Fatigue behavior of textile reinforced concrete with different textile types and short steel fiber contents

The study investigates the effects of high-cycle low-stress amplitude and low-cycle high-stress amplitude fatigue testing on the fatigue behavior and crack formation of textile reinforced concrete (TRC) samples with varying textile types, layer numbers, and short steel fiber contents. The quasi-static tensile tests before and after fatigue were also performed to examine the mechanical performance deterioration of TRC. The crack development during fatigue loading was observed using digital image correlation (DIC) analysis. The results show that low-cycle high-stress amplitude fatigue loadings can cause substantial stiffness loss in TRC samples compared to high-cycle low-stress amplitude fatigue loadings. Carbon textile reinforced concrete (C-TRC) has a lower strength loss under fatigue loadings than alkali-resistant glass textile reinforced concrete (ARG-TRC), but a significantly higher stiffness loss because of the considerable difference in mechanical properties between the carbon textiles and matrix. Increasing the number of textile layers can enhance the fatigue behavior of TRC with reduced major crack width, strength loss, and toughness degradation. Moreover, adding short steel fiber improves fatigue resistance, which rises and subsequently declines with steel fiber contents. This study may provide insights into the fatigue performance enhancement of TRC materials.