ACI Committee 549

Thin Reinforced Cementitious Products & Ferrocement

ACI Spring Convention, Chicago, IL, 2010

Meeting Minutes

March 21, 2010

9 :30 am to 1:30 pm

Attendance

Members Visitors

Dubey, A., Chairman Chan, C.

Jones, J., Secretary Gebremedhia, M
Aldea, C. Tafesse, E.
Freedman, S. Peng Y.
Marikunte, S. Reinhardt, H.W.
Shafer, S.
Brameshuber, W.
Shah, S. Hinzen, M.
Shao, Y. Shelton, S.
DiEarlo, T.
Patterson, J.

Glowania, M.
Janeteto, S
Buttner, T.
Jesse, F.

Lieboldt, M.
Omoregie, F.
Leongson, M.
Vopana, S.

1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ashish Dubey at 9:30 am.
Committee meeting attendees were introduced.

2. Previous Minutes
 Minutes of the New Orleans meeting held on November 8th , 2009 were approved
unanimously.

3. Announcements

RILEM International Conference on Material Science on 6 10 September,

2010, in Aachen, Germany will include the 2nd ICTRC on Textile Reinforced
Concrete (information at www.rilem.org).
ACI committee 549 is sponsoring 2 technical sessions at this Chicago ACI
Spring 2010 Convention on Textile Reinforced Concrete.
ACI committee 549 is sponsoring 2 technical sessions at the Pittsburgh ACI
Fall Convention 2010 on Textile Reinforced Concrete.
International Symposium Ferro10 will be held in May 2012 in either New
Jersey or Cuba.
Transport Research Board will hold a conference on Nanotechnology in
Concrete in Anaheim, CA in May, 2010
A joint ACBM/RILEM conference will be held in Montreal, Canada in
September, 2010
GRCA (Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete Association) will hold its next
Congress in Istanbul, Turkey in April 2011. Details have not yet been
announced but anyone interested can contact John Jones and he will have
details as they become available.

4. Liaison Member Reports

There were no liaison reports.

5. Report on Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete Premix

The document was published in December under ACI 549.3R-09.

6. New Report on Thin Reinforced Cementitious Products Applications and

Design Tools
No report. Unfortunately Barzin Mobasher could not attend the meeting due to
travel difficulties and nobody present could offer report.

7. New Report on Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC)

The document was balloted successfully and sent to TAC. Ashish Dubey and John
Jones attended a meeting with TAC prior to this committee meeting. TAC offered
many comments but their main comments were that they felt that the document
was not focused enough and sufficiently differentiated from PCI MNL-128 and
the new Premix report. They considered that there was sufficient useful
information in the report so they recommended that we re-write the report focused
on Spray-up GFRC and make the Applications section more case study oriented
with more actual detail and fewer applications. John Jones will chair the task
group that will do the re-write.
8. Updating ACI 549 Reports on Ferrocement
The two ACI 549 reports on Ferrocement, namely, ACI 549.1R-93 and ACI 549R-
97 have been updated by Mr. Paul Nedwell, of University of Manchester,
England, and they are now out for ballot. The ballot closes on April 18th, 2010.

9. New Special Publications

Ashish Dubey announced that the following Special Publications by ACI
Committee 549 are now available:
SP-260: Fabrication Technologies for Thin Cementitious Products
SP-268: Fiber Reinforced Concrete in Practice.

10. RILEM Technical Committee on Test Methods and Design of Textile

Reinforced Concrete (RILEM TC TDT)
Prof. W. Brameshuber chaired the committee meeting and Mr. Marcus Hinzen
acted as secretary.
The agenda, minutes, and the two draft test methods that were discussed are
attached to these minutes.

