New Age Advanced Smart Water Pipe Systems Using Textile Reinforced Concrete

A well-maintained water distribution system is an important asset for any community that supplies water from its source to consumers. Installation and maintenance of water pipes are expensive in terms of transportation, handling logistics and monitoring. Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) offers a lighter, stronger and more durable alternative to conventional building materials. The use of carbon fiber as a leakage sensor allows integrated crack monitoring. This paper presents the possibilities to use TRC as a construction material for smart water pipes with inherent sensory functions. Therefore AR-glass and carbon rovings were warp knitted in to a reinforcement textile for a TRC beam. The beam was wetted through a crack width of 0.5 mm and by using sensory carbon fibers the occurring changes in resistance were specified.