Flexural Behaviour of Carbon Textile Reinforced Concrete Beams: An Experimental Study

Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) replaces conventional steel bars with high-strength fabrics, allowing thinner, lighter andcorrosion-free members. This paper reports an experimental study on the flexural behaviour of M25 concrete beams reinforcedwith carbon fibre textile. Six series of beams, three specimens per series and per age, were cast and tested at 14 and 28 days under two-point loading: two plain concrete controls and four TRC series with the textile at the bottom, at the top and bottom, and at mid-depth, including a TRC beam whose depth was reduced by one-third. At 28 days the TRC beams with textile at the bottom, at top and bottom, and at mid-depth recorded 11.54, 10.86 and 10.32 N/mm², which are 31.9%, 24.1% and 17.9% above the plain control of the same size (8.75 N/mm²). The TRC beam with one-third less depth reached 11.12 N/mm², 71.9% above the deeper plain beam (6.47 N/mm²). The results show that carbon textile placed on the tension side markedly improves flexural strength and permits lighter sections.