11. New Business

Chairman Ashish Dubey announced that he was standing down as committee
chairman after 6 years and this meeting would be his last. He will stay on as
committee member. He presented a summary of the work that the committee has
accomplished during his chairmanship from 2003 to 2010. This includes
sponsoring, or co-sponsoring 21 Technical Sessions, from which 6 Special
Publications were issued by ACI, and having 2 new reports published, 2 updated
reports, and has 2 new reports under development. There were also 4 joint
meetings with RILEM committee on TRC and TDT. The complete list of
committee activities and accomplishments is attached to these minutes.
Ashish thanked the committee for all the help he had received during his
chairmanship.
He announced that Mr. John Jones would now take over as committee chairman.
Mr. Reinhardt formally thanked Ashish for all his hard work and the rest of the
committee members showed their appreciation.

Meeting Times for next Convention

Next meeting will take place on Sunday, October 24-28 at The Westin Convention
Center, Pittsburgh, PA at 10:30 am to 2:00 pm.

12. Informal Discussions of Projects

There were no presentations.

13. Adjourn
Meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm by new Chairman John Jones.
Respectfully submitted by Committee Secretary John Jones.
 Minutes RILEM TC TDT 2. Meeting
Session: March 21, 2010
Venue: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Participants:
W. Brameshuber (Aachen, Germany) as chair TC TDT
M. Hinzen (Aachen, Germany) as secretary TC TDT
A. Dubey (Illinois, USA) as chair ACI 549
J. Jones (Grand Prairie, TX, USA) as secretary ACI 549
C. Aldea (Hamilton, Canada)
S. Freedman (Skokie, USA)
F. Jesse (Dresden, Germany)
S. Marikunte (Carbondale, USA)
H. W. Reinhardt (Stuttgart, Germany)
S. Shafer
S. Shah (Evanston, USA)
Y. Shao (Montreal, Canada)
T. Bttner as guest
C. Chan as guest
T. DiEarlo as guest
M. Gebremedhia as guest
M. Glowania as guest
S. Janetzko as guest
M. Leongson as guest
M. Lieboldt as guest
F. Omoregie as guest
J. Patterson as guest
Y. Peng as guest
S. Shelton as guest
E. Tafesse as guest
S. Vopana as guest

This was a joint meeting together with ACI Committee 549.

Welcome and introduction

Short introduction of participants. Prof. Brameshuber explained the aims of the new TC
TDT and gave a brief summary of the previous work.

Discussion of the draft of the uniaxial tensile test

Chapter Introduction:
The term fabric was changed into textile.
Chapter Scope:
Prof. Brameshuber emphasizes that not the material behavior but only the test procedure
is covered by the recommendation.

Chapter Definitions:
Instead of defining a tensile specimen as slender a length to width ratio was
specified.
The maximum grain size of fine grained concrete was changed to 4 mm instead of 2
mm.
It was discussed that the first macro crack of the specimen is difficult to localize at
certain specimens with high reinforcement ratio. Therefore, the first crack stress was
related to the LOP (loss of proportionality) of the stress-strain curve.
The definition of textile was changed into: fabrics and other manufactured products
made from fibers and from yarns.

Chapter Test specimens:

All dimensions in Fig. 1 and 2 are minimum dimensions
Minimum dimensions resulting from the maximum grain size will be part of the
commentary
The recommendation to use at least 6 roving strands per layer was removed. Instead, it
was specified that a strain-hardening behavior is aimed at.
The standard storage of the specimens was changed to water storage to avoid warping
and to reduce the scatter. It was agreed that a departure from the reference storage is
possible but has to be stated in the report.

Chapter Test equipment:

The accuracy of the testing machine shall be in accordance with ISO 9513 and ISO
7500-1.
It was agreed that the load introduction parts must have at least a rotational capacity in
the plane of the specimen.
Pneumatic and hydraulic gripping is allowed and added to the recommendation.
The comparability of both load introductions will be ensured with upcoming round
robin tests.
The term strain gauges is changed into extensometer.
The test is finished at a loss of at least 70 % of the ultimate load.

Chapter Test procedure

The displacement rate was changed into a strain rate of 2 10-3 / min. to account for
different specimen lengths.

