The Use of High Performance Textiles in Construction Projects

Abstract

A niche in the textile industry provides high strength, high modulus textile fabrics to the construction industry as a potential replacement for more traditional building materials such as wood, concrete, masonry, and steel. The mechanical properties of fabrics made of aramid, carbon and glass fibers lend themselves to the needs of the design engineer by providing high strength to weight, high stiffness to weight and extreme flexibility in use and design. Combined with cross-linking resins systems to form a composite, the fabrics are being widely accepted by the civil engineers serving the construction trades Thousands of structures around the world have been repaired, retrofitted or built of such fabrics in the past 10 years.