Flexural behavior of one way ferrocement slabs

Dissertant

Yass, Miqdad Sabri

University

University of Technology

Faculty

-

Department

Department of Building and Construction Engineering

University Country

Iraq

Degree

Master

Degree Date

1998

English Abstract

Ferrocemerit is considered a highly versatile composite material made of cement mortar and layers of wire mesh or similar small diameter steel mesh closely bound together to create a stiff structural form with or without steel bars of small diameters called skeletal steel.

It can be considered as a type of thin reinforced-concrete construction where instead of reinforcing bars, larger amounts of smaller diameter wire meshes are used uniformly throughout the cross section, and instead of concrete, mortar is used.

The main aim of this study is to investigate the behavior and ultimate strength of one-way ferrocement slabs under flexural load.

The main parameters considered in the present investigation were number of wire mesh layers (2 and 4), slab thickness (15, 20, 30, 40, and 50mm), and cement to sand mixture (1 : 2 : 0, 45, 1 : 3 : 0.53, and 13 : 0.66).

A total of sixteen slab models (470 x 1500mm) were cast and tested under sixteen symmetric patch loads at the top surface after they were supported by channel (c-section) and fixed by bolts.

The behavior of models was observed by reading the loads and deflections at mid-width and observing the crack patterns and mode of failure.

According to the thickness of slab models, cylinder compressive strength, and specific surface for the tested models, an empirical expression to predict the initial cracking load is proposed.

The elastic analysis was carried out using the finite element method and a solution based on the principle of virtual work on the assumed collapse mechanisms was adopted to determine the ultimate load.

From the results obtained, it was found that increasing the number of wire mesh layers and slab thickness tend to increase the initial cracking and ultimate loads.

The content of cement variably affects the load carrying capacity of the slabs.

Also, it was found that increasing slab thickness beyond 30mm does contribute significantly to the increase in flexural strength of ferrocement slabs.

In general, a good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results is observed.

Also, the results of the ultimate loads obtained from the principle of virtual work show us that various numbers of wire mesh layers do not always help to predict accurate results by applying the concept of reinforced concrete.

Main Subjects

Civil Engineering

Topics

• Mechanical properties
• Reinforced concrete

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-306170