Chapter Assessment:
The term measurement length is used instead of free length and area
The fiber pull-out condition was removed
Crack localization was changed into final crack
Chapter Test report:
It was suggested to provide the reinforcement ratio in addition to the number of textile
layers if possible.
Failure stress was changed into ultimate load. If possible the ultimate stress referred to
both the cross-sectional area of the specimen and the textile should be calculated.
Failure strain was changed into ultimate strain.

Next steps:

All changes will be made within the next 2 months. Then the recommendation is send to
all members for a final review. Additionally a first draft of a commentary for the
recommendation is send. There will be round robin tests before the next meeting in
Aachen in September 2010. It is planned to test three different types of specimens:

1. specimens with high stiffness, manufactured by the Dresden group

2. specimens with normal textile reinforcement (Dresden and Aachen)
3. specimens with a high reinforcement ratio or short fibers to achieve a very fine crack
pattern, manufactured by the Aachen group

The schedule will be discussed with the Dresden group within the next weeks.

Discussion of the draft of the pull-out test

The first recommendation draft of the pull-out test was not discussed in detail. At first,
the committee has to define the scope of the test. The presented draft deals with a test
procedure for a relative comparison of different yarns. However, other tests are available
in Dresden that are used with regard to design values. A test recommendation for both
methods was suggested.

It was proposed that the pull-out experts in Aachen und Dresden (M. Butler and B. Kang)
prepare a comparison of all available test methods in the next months. The comparison
should include:

a full description of the test procedure

the scope (which value is determined and what is it needed for?)
a collection of available test results for comparison

The results will be presented and discussed at the next meeting in Aachen.

Design group
A first discussion of the design group was postponed to the next meeting in Aachen. A
proposal for the planned contents and a time schedule was prepared by Prof. Hegger and
Dr. Will from Aachen and presented by Prof. Brameshuber. The proposal is attached to
the minutes. To ensure statistically firm design values a database with test results shall be
created. A first draft of the design rules will be presented at the next meeting in Aachen.

Definition of Ferrocement

It was agreed in the group that using the term Ferrocement for all thin reinforced
cementitious composites is misleading. Although the ACI State-of-the-Art Report on
Ferrocement doesnt exclude glass as reinforcing material the terms Ferrocement and
TRC should be separated in the future due to the independent development of TRC in
recent years.

Announcements and other publications

September 6-10, 2010, Aachen, Germany
International Conference on Material Science and 64th RILEM Annual Week with 3
different themes:

- 2nd ICTRC Textile Reinforced Concrete

- HetMat Modelling of Heterogeneous Materials
- AdiPoC Additions Improving Properties of Concrete

Next meeting of TC TDT

The next meeting (3. Meeting) of the TC TDT will be during the 64th RILEM annual
week in Aachen, Germany, September 5, 2 p.m, 2010.

Aachen, March 26, 2010, Marcus Hinzen (TC TDT secretary)

RILIM TC TDT: Test methods and design of textile reinforced concrete 18.03.10 Design rules: Contents + time schedule
(draft) page 1 TC TDT: Test methods and design of textile reinforced concrete
Design of textile reinforced concrete
Proposal prepared by J. Hegger and N. Will
1 Contents

1. Introduction / Scope

2. Notations and definitions

3. Basic considerations

Loading

Safety factors

Influence of manufacturing methods

4. Materials (Strength, Modulus of elasticity, creep/shrinkage, )

Concrete

Admixtures

Short fibres

Yarns

Textile reinforcement

Coatings

5. Durability requirements

Exposures

Requirements for the design

Design Models

6. Analysis and design

Design methods

Methods of analysis

Arrangement of loads

Required and design strength

Load-Bearing behaviour

7. Flexure and axial loads

Compressive strength

Tension

Flexure strength

Minimum reinforcement

8. Shear and torsion

Shear strength

Torsion
RILIM TC TDT: Test methods and design of textile reinforced concrete 18.03.10 Design rules: Contents + time schedule
(draft) page 2
9. Connections of TRC-Members

