nobatek, Anglet, France.