Page 1 of 7

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 05

May 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 795

Experimental Study On Flexural Strength Of Wire Mesh Concrete

I. BHARATHIKANNAN

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

PRIST (Deemed to be University), THANJAVUR

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an experimental investigation performed on ferro-cement slabs, where

plaincement mortar of 1:3 mix ratio reinforced with two types of reinforcing wire meshes was

studied.Steel meshes with wire woven hexagonal openings and galvanized iron mesh were

comparedwith their performance against impact and fire exposure. The aim of this study is to

observe the influence of using ferrocement in enhancement of the mechanical properties of

reinforcedconcrete slabs subjected to impact and fire exposure. The paper provides evaluation

ofperformance by using the new technique ferro-cement, as a strengthening material of

reinforcedconcrete slabs compared with the existing reinforced concrete slabs of heavy self- weight andbrittle characteristics.

INTRODUCTION

In general there is a great development in

construction techniques employed all over

the world.The application of ferro-cement

in construction is a technique introduced to

replace heavy,brittle, crack prone

reinforced concrete members in an

effective manner. It is well known

thatconventional reinforced concrete

members are too heavy, brittle, cannot be

satisfactorily repairedif damaged, develop

cracks and reinforcements are liable to be

corroded.

The well distributed and aligned

reinforcement has made the ferrocement to

behave like steelplates. The tensile

strength of ferrocement elements is a result

of the volume of reinforcementused in the

structure. Apart from the volume of

reinforcement, the direction of its use in

line withthe force direction and tensile

stress direction is also important. The

tensile performance of theferrocement

concrete or structure can be grouped into

three,

Pre cracking phase

Post cracking phase

Page 2 of 7

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 05

May 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 796

Post yielding phase

Ferrocement members when subjected to

upward tensile stress behaves something

like a linearelastic material until the first

crack appears. Beyond this, the member

will enter the multiplecracking and

eventually continuing to a point where the

mesh starts to experience yielding. Once

at this stage the number of crack will

continue to grow with the increase in the

tensile force orstress. The specific surface

area of ferrocement member or element

has been found to influencethe first crack

in tension, as well as the width of the

cracks. In case of ferrocement, the wire

meshused as reinforcement is usually of

0.5 to 1mm diameter wire at 5mm to

10mm spacing.

The experimental program of the present

investigation comprised casting and testing

of threecontrol reinforced concrete beams

of dimensions 300 × 150 × 2,000 mm and

30 beams of totaldimensions of 300 × 150

× 2,000 mm consisting of 25 mm thick U- shaped permanent reinforcedmortar forms

filled with core material. The type of the

reinforcing steel mesh in the mortarforms,

number of steel mesh layers, the type of

core material, and the type of shear

connectingmedia between the reinforced

mortar forms and the core material were

varied in the test program.

METHODOLOGY

The behavior of ferrocement element

under compression mainly depended on

mix designproperties. The maximum stress

at first crack for ferrocement matrix

increase in proportion to thespecific area

of the element.

The experimental program of the present

investigation comprised casting and testing

of threecontrol reinforced concrete beams

of dimensions 300 × 150 × 2,000 mm and

30 beams of totaldimensions of 300 × 150

× 2,000 mm consisting of 25 mm thick U- shaped permanent reinforcedmortar forms

filled with core material. The type of the

reinforcing steel mesh in the mortarforms,

number of steel mesh layers, the type of

core material, and the type of shear

connectingmedia between the reinforced

mortar forms and the core material were

varied in the test program.

The details of the test specimens are given

in Table 1 and the cross sections of the

differentspecimens. The following code

was used for the sample designation: the

first letter defines thetype of mesh (W for

welded wire mesh and E for expanded

steel mesh), the second letter definesthe

Page 3 of 7

European Journal of Business &

Social Sciences

Available at https://ejbss.org/

ISSN: 2235-767X

Volume 07 Issue 05

May 2019

Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 797

number of reinforcing mesh layers (S for

single layer and D for double layers), the

third letterdefines the type of core material

and the shear connection media (C for

concrete with bondingagent, R for

recycled concrete with bonding agent, B

for concrete brick with bonding agent, and

S for concrete core with mechanical shear

connection).

The test beams were divided into eleven

groups and each group contained three

identical specimens. Group number 1 is

the control group in which the beams were

cast using ordinaryformwork. The beams

in this group were reinforced with 2

12

mm high tensile strength steel 16bars at

the tension side and 2

12 mm high tensile

strength steel bars at the compression side

aswell as shear reinforcement (stirrups) of

Ø8 mm at 200 mm spacing. The beams

incorporatingreinforced mortar forms were

grouped according to the mesh type,

number of steel mesh layers,type of core

material, and shear connection method.

For all the beams incorporating

precastreinforced mortar forms, the core of

the material was reinforced with two high

tensile strength steelbars of 12 mm

diameter in the tension side only. Neither

reinforcing bars at the compression sidenor

stirrups were used in these groups. Two

types of steel mesh were used to reinforce

the Ushapedformsnamely;

WeldedwiremeshandX8expanded steel

mesh.Singleordoublelayers of the steel

mesh were used as shown in following

Table. In the design of the test specimen it

was assured that the total percentage of

steel reinforcement (reinforcing bars and

steel mesh) did not exceed the maximum

percentage allowed by the design code.

This is an important issue thatshould be

observed by the designers at the practical

application stage. Shear connection

betweenthe reinforced mortar form and the

core for groups 5 and 10 was provided by

fixing bolts throughthe sides and bottom of

the forms while for the rest of the groups

bonding agent was applied on

the inner surface of the forms before

casting the core.

Concrete was used for the control beams

and as core for groups 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10.

The concrete

mix consisted of crushed dolomite, sand,

and Portland cement with coarse to fine

aggregate ratioof 2 and sand to cement

ratio of 2. The water/cement ratio was 0.4.

Superplasticizer with ratio of1.5 % by

weight of cement was used to improve

workability of the mixture. The