Effects of adding short fibers on impact resistance of glass textile reinforced cementitious composites under direct tension

This study investigated the effects of short steel (SF) and carbon fibers (CF) on the impact tensile resistance of glass textile reinforced cementitious composites (GTRCCs) under direct tension. Short fibers notably improved the tensile resistance of GTRCCs at both static (0.00033 s−1) and high strain rates (30–56 s−1), and CF was found to be more effective than SF. The tensile strength of GTRCCs using CF and SF at high strain rates (21.32 and 19.28 MPa, respectively) were notably higher than those of GTRCCs without short fibers (16.07 MPa). The tensile resistance of GTRCCs was sensitive to the applied strain rates because of the favorable rate-sensitive bond strength between the textile reinforcement and matrix, generated by lateral inertial effects of the surrounding matrix. The dynamic impact factors (DIFs) for the tensile strength of GTRCCs using CF and SF fibers, and without fibers at high strain rates were 2.94, 2.78, and 2.33, respectively. The GTRCCs using CF and SF produced a higher utilization of reinforcements (79.6 and 118.2%, respectively) and DIFs than most currently available hybrid TRCCs.