Textile Reinforced Concrete – Realization in applications

Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) is a composite material made of open-meshed textile structures and a fine-grained concrete. Comparable to steel reinforcement the textile fabric bears the tensile forces released by the cracking of the concrete. Only a minimal concrete cover is required for the bond of the textile fabrics. Thus, the application of TRC leads to the design of filigree and lightweight concrete structures with high durability and high quality surfaces. In recent years, TRC has been successfully employed for the production of ventilated façade systems. Current investigations enlarge the application range of TRC to façade systems with large spans and load-bearing structures. In this paper, the investigations on self-supporting and structural sandwich panels regarding production methods, results of bending and shear tests, tests on sound insulation and fire resistance as well as first prototypes of slender frames and shell elements are presented.