Freeze-thaw durability of glass textile-reinforced mortar composites

Application of textile-reinforced mortars (TRMs) for externally bonded reinforcement of existing ‎masonry structures has received a considerable recent attention. The mechanical behaviour of ‎these composites, which are composed of continuous ‎fibers embedded in an organic matrix, and their ‎effectiveness in improving the performance ‎of strengthened structures are highly dependent on the ‎fiber-to-mortar bond behaviour as ‎well as the bond between TRM system and substrate.‎Understanding the long-term performance of these mechanisms is therefore of critical ‎importance ‎for design of durable TRM composites and ensuring the safety of strengthened ‎structures. To ‎address this aspect, the effect of freeze-thaw cycles on the textile-to-mortar bond ‎behaviour is experimentally ‎investigated and discussed in this paper. The results illustrate a significant deterioration of the ‎textile-to-mortar bond performance in the studied composites.‎