Mechanisms of fabric reinforcement of cement matrices: Effect of fabric geometry and yarn properties

The present paper discusses the mechanisms involve in fabric-cement composites focusing on the effects of fabric geometry and the properties of the yarns. It was found that the geometry of a given fabric could enhance the bonding and enable one to obtain strain hardening behavior from low modulus yarn fabrics, due to the special shape of the yarn induced by the fabric. On the other hand, variations of the geometry in a fabric could drastically reduce the efficiency, resulting in a lower strengthening effect of the yarns in the fabric, relative to single yarns not in a fabric form. Therefore, in cement composites the fabrics can not be viewed simply as a means for holding together continuous yarns to be readily placed in the matrix, as is the case in composites with polymer matrix.