Influence of Fibres Impregnation on the Tensile Response of Flax Textile Reinforced Mortar Composite Systems

Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) composite systems as a technique to retrofit and reinforce existing structures represents, nowadays, an efficient application. The use of plant fibres textile as reinforcement, instead of the most employed industrial ones, resulted a promising solution as response to the sustainability criteria more and more required in the construction sector. However, some issues have been manifested as well related to the use of such natural reinforcements in cement- and lime-based matrices mainly lying in the fibre-to-matrix interaction and in the durability of both the overall composite and the reinforcement embedded within the mortar. In this context, the present study proposes an experimental activity aimed at investigating the efficiency of an impregnation treatment (by using styrene butadiene rubber latex) of flax fabrics on the mechanical behaviour of TRMs. The study confirms that the use of impregnated textile leads to an improvement of the overall behaviour of the composite system and paves the way for further investigations aimed at verifying the efficiency also in terms of durability.