10. Design of the Serviceability state

Stress calculation

Cracking

Deflections

11. TRC for Rehabilitation

Bond failure modes

Bond models

Confinement by TRC

Flexure strengthening

Shear / Torsion strengthening

Serviceability limit state

12. Detailing

Surface conditions / Concrete cover

Anchorage

Splices

Flexure Reinforcement

Shear -/ Torsion reinforcement

Columns

Shells and folded plate members

Rehabilitation

2 Time schedule (next 18 months)

(1) 04/2010-09/2010:

Preparing first draft of the design rules based on the current knowledge (mainly
based on the the results auf the German Collaborative Research Centers 528 and 532
 Preparing an electronic platform to exchange data and information of the design group

Development of an internet-database (MY-SQL) to collect the research results in a

standardized form; the main parameters will be fixed in accordance with the TC
Members. The Members of the design group may use the database by Browser.

(2) 09/2010: Presentation first draft and database

(3) 09/2010 09/2011:

Collecting research results

Analysis and evaluation of the test results

Preparing a revised draft

It is planned to finish the recommendation design rules in summer, 2012. RILIM TC TDT:
Test methods and design of textile reinforced concrete 18.03.10 Design rules: Contents + time schedule (draft) page 3

TC TDT: Test methods and design of textile reinforced concrete

Uniaxial tensile test

Test method to determine the load bearing behavior of tensile
specimens made of textile reinforced concrete

Recommendation
Proposal prepared by W. Brameshuber

TC MEMBERSHIP: Chairman: W. Brameshuber, Germany; Secretary: M. Hinzen, Germany; Members: C.-M. Aldea, Canada; A.
Bentur, Israel; M. Curbach, Germany; T. Gries, Germany; P. Hamelin, France; J. Hegger, Germany; F. Jesse, Germany; K. Malaga,
Sweden; V. Mechtcherine, Germany; J. Orlowsky, Germany; C. Papanicolaou, Greece; A. Peled, Israel; P. Purnell, UK; H.-W.
Reinhardt, Germany; S.-P. Shah, USA; F. Silva, Brazil; L. Taerwe, Belgium; T. Triantafillou, Greece; J. Wastils, Belgium; H. Zorn,
Germany

Introduction
Textile reinforced concrete is a high performance cementitious composite using
straight and parallel aligned fibers of suitable materials, e.g. AR-glass and carbon, as
continuous reinforcement in form of textiles. Textile reinforced concrete is usually
used for thin concrete elements or as strengthening layer for concrete structures.
Textile reinforced concrete shows a multi linear stress-strain-behavior with three
distinct stages (uncracked, multiple cracking, cracking completed). The crack
formation in textile reinforced concrete is significantly finer than in customary
reinforced concrete. Therefore, not only the tensile strength of the concrete but also
 the total tensile load bearing behavior of the composite material textile reinforced
concrete is of importance.

Bond characteristics of textile reinforcement can not be derived from this tensile test
since this information could only be derived indirectly from cracking patterns.
However, in textile reinforced concrete cracking is mainly controlled by transverse
fibers which are typically present in textile reinforcement. For bond properties
reference is given to the RILEM recommendation TDT A.2 (pull-out).

Scope
It is the aim of this recommendation to describe a standardized uniaxial tensile test.
This recommendation presents 2 different test methods for measuring the load-
deformation behavior of textile reinforced concrete under uniaxial tensile load with
fibers aligned parallel to the loading direction. The ultimate strength of the textile, the
first crack stress of the concrete as well as the stress-strain curve of the composite
specimen which are necessary for the design of textile reinforced concrete can be
determined from the test data. The recommendation is only valid for quasistatic
testing.

Referenced standards
ISO 9513:1999: Metallic materials - Calibration of extensometers used in
uniaxial testing.
ISO 7500-1:2004: Metallic materials - Verification of static uniaxial testing
machines - Part 1: Tension/compression testing machines -
Verification and calibration of the force-measuring system.

