review paper on ferrocement concrete composites

8/13/2019 Review Paper on Ferrocement Concrete Composites

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VSRD International Journal of *** , Vol. 2 No. *** 2012 / 1ISSN No. *** (Online), *** (Print) VSRD International Journals !!!."sr#$ournals.%o&

A STUDY ON FERROCEMENT-CONCRETE COMPOSITES

1Shruti Ratnaparkhe*, 2Ahih Ni! an" #S$na! Chan"$re1Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, IES IPS Academy, Indore, M.P., India.

2MTech. student, Civil Engineering, IES IPS Academy, Indore, M.P., India.2MTech. student, Civil Engineering, IES IPS Academy, Indore, M.P., India.

Shruti !atna"ar#he $ shruti.amin%yahoo.co.in

A%STRACTThe use of cementitious composites for infrastructure applications is becoming more popular with the introduction of new high

performance materials. Ferrocement laminates are introduced to enhance the overall performance of structures, such as composite bridge

decks, beams, bearing walls, etc. This review from the past experiences presents the results of experimental and analytical studies done on

composite beams made of reinforced concrete overlaid on a thin section of ferrocement (cement paste and wire mesh). Results show that

the composite structures possess good ductility, cracking strength and ultimate capacity.

Keywords : Ferrocement; Composite; Concrete; Strength; Laminates

INTRODUCTION

n the early !"#$%s, labour intensive ferrocementconstruction was viewed as particularly suitable for

rural applications in developing countries. n urban

environment like &ingapore and other developed

countries, the applications of ferrocement must beviewed from a different perspective due to the

competitiveness in the construction industry and the

increase in labour cost coupled with shortage of

skilled construction workers. n order to alleviate

these problems, mechanised production and proper

choice of reinforcements must be pursued to ensure

the cost competitiveness and speed of construction.

The 'ational niversity of &ingapore has since early

!"#$%s made effort to popularise ferrocement as a

construction material through research and

development. xtensive investigations were carried

out on its mechanical properties and severalprototypes structural elements were built to

demonstrate construction techni*ue and to evaluate

their performance in service +!!$-. From the

experiences gained in these studies, considerable

progress has been made in the use of ferrocement in

public housing in &ingapore as well as neighbouring

countries. Ferrocement structural elements have

gained gradual acceptance by the building authoritiesthrough research and development even though

ferrocement design has not been regulated by aformal code of practice.
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Ferrocement has a very high tensile strengthto

weight ratio and superior cracking behaviour in

comparison to reinforced concrete. This means that

ferrocement structures can be relatively thin, light

and watertight. ence it is an ideally suited material

for thin wall structures. / team of researchers at the

0epartment of 1ivil ngineering, 'ationalniversity of &ingapore, has collaborated with the

local housing authorities and precast industries tointroduce precast ferrocement structural elements in

public housing. &everal case studies involving the

adaptation and successful implementation of the

research results into economical and beneficial

applications of ferrocement.

Ferrocement is a construction material that proved to

have superior *ualities of crack control, impact

resistance, and toughness, largely due to the close

spacing and uniform dispersion of reinforcement

within the material. 2ne of the main advantages offerrocement is that it can be constructed with a wide

spectrum of *ualities, properties, and cost, according

to customer3s demand and budget.

Recently, ferrocement has received attention as a

potential building material, especially for roofing of

housing construction. 4any investigators have

reported the physical and mechanical properties of

this material and numerous test data are available to

define its performance criteria for construction and

repair of structural elements.

FERROCEMENT

The term ferrocement is most commonly applied to a

mixture of Portlandcementand sand applied overlayers of woven or expanded steel mesh and closely

spaced smalldiameter steel rods rebar. t can beused to form relatively thin, compound curved sheets

to make hulls for boats, shell roofs, water tanks, etc.

Ferrocement is also written as ferrociment,

ferrocemento, ferrocimento, and ferro5ement.

6iterally meaning much steel rather than much

concrete. t is sometimes reffered to as thinshell

concrete. Ferrocement is a highly versatile form of

reinforced concrete, constructed of hydraulic cement

mortar reinforced with closely spaced layers ofcontinuous and relatively small diameter wire mesh.

The mesh may be made of a metallic or other suitable

material. Ferrocement primarily differs from

conventional reinforced or prestressed concrete by

the manner in which the reinforcing elements are

dispersed and arranged.

ADVANTAGES OF FERROCEMENT

Ferrocement is a suitable technology for developing

countries for the following reasons7

(a) ts basic raw materials are readily available in

most countries.

(b) t can be fabricated into any desired shape.

(c) The skills for ferrocement construction can be

ac*uired easily.

(d) eavy plants and machinery are not involved inferrocement construction.

(e) n case of damage, it can be repaired easily.

(f) 8eing labor intensive, it is relatively inexpensive

in developing countries.

CONSTITUENT MATERIALS

CEMENT

The cement should comply with /&T4 1 !9$:9a,

/&T4 1 9"9:9, or an e*uivalent standard. The cementshould be fresh, of uniform consistency and free of lumps

and foreign matter. t should be stored under dry

conditions and for as short a duration as possible. 1ement

factors are normally higher in ferrocement than in

reinforced concrete. 4ineral admixtures, such as fly ash,

silica fumes or blast furnace slag, may be used to

maintain a high volume fraction of fine filler material.

Rice usk /sh (R/) cement can be economically used

as partial replacement of cement in mortar mixes. ;hen

R/ does not exceed : days is similar to

that of Type ?ortland 1ement 4ortar.

