THE PULTRUSION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FABRIC-CEMENT COMPOSITES

Use of reinforcement in thin cement based elements is essential in order to improve the tensile and flexural performance. The reinforcements can be either short fibers or continuous reinforcement, in a fabric form. Practical use of fabric -cement composites requires an industrial cost-effective production process. The objective of this study was to develop the pultrusion technique as a novel industrial cost-effective method for the production of prefabricated high performance thin-sheet fabric-reinforced cement composites. Woven fabrics made from low modulus polyethylene and glass meshes were used to produce the pultruded cement composites. The influence of fabric cell opening, application of pressure during the process, and cement-based matrix modification were examined. The mechanical behavior of the pultruded fabric-cement components was found to be relatively high obtaining strain hardening behavior even for fabrics with low modulus of elasticity. The best performance was achieved for glass fabric composites when high content of fly ash replacing the cement. The intensity of the applying pressure significantly affects the mechanical behavior of the pultrud ed composite. The promising combination of fabric reinforcement in cement composite products and the pultrusion process is expected to lead to an effective novel technique to produce a new class of high performance fabric -cement composite materials.