ISSN 2278 – 1447 Volume – 5, Issue-1, International Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (IJMSE), March 2016

Experimental Study on Flexural Strength of

Wire Mesh Concrete Slab
R.Elavarasan1, M.Ragapriya2, S.R.Renjusha3, N.M.Sangeetha4, P.Soundariya Devi5
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Vivekanandha College of Technology for Women,
Tiruchengode,Namakkal. E-mail:youngprince88@gmail.com
2,3,4,5
UG Students, Department of Civil Engineering, Vivekanandha College of Technology for Women,
Tiruchengode, Namakkal. E-mail: kmragapriya@gmail.com

Abstract: This paper presents an experimental 1. INTRODUCTION

investigation performed on ferrocement slabs, where In general there is a great development in
plain cement mortar of 1:3 mix ratio reinforced with construction techniques employed all over the world.
two types of reinforcing wire meshes was studied. Steel
The application of ferrocement in construction is a
meshes with wire woven hexagonal openings and
technique introduced to replace heavy, brittle, crack
galvanized iron mesh were compared with their
prone reinforced concrete members in an effective
performance against impact and fire exposure.
The aim of this study is to observe the influence of
manner. It is well known that conventional reinforced
using ferrocement in enhancement of the mechanical concrete members are too heavy, brittle, cannot be
properties of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to satisfactorily repaired if damaged, develop cracks and
impact and fire exposure. The paper provides reinforcements are liable to be corroded.
evaluation of performance by using the new technique
ferrocement, as a strengthening material of reinforced
concrete slabs compared with the existing reinforced
concrete slabs of heavy self weight and brittle
characteristics. Wire mesh is a form of reinforcement
that differs from conventional reinforcement by the
manner in which the reinforcing elements are dispersed
and arranged. The testing program included impact
load testing, projectile impact test using projectile (steel
ball) of a diameter of 12.5mm and impact load testing
done after subjecting the slabs to heat in oven reaching
a temperature of 110 degree Celsius for 24 hours. The
main findings showed that the use of the ferrocement as Fig 1: Wire mesh concrete slab
a reinforcement to concrete slabs enhanced the
perforation resistance and reduce the heat transfer
1.1 PROPERTIES OF FERROCEMENT
through the thinner thickness of the steel mesh
The engineering properties of ferrocement
reinforced cement matrix. Ferrocement is a relatively
structure are equivalent to normal concrete and in
new material consisting of wire meshes and cement
some application it performs better. Ferrocement is
mortar. The basic idea behind this material is that
concrete can undergo large strain in the neighborhood one of the most useful techniques providing greater
of the reinforcement and the magnitude of strain. fire resistance property.

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1.2 REINFORCEMENT IN FERROCEMENT
The well distributed and aligned reinforcement
has made the ferrocement to behave like steel plates.
The tensile strength of ferrocement elements is a
result of the volume of reinforcement used in the
structure. Apart from the volume of reinforcement,
the direction of its use in line with the force direction
and tensile stress direction is also important. The
tensile performance of the ferrocement concrete or
structure can be grouped into three,
- Pre cracking phase,
- Post cracking phase,
- Post yielding phase.
Ferrocement members when subjected to
upward tensile stress behaves something like linear
elastic material until the first crack appears. Beyond
this, the member will enter the multiple cracking 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 or stress. The specific
surface area of ferrocement member or element has
been found to influence the first crack in tension, as
well as the width of the cracks.
In case of ferrocement, the wire mesh used as
reinforcement is usually of 0.5 to 1mm diameter wire
at 5mm to 10mm spacing.
Fig 2: Galvanized iron mesh
1. 2.ROLE OF MORTAR MIX IN FERROCEMENT
The behavior of ferrocement element under
compression mainly depended on mix design
properties. The maximum stress at first crack for
ferrocement matrix increase in proportion to the
specific area of the element.
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Ferrocement is also has other outstanding
properties besides its engineering properties
compared to normal concrete such as,
(a) Ferrocement exhibits a very easy mold-ability
characteristic, that it can be used to produce any
desired shape of structure.
(b) Besides that due to superior tensile behavior and
water tightness, the material is widely used for
lightweight construction and water tight structure as
well as for potable structure.
Some of the successful application of
ferrocement includes boat, sampan, pipes, shell roofs,
wind tunnel, modular housing, sandwich pools,
permanent from of concrete structure etc.
In case of ferrocement, cement mortar is of
cement sand ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 with water cement
ratio of 0.45 to 0.50.
The ferrocement elements are usually of the order
of 2 to 3cm in thickness with 2 to 3mm external
cover to the ferrocement. The steel content varies
between 300kg to 500 kg per cubic meter of mortar.
Fig 3: Applying mortar over wire mesh
2.1 ADVANTAGES OF FERROCEMENT
There are many advantages of Ferro cement when
compared to that of conventional reinforced concrete
structural elements. Some of the common and major
advantages are listed below.
 Raw materials are available in most of the
countries.
 ISSN 2278 – 1447 Volume – 5, Issue-1, International Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (IJMSE), March 2016

