ENHANCING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TRM USING BIAXIAL PVA MESH AND SHCC

This study explores the benefits of combining Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) with biaxial Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) mesh to develop TR-SHCC. The hydrophilic nature and modulus of elasticity of PVA foster a strong bond and efficient stress redistribution within the composite. Tensile testing of a PVA-SHCC reinforced with different layouts of a PVA textile grid revealed that a three double-layer (3DL) configuration significantly improves tensile strength and strain-hardening capacity over the baseline SHCC. It also maintains an average crack width below 150 μm at 4% strain-hardening, a promising feature for applications in corrosive environments subject to dynamic actions such as earthquakes.