Abstract
An experimental investigation on the shear strength of ferrocement is described. Tests were conducted on 155 simply supported rectangular ferrocement specimens under four-point loading. Variables of the study were the number of layers of wire mesh, two mesh layouts, strength of the mortar and shear span-to-depth ratio. Two types of shear cracking and failure, namely those due to flexure-shear and web-shear, were noticed. Test results indicate that for both of the mesh layouts considered, the shear strengths of ferrocement at cracking and at failure due to flexure-shear and web-shear increase as the shear span-to-depth ratio is decreased, and the volume fraction of mesh wires is increased. The shear stresses at which the web-shear crack and web-shear failure occurred were higher than the shear stresses at which the flexure-shear crack and flexure-shear failure occurred. Best-fit equations and characteristic strength equations are proposed for the shear strength of ferrocement in flexure-shear cracking, web-shear cracking, flexure-shear failure and web-shear failure.
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