 It can be constructed in any shape. 3.1 FERROCEMENT IN SLABS

 Labour is not required to be very experienced. For structure protection reinforced concrete is
 Construction work is easy, less weight and durable. mainly used. However concrete structures subjected
 Cost of the construction materials is low. to dynamic loads due to explosion will respond
 Provide resistance to fire, corrosion and differently than statically loaded structure and the
earthquake. structure now is subjected to a combination of blast
 Simply of construction. and fragment loads. During blast and fragment
 Small thickness. impacts it form small charges, the structure will
 High tensile strength. shake, vibrate, severe crushing of concrete occurs and
 Less crack width compare to conventional crater forms in the front of the concrete. On the other
concrete. hand, if a large charge is used, large penetration will
 Easy reparability. occur and will result in scabbing to the back side of
 Non corrosive nature. the wall or perforation with risk of injury for people
inside the structure.
2.2 DISADVANTAGES OF FERROCEMENT The use of fibrocement as a reinforcement to
Beyond the advantages there are also some concrete slabs enhanced the perforation resistance
disadvantages of ferrocement which needs to be in and reduce the heat transfer through the thinner
consideration before using it. They are thickness of the steel mesh reinforced cement matrix.
Number of labour will be higher. FERROCEMENT IN MANHOLE COVER
Rust can be developed on the reinforcement if not Ferrocement manhole cover is becoming very
covered properly by mortar. popular to replace cast iron manhole cover over
It is hard to do welding properly. sewer around domestic building where they are not

Binding rod and mesh along can be time consuming subjected to heavy vehicular traffic.
Owing to the reason that the cost of ferrocement

3. APPLICATIONS OF FERROCEMENT manhole cover is only about (1/10th) of the cost of

Ferrocement is applied in many parts of a cast iron manhole cover, and that it can be

structure. Applications of ferrocement as various part manufactured readily, it makes a good substitute for
of structure are discussed below: cast iron manhole cover.

3.2 FERROCEMENT IN PRESSURE PIPES

Ferrocement is suitable material for pressure
pipes. It will be lighter compared to the normal
reinforced concrete pipes. Suitable techniques like
centrifuging and guniting can be used for mass
production in a factory.

3.3 FERROCEMENT AS PRECAST

Fig 4: Preparation of concrete slab MEMBERS
Ferrocement is suitable for casting curved
benches for park, garden and open- air cinema
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theatre. Ferrocement members can be obtained in 4. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

desired shapes as per requirements. MATERIALS USED
The materials used for the experimental work are
3.4 FERROCEMENT FOR STRUCTURAL as follows:
BEAM REHABILITATION Table 1: Materials Required
A large number of civil infrastructures around the Sl.
Material Specification
world in a state of series deterioration today due to No
carbonation, chloride attack, etc. More over many Ordinary Portland Cement
1 Cement
civil structures are no longer considered safe due to (43 grade)
increase load specification in the design codes or due River sand of fineness
2 Fine aggregate
to overloading or due to under design of existing modulus 2.56
structures or due to lake of quality control. Type1: steel mesh with wire
In order to maintain efficient serviceability, older woven hexagonal openings
structures may be repaired or strengthened so that 3 Reinforcement Type 2: Galvanized iron
they meet the same requirements demanded of the mesh of rectangular grid
structures build today and in future. Hence the openings
practice of ferrocement construction with less degree Water Cement
4 0.5
of penetration and light weight members can be ratio
applied for construction of structures with less repair Cement 1:3
5
and rehabilitation practices. Mortar ratio

