Tailor Made Concrete Structures Walraven & Stoelhorst (eds)

2008 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-47535-8

Subsequent sealing of buildings made of textile reinforced concrete

R. Mott & W. Brameshuber
Institute of Building Materials Research (ibac) of RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

ABSTRACT: Many regions in Germany show a rising groundwater level. Hence the load case of buildings
concerned changes from non-pressing to pressing water. Residential buildings not designed for the load case of
pressing water have to be refitted. Conventional sealing methods are often associated with high complexity and
high costs as well as the loss of living space. Furthermore in many cases they do not consider the additional
static load of pressing water at all. This paper presents a newly developed subsequently applied sealing against
pressing water. It is made of textile reinforced concrete. Using this composite material it is possible to produce
a sealing system with a wall thickness of about 30 to 35 mm. During the production of an exhibit wall it became
apparent that the spraying technique is an adequate and practicable method to produce a subsequent sealing of
textile reinforced concrete.

INTRODUCTION

concrete building members with a dense structure and

high compressive as well as tensile strength.

Many regions in Germany show a rising groundwater level caused by different reasons. On the one hand
it may happen as a result of the climate changes in
general. On the other hand the shut-down of opencast pits in some regions and the involved cut-off of
the appendant water drainage can also be a reason for
the changing groundwater level. The rising level of
groundwater has a direct effect on residential buildings
not designed for this load case. The load case of buildings concerned changes from non-pressing water to
pressing water. The buildings consist of base plates and
masonry walls which are not completely waterproof.
This leads to the problem that water penetrates the
walls of the conventionally built basements. The buildings concerned have to be refitted with a subsequent
sealing.
Presently there are several subsequent sealing methods to redevelop basements. It is possible to apply the
sealing onto the walls from outside as well as from
inside of the residential building. However, in most
cases the subsequent sealings only seal the buildings
against penetrating water. The changed load case and
hence the additional static load are mostly not considered at all. Furthermore, conventional sealing methods
often involve high complexity and high costs. In addition, sealing systems applied onto the inner walls are
mostly associated with the loss of living space.
To minimize the mentioned problems this paper
presents the use of textile reinforced concrete as a subsequently applied waterproof structure. With this composite material it is possible to produce thin-walled

CONVENTIONAL SEALING METHODS

In case of a rising groundwater level the load case of

residential buildings changes from non-pressing water
to pressing water. To redevelop the affected basements
it is possible to apply a sealing system from inside
or from outside. It must be observed that the applied
system not only fulfills the requirements placed in
the sealings but also takes into account the additional
forces arising by the hydrostatic pressure.
Sealing methods that are applied to the outer walls
are generally associated with high complexity from
the technical point of view and high costs. For these
reasons these methods are not explained here. A subsequent sealing from inside entails better working
conditions. In this chapter two conventional sealing
methods from inside are presented.
The first sealing system consists of waterproof concrete which is installed on the inside of the basement
walls and on the base plate (Fig. 1).
The second method uses e.g. a bituminous sheeting
or coating to subsequently seal the basement. Here,
the base plate and the masonry walls are covered with
this dense layer. A layer of normal concrete is applied
additionally to protect the sheeting against mechanical
damage (Fig. 2).
The subsequent layers of concrete have to be
steel-reinforced. As a consequence the wall thickness

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Figure 1. Sealing method from inside (waterproof concrete)

in case of pressing water.

Figure 2. Sealing method from inside (bituminous sheeting

or coating) in case of pressing water.

increases to avoid corrosion. This leads to an apparent loss of living space. In both cases horizontal water
barriers in the masonry walls have to be arranged to
avoid ascending water by capillary suction.
Applying the first sealing method (waterproof concrete) it is possible to reduce the loss of living space
because this sealing system has to be applied only
onto the inside of the outer walls. However, to avoid
ascending water in the inner masonry walls, another
horizontal water barrier has to be inserted at the bottom of all inner walls (Fig. 3). The disadvantage of
this version is the high complexity and sensitivity in
execution (Hinzen et al. 2006).

3 TEXTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE

Textile reinforced concrete consists of fine grained
concrete and technical fabrics as reinforcement. The
fabrics are mainly made of alkali-resistant (AR-) glass
or carbon. Compared to steel-reinforced concrete the
concrete cover can be reduced to a minimum as there
is no corrosion risk with (AR)-glass or carbon fabrics.

Figure 3. Another version using water-impermeable concrete as a sealing method from inside.

