Abstracto

Flexural Behavior of Trough Shaped Ferrocement Panels

P.Saranya Banu, S.Dharmar , Dr.S.Nagan

Ferrocement is a highly versatile construction material and possess high performance characteristic, especially in cracking, strength, ductility, and impact resistance as its reinforcement is uniformly distributed in the longitudinal and transverse directions and closely spaced through the thickness of the section.. There is an ample scope for mass production and standardization together with the economy in construction. Ferrocement is suitable for low-cost roofing, pre-cast units and man-hole covers. It is also used for the construction of domes, water tanks, boats, silos and folded plates. An experimental investigation on flexural behavior of trough shaped ferrocement panels reinforced with skeletal steel and GI hexagonal wire mesh with varying number of wire mesh layers is presented. The slab panels are tested under flexural loading by applying line loads at 1/3rd points. From the studies, it is observed that the load carrying capacity, deformation of ultimate load and energy dissipation capacity are high in case of increasing number of wire mesh layers. Further it is observed that a reduction in crack width and increase in no of cracks indicates the delay in crack growth.