Multiscale modelling of textile reinforced concrete structure

Research Project, 2019 – 2023

Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) combines the benefits of traditional and fibre reinforced concrete, and offers the possibility to build corrosion resistant, slender, lightweight, modular, and freeform structures with relatively small environmental impact. The structural behaviour of TRC results from concrete cracking, interaction between the textile yarns and the adjacent concrete, and interfilament slip in the textile yarns. Even though Computational Multiscale Modelling (CMM) is very well suited to describe such complex behaviour, it has not yet been developed to cover these aspects. In this project, the aim is to develop a CMM strategy with application to TRC, where the response on the large-scale is linked to the subscale model, and localization on the large-scale is accounted for by employing continuous-discontinuous computational homogenization. The developed multiscale modelling framework will be experimentally calibrated by pull-out and tensile tests, and verified by four-point bending tests on TRC plates, loaded both as one-way slabs and as deep beams. State-of-the-art experimental techniques will be used, such as Digital Image Correlation (DIC), enabling to follow the crack propagation in detail during testing. This four-year project has potential to create substantial break-through in numerical modelling of textile reinforced concrete structures. Furthermore, the findings are applicable also to other types of advanced composites.