Thus building members made of textile reinforced concrete are thin-walled. So if this composite material is
used as a subsequent sealing from inside it will reduce
the loss of living space.
Within a research project concerning the development of small sewage plants made of textile reinforced
concrete (Hegger et al. 2003) it was found out that
the functional efficiency of this construction is based
on the fact that the composite material is resistant to
chemical attack as well as water-impermeable. Furthermore the wall thicknesses of the small sewage
plants could be minimized. The density of the textile
reinforced concrete and the minor wall thicknesses led
to the idea to develop a subsequent sealing of textile
reinforced concrete.
Concrete features a high compressive strength. The
composite material of fine grained concrete and fabrics gains additional tensile strength and a ductile
behavior (Brameshuber 2003).
Within this research project two kinds of short fibers
(AR-glass and PVA) were investigated to verify their
effectiveness concerning the increase of the strength
and the improvement of the crack distribution. Figure 4 shows the crack distribution of two slabs after
being tested in a 4-point-bending test. The one in
Figure 4 a is reinforced with 4 layers of fabrics (ARglass, 40.7 mm2 /m) and 1.5 Vol.-% AR-glass fibers, in
Figure 4b with 4 layers of fabrics (AR-glass,
40.7 mm2 /m) and 1.5 Vol.-% PVA fibers. The slabs
were wetted to visualize the cracks.
It becomes apparent that a reinforcement consisting
of a combination of fabrics and AR-glass fibers leads
to an obvious improvement of the crack distribution.
For the use of textile reinforced concrete as a
subsequent sealing the addition of AR-glass fibers
becomes important. It improves the crack distribution
and decreases the crack widths and crack spacings.
Concerning the water-impermeability of the textile
reinforced concrete these issues are very important to
improve the properties of the composite material.

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Figure 5. Principle of the subsequent sealing using textile

reinforced concrete.

Fig. 5. At the moment a wall thickness of 3035 mm

is practicable.

4.2 Production technology

Figure 4. Crack pattern in parts of slabs tested in

4-point-bending tests, reinforced with 4 layers of fabrics
(AR-glass, 40.7 mm2 /m) and 1,5 Vol.-% AR-glass fibers (a)
or 1,5 Vol.-% PVA fibers (b), after failure.

Similar results concerning the increase of the

strength and the improvement of the crack distribution by adding short fibers have been investigated
by Brameshuber et al. 2002; Hinzen and Brameshuber 2006; Naaman et al. 2007. A good survey on the
applications, properties and durability aspects of textile reinforced concrete is given in RILEM Technical
Committee 201-TRC 2006.

4
4.1

SUBSEQUENT SEALING USING TEXTILE

REINFORCED CONCRETE
Principle of the subsequent sealing

Figure 5 shows a principle of a subsequent sealing

made of textile reinforced concrete. In a first step
the base plate and the masonry walls of the residential building are prepared with a system of special
anchors. Afterwards fine grained concrete and fabrics are applied in layers with a defined position of
the fabrics inside the concrete. The goal is to yield a
wall thickness of 20 mm as depicted in the detail of

The requirements on the production technology are

complex. To redevelop residential buildings it must be
possible to apply the textile reinforced concrete to the
walls as well as to the base plate. This means to insert
the textile reinforced concrete in a horizontal as well
as in a vertical alignment. The fine grained concrete
must be adhesive to the walls during the production
process. Hence the fine grained concrete has to be
water-impermeable, resistant to chemical attacks of
the groundwater, fulfill the requirements on the load
bearing capacity as well as on the practicability and
finally it has to be adjusted to the chosen production
technology.
As a result of the requirements on the fine grained
concrete and the construction of the subsequent sealing
the spraying technique is the best production technique
to apply the textile reinforced concrete to the base plate
and masonry walls of residential buildings.
The spraying technique is very similar to laminating. It means to insert fine grained concrete and fabrics
in layers. The fine grained concrete is sprayed to the
walls and base plate with a pressure of 2 to 3 bar (Fig.
6). This process is based on a low pressure system as
it is used to spray plaster to the inside or outside walls
of a building. To ensure a good penetration and bond
behavior, the fabrics are rolled into the applied fine
grained concrete with a steel roll.
Using the spraying method it is possible to produce building members with a defined position of the
fabrics inside the concrete. Furthermore it is also possible to produce building members in a horizontal as
well as in a vertical alignment with a high amount of
reinforcement. Concerning the production of a subsequent sealing made of textile reinforced concrete

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Table 2.

Fresh fine grained concrete properties.

Value

Properties

Unit

Density
Spread

kg/m3
mm

Sprayed
Compacted with usual
compacting equipment
2129

1987
155

Table 3. Mechanical properties of fine grained concrete at

a testing age of 28 days.

Figure 6. Spraying technique.

Table 1.

Fine grained concrete.

Materials

Unit

Content

CEM I 42.5 R HS (c)

Fly ash (f)
Silica fume (s)
Limestone sand 0-0.8mm

Superplasticizer

kg/m3
kg/m3
kg/m3
kg/m3
% by mass
of binder
by vol.
by mass
of solids

520
250
50
1049

AR-glass fibers %
Methyl cellulose %
w/c
w/b*

0.79
1.5
0.044
0.60
0.49

* w/b = w/(c + 0.4 f + s)

the spraying technique is a practicable method to

redevelop residential buildings (Mott & Brameshuber
2007).
To fulfill the requirements on the fine grained
concrete a new mix was developed (Table 1).
The mix contains short ARglass fibers to increase
the flexural strength and to improve the crack distribution as mentioned in chapter 3. Further on, methyl
cellulose is added to the mix to improve the thixotropy
and tack. Both, fibers and methyl cellulose, strongly
influence the thixotropy of the spraying mix. Reasons
are the water-absorbing behavior of the fibers and the
water-retraining property of the methyl cellulose. All
this reduces the workability but up to a certain amount
it increases the ability to be pumpable, sprayable and
especially to adhere to vertical surfaces.
The fresh concrete properties density and spread
were determined according to the German Standard
DIN 18555-2:1982-09 as well as after the spraying
process. Table 2 shows the fresh fine grained concrete
properties.

