ABSTRACT
Fabric formwork is an emerging method for casting concrete in flexible membranes, which offers unrivalled opportunities to create architectural structures, as well as to shape structural elements appropriately and use concrete more efficiently. Research studies of fabric-formed beams carried out at the University of Bath have indicated that a minimum of 40% material savings are achievable with optimised design of fabric-formed concrete. Practical design tools and construction guidance have also been developed as part of the research studies to encourage the industrial application of fabric formwork. Reinforcing fabric-formed elements with FRP composite materials has been investigated for the significant advantages it provides in terms of installation and manufacturing techniques suitable for concrete elements with varying geometry. This paper presents experimentally tested construction approaches, proposed design methodology and experimental results, which validate the design method and demonstrate the possibility to build FRP-reinforced fabric-formed beams exhibiting ductile behaviour.
