Abstract
Sixteen reinforced concrete beams having the cross-sectional dimensions of 100 × 200 × 2000 mm and clear span of 1800 mm were cast and tested until failure under a single mid-span concentrated load. Ferrocement beams in this research contained either an Autoclaved Aerated lightweight brick Core (AAC), Extruded Foam Core (EFC), or a Lightweight Concrete Core (LWC); and were reinforced with either Expanded Metal Mesh (EMM), Welded Wire Mesh (WWM) or Fibre Glass Mesh (FGM). Structural behaviour of studied beams, including first crack, ultimate load, deflection, ductility index, strain characteristics, crack pattern and failure mode were investigated. Experimental work results showed that ferrocement beams exhibited higher ductility indices than those of the control normal and lightweight test beams to different degrees. Ferrocement beams made of EFC core generally gave the lowest ductility index while the highest ductility index was found for beams made of AAC and LWC cores. Ferrocement beams demonstrated better crack control and did not undergo spalling as opposed to the conventional beams. Specimens reinforced by EMM showed better ductility than those reinforced by WWM and even after increasing the reinforcement ratio of WWM, the situation did not change. Specimens reinforced by FGM had the lowest ductility compared to specimens reinforced by steel mesh. Cracks were found to develop more rapidly in beams reinforced by EMM, while beams reinforced by FGM exhibited the least amount of cracks. The results of this research showed that ferrocement beams of light weight cores may be promising as an alternative to conventional beams and may be viable alternatives especially for low cost residential buildings.
Highlights
Sixteen reinforced concrete beams having the cross-sectional dimensions of 100 Â 200 Â 2000 mm and clear span of 1800 mm were cast and tested until failure under a single mid-span concentrated load
(AAC); Group G beams were made of reinforced extruded foam core (EFC); Group F beams were made of reinforced lightweight concrete core (LWC)
This is in agreement with Shaaban and Seoud [33] who reported that using Fibre Glass Mesh (FGM) mesh reinforcement for structural elements lead to higher ultimate load and lower ductility compared to steel mesh reinforcement
Summary
Ferrocement permanent formwork was found to offer great potential for speedy construction and material maximization at minimal cost, especially in curved structures It gives an advantage of reducing the required tensile reinforcement in beams and slabs as it incorporates steel meshes which contributes to the tensile capacity of the structural elements [17,18,19]. El-Wafa and Fukuzawa [22] investigated the characteristics of ferrocement thin composite elements with stainless steel and E-fiberglass meshes under flexure Their variables were the effect of mesh type, number of mesh layers, mesh wires diameters with opening size and type of mortar material. They reported that stainless steel meshes resulted in improved bending behaviour as their crack pattern was in the form. As the development of lightweight, cost effective and sustainable housing is increasingly being demanded and research into ferrocement as an alternative construction material to meet this demand is gaining more significance [25], there is a need to add to or increase the scope of existing research literature on flexural behaviour of ferrocement beams
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