Mechanical properties

Unit

Value

Compressive strength fc
Flexural strength fct,fl
Dynamic Youngs modulus Ec
Density

N/mm2
N/mm2
N/mm2
kg/m3

88.0
7.8
31,500
2164

A noticeable point is that the production technique

has got a high influence on the compacting of the
concrete. The structure of the sprayed concrete obtains
its density from the spraying process. The concrete
is pumped and leaves of the nozzle accelerated by
air pressure. Accordingly, the fine grained concrete
gets strongly compacted by the air pressure in combination with hitting the surface. Hence the density
is higher in comparison with the one compacted with
usual compacting equipment.
The hardened concrete properties compressive and
flexural strength as well as the dynamic Youngs modulus were determined at a testing age of 28 days. First
the dynamic Youngs modulus was tested by using the
resonance frequency method according to a German
guideline (Bunke 1991). To take the production process into account the specimens were sprayed. Their
dimensions were 30 30 160 mm3 . The same prisms
were used to determine the flexural strength in a threepoint bending test with a span of 100 mm. The testing
machine was displacement controlled. As there are no
guidelines concerning the loading rate, a reasonable
value of 0.2 mm/min was chosen. The compressive
strength was determined according to the German
Standard DIN 18555-3:1982-09 by using the above
mentioned prisms again. The mechanical properties
as well as the density are shown in Table 3.
Due to the higher content of cement paste and the
addition of methyl cellulose the dynamicYoungs modulus of the spraying mix shows a comparatively low
value of about 31,500 N/mm2 . The methyl cellulose
apparently influences and decreases the value of the
compressive strength, too. The reason for this behavior and the effectiveness of the methyl cellulose has
not been clarified completely until now.

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Figure 7. Front and side view of the exhibit wall subjected

to hydrostatic pressure.

EXHIBIT WALL

To check the functional efficiency of the developed

subsequent sealing an exhibit wall that can be subjected to hydrostatic pressure was produced.
Therefore a masonry wall consisting of calciumsilicate units with a wall thickness of 115 mm was
built and prepared with special anchors.Afterwards the
subsequent sealing made of textile reinforced concrete
was sprayed onto the masonry. The thickness of the
textile reinforced concrete wall was 30 mm. The wall is
framed with a steel construction with acrylic walls like
an aquarium. This allows the wall construction to be
subjected to hydrostatic pressure. Hence it is possible
to test the tightness of the sealing method in a longterm test. The front and side view of the exhibit wall
can be seen in Figure 7.
It could be determined that the spraying technique is
an adequate and practicable method to produce a subsequent sealing made of textile reinforced concrete.
Initial observations of the wall subjected to hydrostatic pressure reveal the application potential of this
construction. Long-term tests have been conducted for
more than one year so far.

CONCLUSION

A new method for a subsequent sealing made of textile

reinforced concrete for basements in case of pressing
groundwater is presented in this paper. Conventional
methods to redevelop residential buildings are often
associated with high complexity and high costs as
well as the loss of living space. Using textile reinforced concrete the wall thickness of the subsequent
sealing can be minimized. Furthermore the dense
structure of the fine grained concrete leads to a waterimpermeability and a high chemical resistance. The
water-impermeability is also ensured by small crack

widths and crack spacings as a result of the added

short ARglass fibers.
The tightness of the construction was investigated in
a long-term test by an exhibit wall. This set-up allows
subjecting the wall construction to hydrostatic pressure. Thus the functional efficiency and the design of
such a subsequent sealing could be demonstrated. It
was shown that the spraying technique is an adequate
and practicable method to produce a subsequent sealing of textile reinforced concrete. With this production
technique it is possible to produce building members
in a vertical as well as in a horizontal alignment. Also
a defined position of the fabrics inside the concrete
can be ensured.
Accordingly it is possible to produce a subsequent
sealing made of textile reinforced concrete. The construction can fulfill two functions. It can seal the
basements of residential buildings and bear the additional load due to pressing groundwater up to a water
pressure of about 0.2 bar. This is equivalent to a water
column of 2 meters. The required wall thickness of
the textile reinforced concrete amounts to only 30 to
35 mm. Hence the subsequent sealing of textile reinforced concrete may offer a cost-effective method to
redevelop residential buildings in case of pressing
groundwater with a minimized loss of living space.

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