Definitions
1. A tensile specimen for textile reinforced concrete is preferred to have a length to
width ratio of at least 5:1 as it is designed for the measuring of elongations and
crack formation.

2. Fine-grained concrete that is used in textile reinforced concrete has similar

characteristics to mortar. Its aggregate usually has a very small grain size of not
more than 4 mm.

3. The first crack stress describes the stress level related to the LOP (loss of
proportionality) of the stress-strain curve.
 4. Textiles are fabrics and other manufactured products made from fibers and from
yarns.

5. The laminating technique is applied to no-slump concretes. Here, the test

specimens are manufactured in layers of concrete and textile fabrics.

Test specimens
Geometry
Two different geometries for test specimens are offered for two different load
introductions. The minimum length of the specimens is 500 mm, the minimum width
is 60 mm in the measuring area. The specimens must have a length to width ratio of
at least 5:1. Depending on the amount of textile layers, the thickness may vary but
must not be lower than 6 mm. The measuring length is at least 200 mm. The direction
of fibers intended to be evaluated must be aligned parallel to the longitudinal
specimen axis and must be arranged symmetric to the specimen width. With respect
to the thickness the fibers should be arranged symmetrically. A minimum
reinforcement ratio to ensure a strain-hardening behavior is to be aimed at.

Specimen type 1: The specimen has a dumbbell shape and is intended for the
load introduction device shown in Figure 3. Minimum dimensions and shape are
shown in Figure 1. The area of load introduction is described by a sector of a
circle with a radius of at least 130 mm.

Specimen type 2: The specimen has a rectangular shape and can either be
manufactured or cut from prefabricated textile reinforced concrete elements. At
larger specimens the clamping length of 125 mm can be increased. The associated
test setup is shown in Figure 4. Minimum dimensions and shape are shown in
Figure 2.
 Figure 1: Dumbbell specimen (type 1) /Bro02/

Figure 2: Rectangular specimen (type 2) /Jes09/

Storage of test specimens

Test specimens are stored in water to reduce warping and scattering.
Test equipment
Climate
The tests are carried out in an air-conditioned room at a temperature of 20 2 C and
a relative humidity of 65 5 %.

Testing machine
The testing machine shall be of any type sufficient to provide the required load and
the rate of crosshead movement prescribed. It shall have been verified to have an
accuracy of the extensometers in accordance with ISO 9513 and the force measuring
system in accordance with ISO 7500-1.

Load introduction

Specimen type 1: The load introduction for specimen type 1 is made by steel
flanges which are exactly adjusted to the radius of the load introduction zone
of the tensile specimen (see Figure 3). Each flange must have at least a
rotational capacity in the plane of the specimen. Between specimen and steel
flanges rubber sheets with a thickness between 0.3 mm and 1 mm have to be
applied to avoid load concentrations between steel and concrete.

Specimen type 2: The specimen is clamped between sufficiently stiff steel

plates with a rubber sheet in between. The plates must have at least a
rotational capacity in the plane of the specimen. The load is transferred to the
specimen by means of friction (Figure 4). The pressure has to be adjusted so
as to prevent slipping between clamping and specimen. Hydraulic or
pneumatic gripping is allowed.
 Figure 3: Test setup for specimen type Figure 4: Test setup for specimen type 2
1 /Orl08/ /Jes09/

Measuring devices
The load can be measured with a standard load cell of proper capacity and accuracy.
Deformations are measured on both surfaces in the middle of the specimen with
devices of sufficient measuring range and accuracy.

Test procedure
Preparation of specimens
In the load introduction area, all overlapping concrete edges must be removed from
the specimens. Local bumpiness should be removed with a grinder.

