Effect of BFRP textile geometric characteristics on the flexural performance of textile reinforced concrete thin plate: An experimental and theoretical study

Fiber textiles have gained significant attention as continuous reinforcement in cement-based composites due to their high strength, light weight, corrosion resistance, and design flexibility. Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) offers promising applications in retrofitting damaged structures and constructing thin-walled elements. This study examines the flexural behavior of thin concrete plates reinforced with basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) textiles, focusing on the influence of yarn structure, transverse yarn spacing, and textile layer number. Results show that increasing the number of layers from one to three enhances stress distribution and crack control, leading to 85.9 % and 84.4 % improvements in ultimate bending stress and toughness, respectively. Plates reinforced with straight yarns exhibited 21.5 % higher ultimate bending stress compared to those with twisted yarns, due to the adverse effect of twisting on axial load-bearing capacity of textile. In addition, increasing transverse yarn spacing weakened anchorage effect, crack-bridging capacity, and stress uniformity of textile, resulting in decreases of up to 23.4 % in ultimate bending stress and 76.2 % in bending toughness. Furthermore, a flexural capacity prediction model was developed based on classical theory, incorporating transverse yarn spacing, and ultimate deflections were estimated using a stiffness-based model excluding concrete tensile contribution. These findings provide a basis for optimizing textile geometry and predicting the bending performance of BTRC elements.