3.5 FERROCEMENT IN WATER TANK 4.1 DETAILS OF TEST SPECIMENS

Ferrocement tanks are lighter in weight (wall Ferrocement slabs of size 350 * 350 * 25 mm
thickness of 500 mm is one cm) and higher in were cast using two different types of wire meshes.
strength as compared to reinforced concrete tanks. It The experimental investigation consisted of casting
involves in minimum skills, lesser project cost for and testing of two series of ferrocement slabs. About
fabrication, maximum utility and serviceability. 6 slabs have been cast using steel mesh with wire
Ferrocement tanks can replace costly steel/mild steel woven hexagonal openings and another 6 slabs have
tanks. As compared PVC steel tanks, ferrocement been cast using galvanized iron mesh of rectangular
tanks are Eco-friendly and the quality of these tanks grid openings.
is that here the water gets less heated in summer.
Ferrocement tank have diversified applications in
addition to water tanks such as grain storage soils,
septic tanks, animal feed, cup boards, boundary wall,
door shutters, segmented roofing sheets, manhole
covers irrigation channels, ferrocement earthquake
resistant houses, flower pots etc. All these products
can be fabricated in the same unit with the use of Fig 5: Materials Used
different moulds.

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4.2 IMPACT TEST – EXPERIMENTAL

SETUP
 The impact test is carried out as per ASTMD7136
with 1.2kg iron ball made to fall from a height of
400 mm.
 The test is carried out for the ferrocement slab
specimens before and after exposure to a
temperature of 110 degree Celsius for 24 hours in
hot air oven .
 The impact strength is found out by the formula
5. RESULT & CONCULSION
Based on the experimental investigations six slabs
of “steel mesh with wire woven hexagonal openings”
were casted and placed for 7, 14 and 28 days of
curing. These are tested after oven drying of 110
degree celcius for 24 hours in oven. The scope of the
study may be done by using galvanized iron mesh for
various grades.

Potential energy = m g h * n
Where,
m = mass of the iron ball used to produce impact
g = acceleration due to gravity
h = height of impact/ blow of the iron ball
n = number of blows taken for the failure of slab
specimen.
 The test method covers the damage resistance of Fig 6: Slab Specimen with mould
slabs subjected to a drop weight impact event.
 Procedures are provided for the optional Table:2 Experimental results in terms of blows for
measurement of contact for and velocity of the chicken mesh
event. Curing Number of Blows
Specimen
 The damage resistance is quantified in terms of the period Before After
ID
resulting type and size of the specimen. (days) Exposure Exposure
 The test may be used to screen materials for 7 9 8
damage resistance, or any specimen for subsequent Slab 1 14 12 8
for any damage tolerance testing. When impacted 28 15 10
slab/plate in accordance with test method
D7137/D7137M, the overall test sequence is
commonly called as Compression After Impact Table:3 Experimental results in terms of potential
(CAI) method. energy for chicken mesh
 Quasi – static indentation for test may be used as Specimen Type of
Test Potential energy
an alternative method of creating damage from an ID Mesh
out-of-plane force and damage properties. 7 14 28
 The damage resistance properties generated by this Chicken Impact
Slab 1 63 84 105
mesh test
test method are highly dependable in several 39 56 70
factors, which include specimen geometry.

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120
100
80
BEFORE
60 EXPOSURE
40
AFTER
20 EXPOSURE
0
7 days 14 28
days days

Fig 7: Impact Test Results

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flexural strength and crack width for fiber reinforced
shotcrete used in weak rock mines (2012), Washington.
[4] Muhammed N.S. Hadi and Hua Zhao; Experimental study of
high strength concrete columns with different types of wire
mesh (2013).
[5] Sher Ali Mirza and James G. MacGregor; Strength and
ductility of concrete slabs reinforced with welded wire
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