Before testing:
Specimen dimensions are measured as follows:
o Width at both ends of the measuring length, accuracy of 0.1 mm;
o Thickness is measured at 4 points inside the measuring area, accuracy
of 0.1 mm.
o Length, accuracy of 1 mm;
 Visible pre-damage (e.g. cracking, pore concrete quality) has to be
documented
Deviations from prescribed specimen geometry and measures for elimination
have to be documented, e.g. deviations from parallel reinforcement, uneven
concrete surface, fibers in sawing cut, etc.

Installation of specimens
Specimens are mounted into the tension device. Between the steel parts and the
concrete specimen a thin sheet of rubber with a thickness between 0.3 and 1 mm has
to be arranged to avoid local load concentrations during the test. The specimen is
preloaded with a force of 0.1 kN. Deformation measuring equipment is fastened on
both specimen surfaces.

Test procedure
The tensile tests are carried out in deformation controlled mode by crosshead
displacement at a strain rate of 2 10-3 / min. The test is finished at a loss of at least
70 % of the ultimate load.

Evaluation of test results

Strain
To determine the strain of the tensile specimen, the measured deformations l of the
extensometer are averaged and then related to the measuring length lm.
l l m

Ultimate strain u is defined as strain at maximum load Fu.

u l ( Fu ) l m

Stress
For the determination of the stresses, the measured force F can either be related to the
reinforcement cross-section Af or to the cross-section of the specimen Ac.
f F A f or c F Ac

Ultimate Stress fu and cu, respectively is defined as stress at maximum load Fu.
fu Fu A f or cu Fu Ac

Stress-strain-relation
The main test result is the stress-strain-behavior, presented in form of x-y-diagrams
with strains on the x-axis and stresses on y-axis.
Assessment of tensile test
The tensile test is only valid if the fracture occurred within the measurement length of
the specimen. Fractures of specimens outside this area lead to incorrect results after
the final crack.

Test report
The test report shall include at least the following information:

A reference to this test recommendation

Origin and indication of the test specimens
Origin, indication and material of the textile fabrics
Type of Specimen (type 1 or 2), Dimensions (accuracy see section 7)
Storage conditions (water temperature and air temperature in C, relative humidity in
%)
Location/Position and number of textile layers
Reinforcement ratio if known
Specimen age at time of testing in days
Position of crack localization (free length / at clamping)
Stress-strain-diagram as a mean curve of all strain gauges and if available, single
curves
Statistics
o Dimensions of the specimens (thickness, width, length) and averaged
thickness and width;
o First crack stress if recoverable
o Type of failure (fiber rupture, fiber pull-out, others);
o Ultimate load of the specimens and if possible the ultimate stress referred to
the cross sectional area and the area of textile reinforcement;
o Ultimate strain of the specimens;

All details of testing that deviate from this recommendation have to be documented.

References
/Bro02/ Brockmann, J. ; Raupach, M.: Durability Investigations on Textile Reinforced
Concrete. Durability of Materials and Components, 9th International Conference
(CSIRO 2002), Brisbane, Australia, 17-20 March 2002. Paper No. 111
/Orl08/ Orlowsky, J.; Raupach, M.: Durability Model for AR-glass Fibres in Textile
Reinforced Concrete. Materials and Structures 41 (2008) 7, pp. 1225-1233

/Jes09/ Jesse, F.; Schicktanz, K. & Curbach, M.: Obtaining Characteristic Material
Strength of Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) from Laboratory Tests. Djausal,
A.; Alami, F. & Naaman, A. E. (edt.): 9th International Symposium on
Ferrocement and Thin Reinforced Cement Composites (Ferro-9), 18-20 May
2009, Bali, Indonesia. pp. 305-318
3 Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Josef Hegger
RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Structural Concrete
52056 Aachen
Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strae 1
Germany
phone +49 241 8025170
fax +49 241 8022335
email heg@imb.rwth-aachen.de
Dr.-Ing. Norbert Will
RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Structural Concrete
52056 Aachen
Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strae 1
Germany
phone +49 241 8025171
fax +49 241 8022335
email nwill@imb.rwth-aachen.de