Slip rate effects and cyclic behaviour of textile-to-matrix bond in textile reinforced mortar composites

The structural effectiveness of textile reinforced mortar (TRM) composites relies on their load transfer capacity to the substrate and the interaction between textile and mortar. The bond plays a crucial role in mechanism of TRM composites. Despite some recent investigations, a deep understanding still needs to be gained on the textile-to-mortar bond to develop suitable analytical and numerical predictive models, improve test methods, and orient design criteria. This work describes a laboratory study in which pull-out tests were carried out to investigate the effect of the slip rate and cyclic loading on the textile-to-mortar bond behaviour. Alkali-resistant glass fabric and sgalvanised ultra-high tensile strength steel cords embedded in two different lime-based mortars were tested. The pull-out response was sensitive to the strain rate at low rates. Cyclic loading produced a strength degradation, which reduced with the number of cycles.