Sponsors: ACI Committee 549, Rilem-MCC Editors: Barzin Mobasher and Flávio de Andrade Silva Several state-of-the-art sessions on textile-reinforced concrete/fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (TRC/FRCM) were organized by ACI Committee 549 in collaboration with RILEM TC MCC during the ACI Fall 2019 Convention in Cincinnati, OH, and the ACI Virtual Technical Presentations in June 2020. The forum provided a unique opportunity to collect information and present knowledge in the field of TRC and FRCM as sustainable construction materials. The term TRC is typically used for new construction applications whereas the term FRCM refers to the repair applications of existing concrete and masonry. Both methods use a textile mesh as reinforcement and a cementitious-based matrix component and, due to high tensile and flexural strength and ductility, can be used to support structural loads. The technical sessions aimed to promote the technology, and document and develop recommendations for testing, design, and analysis, as well as to showcase the key features of these ductile and strong cement composite systems. New methods for characterization of key parameters were presented, and the results were collected towards the development of technical and state-of-the-art papers. Textile types include polymer-based (low and high stiffness), glass, natural, basalt, carbon, steel, and hybrid, whereas the matrix can include cementitious, geopolymers, and lightweight matrix (aggregates). Additives such as short fibers, fillers, and nanomaterials were also considered. The sessions were attended by researchers, designers, students, and participants from the construction and fiber industries. The presence of people with different expertise and from different regions of the world provided a unique opportunity to share knowledge and promote collaborative efforts. The experience of an online technical forum was a success and may be used for future opportunities. The workshop technical sessions chairs sincerely thank the ACI staff for doing a wonderful job in organizing the virtual sessions and ACI TC 549 and Rilem TC MCC for the collaboration.

Carbon reinforced concrete (CRC) is a material composed of a high-performance concrete and a carbon reinforcement (textile grids, lamellas, rods). Composite materials with reinforcements of other fiber materials are called textile reinforced concrete (TRC). The investigations of CRC started more than 20 years ago and the continuous development as well as research findings have opened many fields of application. Today, the use of CRC includes the strengthening of reinforced concrete elements as well as the realization of new elements such as facades, shells and even bridges.

Some of these structures require knowledge of the fatigue behavior due to cyclic loading (e. g. bridges). In a collaborative project of the Institute of Structural Concrete of the RWTH Aachen University and the Institute of Concrete Structures of the TU Dresden, the uniaxial tensile fatigue behavior of two carbon textile reinforcement types was systematically investigated. The specimens were subjected up to 107 loading cycles and stress ranges up to 261 ksi (1,800 MPa). The influence of the maximum load and amplitude were investigated as well as fatigue curves for these two reinforcement types derived.

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) combines high-performance fabrics made of impregnated carbon yarns with state-of-the-art high strength concrete. Due to the corrosion resistance of non-metallic reinforcement, the application of TRC for external components especially with freeze-thaw and de-icing salt exposure is promising. This allows for reduction of concrete cover, to create slender structural elements and to execute thin slabs without additional waterproofing or protective decking. Different existing theoretical models and experience from various research projects were used in design of several pedestrian- and road bridges in Germany. The pedestrian bridges in Rems Valley and Ottenhöfen use TRC slabs without shear reinforcement as transversal loadbearing component. For the road bridges in Gaggenau, skew slabs made of TRC with shear reinforcement were chosen as principal structural system. Prior and during construction, experimental investigations on shear capacity were performed at the Institute of Structural Concrete (IMB) of RWTH Aachen. A comprehensive characterization of the material properties of the non-metallic reinforcement is a prerequisite for transfer and adaption of existing design rules, e.g. the determination of tensile strength of the bent portion of pre-formed shear reinforcement. This paper highlights the application potential and further challenges for the use of textilereinforced concrete in new engineering constructions.

The increasing interest in the field of conservation of existing masonry structures pushed to the development of new retrofitting technologies in the recent past. One of the most promising is the use of Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Mortar (FRCM), which consists of an open-grid within an inorganic matrix. The effectiveness of the FRCM-application is well-demonstrated in literature by several experimental investigations regarding different structural members, including columns and shear wall. The success of FRCMs is manly related to durability aspects, since the grid is generally non-metallic, the compatibility of the inorganic matrix with the substrates, the easy application, the low weight and spatial impact, the possible installation in damp areas and at high temperatures. The interaction between the substrate, the mortar-based matrix and the open-grid make challenging the theoretical prediction of the mechanical behavior of the FRCM-retrofitted structures. For this reason, the analytical formulations for the proper design of FRCM-strengthening are still an open research problem, referring to both short and long term conditions. The present paper reports and discusses design-oriented relationships for FRCM-confinement and in-plane FRCM-strengthening of masonry elements; the proposals are intended to satisfy the requirements of simplicity and accuracy needed for code-finality.

The influence of engineered hydrophilic polypropylene fibers in the formation of distributed cracking and the associated strengthening and toughening of cement-based composites under mechanical loading was studied by conducting, correlating, and modeling tensile and flexural tests. An automated filament winding system was used to manufacture continuous fiber composites. Composites with continuous fibers consisting of low modulus surface-modified hydrophilic macro-synthetic polypropylene fibers were compared for their reinforcing ability with fibrillated micro-synthetic fibers. The digital image correlation technique was used for damage characterization using quantitative analysis of crack width, spacing, and correlated with the tensile response and stiffness degradation. It was observed that the mechanical properties as well as crack-spacing and composite stiffness were significantly affected by the microstructure and dosage of continuous fibers. Procedures for correlating tension and flexural test results were introduced using closed-form solution approaches for strain hardening materials.