Impact response of textile-reinforced 3D printed concrete panels

This study assessed the impact response of 3D-printed textile-reinforced concrete for structural applications of 3D concrete printed structures, where impact is a significant load case. To study the impact response, two layers of AR-glass and two layers of carbon textile-reinforced 3D-printed high-strength concrete panels were investigated experimentally under low-velocity impacts from drop weights, respectively. The effect of textile reinforcement on the impact behaviour was compared with unreinforced printed specimens. The specimens were subjected to increasing levels of impact load until the failure was observed. The effect of textile reinforcement on the impact resistance, cumulative energy absorption capacity and failure pattern of printed specimens were investigated and compared with their mould-cast counterparts. To understand the effect of textile reinforcement on the printed and mould-cast panel specimens, a quasi-static flexural test was performed to evaluate the load vs deformation behaviour. The test results from the quasi-static flexural test showed that the incorporation of textile reinforcement improved the first crack strength by about 40 % and enhanced post-peak behaviour for both printed and mould-cast specimens. Further, providing carbon textile reinforcement significantly improved the impact resistance by 75 % when compared to AR glass textile-reinforced specimens due to the higher stiffness and better strain-hardening behaviour. Moreover, the effect of textile reinforcement on enhancing the energy absorption capacity of 3D-printed specimens was more evident at higher impact velocities. The cumulative energy absorption capacity of carbon textile-reinforced specimens was observed to be 60 % higher compared to AR glass textile-reinforced specimens. During high-velocity impacts, the textile reinforcement was observed to improve damage distribution by enhancing the bridging between the interlayers. The damage condition at failure showed that AR-glass textile-reinforced printed and mould-cast specimens showed severe punching failure on the compression face and widened cracks and spalling on the tension face. However, carbon textile reinforcement enhanced the impact resistance, thus showing multiple cracks and reduced spalling on the tension face even after multiple impacts. Overall, the impact performance of 3D-printed textile-reinforced concrete panels showed high-level impact resistance.