FINE AGGREGATES

'ormal weight fine aggregate (sand) is the most common

aggregate used in ferrocement. t should be clean, hard,

strong, free of organic impurities and deleterious

substances and relatively free of silt and clay. t should be

inert with respect to other materials used and of suitable

type with respect to strength, density, shrinkage and

durability of the mortar made with it. @rading of the sand

is to be such that a mortar of specified proportions is

produced with a uniform distribution of the aggregate,

which will have a high density and good workability and

which will work into position without segregation and

without use of a high water content. The fineness of the

sand should be such that !$$= of it passes standard sieve.

WATER
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_cementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_cementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_cementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebar


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;ate used in the mixing is to be fresh and free from any

organic and harmful solution which will lead to a

deterioration in the properties of the mortar. &alt water is

not acceptable but chlorinated drinking water can be used.

?otable water is fit for use as mixing water as well as for

curing ferrocement structures.

ADMIXTURE

1hemical admixtures used in ferrocement serve one of the

following four purposes7 water reduction, which increases

strength and reduces permeabilityA air entrainment, which

increases resistance to free5ing and thawingA and

suppression of reaction between galvani5ed reinforcement

and cement.

MORTAR MIX

The reaction of portland cement and water results in

formation of hardened cement paste. The ranges of mixproportions recommended for common ferrocement

applications are sandcement ratio by weight, !.9 to >.9,

and watercement ratio by weight, $.


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protection against corrosion and vinyl and epoxy coatings

were found to be the most successful organic coatings.

STEEL MESH REINFORCEMENT

&teel wire meshes are considered the primary mesh

reinforcement. This include the various types of the

shapeA s*uare woven or welded meshes, chicken

(hexagonalaviary) wire mesh, expanded metal mesh

lath etc. xcept for expanded metal mesh, generally

all the meshes are used galvani5ed. Figure depictsthe typical steel wire meshes used in ferrocement

applications.

F!"# $% T&'!cal (teel me()e( *(ed !n +errocement

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

P Parama(!,am -.//$0Ferrocement is ideally suitedfor thin wall structures as the uniform distributionand dispersion of reinforcement provide bettercracking resistance, higher tensile strength to weight

ratio, ductility and impact resistance. 8y adapting

available mechani5ed production methods and properchoice of reinforcements it can be cost competitive in

industriali5ed countries. Research and development

worksof ferrocement, at the 'ational niversity of&ingapore, since early !"#$%s, has resulted in several

applications such as sunscreens, secondary roofingslabs, water tanks, and repair material in the building

industries.

Han! H# Na((!+ et al# -.//10 The use of cementitious

composites for infrastructure applications is becoming

more popular with the introduction of new high

performance materials. Ferrocement laminates are

introduced to enhance the overall performance of

structures, such as composite bridge decks, beams,

bearing walls, etc. This paper presents the results of an

experimental and analytical study done on composite

beams made of reinforced concrete overlaid on a thin

section of ferrocement (cement paste and wire mesh). nparticular, the method of shear transfer between

composite layers is examined. Garious types of beam

specimens with various mesh types (hexagonal and

s*uare) are tested under a twopoint loading system up to

failure. Results from experimental data are compared to

those from nonlinear analysis as well as a finite element

study to model the overall nonlinear behavior. Results

show that the proposed composite beam has good

ductility, cracking strength and ultimate capacity.

NCHRP REPORT 232 et al# -.//30 This report presents

guidance for the selection of best management practices

(84?s) for highway runoff control. These practices

provide means of avoiding or mitigating the negative

impacts of various pollutants that can be carried by

rainfall into the groundwater and receiving waters. These

pollutants include materials discharged by vehicles using

the highway system, pesticides and fertili5ers from

adBacent landscapes, and particulates from breakdown of

the pavements themselves. 84?s include the traditional

treatments applied at or near the sources of the pollutants

and a more distributed approach known as lowimpact

development (60). This report should be a valuableresource for all highway agencies that must evaluate and

select the most effective and efficient means of managing

pollution related to storm water from highways.

C)ote Sorana4om et al# (>$$E) This paper presents a

model based on parameteri5ed uniaxial constitutive

response for cement based composites in order to

correlate the tensile and flexural experimental data. The

model consists of a parabolic curve to describe the

compression and a trilinear curve to describe the tension

response. Two cutoff points for ultimate compressive

strain and ultimate tensile strain can be used to terminate

the calculation of the momentcurvature diagram. 8y

using a conventional iterative strain compatibility

analysis, the moment curvature diagram for homogenous

material can be derived explicitly according to the level of

applied tensile strain. /pproaches are presented to express

the moment and curvature response in dimensionless

forms in order to eliminate the effect of specimen si5e and

material properties. These moment curvature relationships


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can be used in the context of plastic analysis of structures

to solve a variety of structural loading cases.

M# A# Saleem et al# -.//50 The greatest humanitarian

challenge faced even today after one year of Hashmir

a5ara earth*uake is that of providing shelter. 1urrently

on the globe one in seven people live in a slum or refugee

camp +!-. The earth*uake of 2ctober >$$9 resulted in agreat loss of life and property. This research work is

mainly focused on developing a design of small si5e, low

cost and earth*uake resistant house. Ferrocement panels

are recommended as the main structural elements with

lightweight truss roofing system. arth*uake resistance is

ensured by analy5ing the structure on T/8& for a

seismic activity of 5one C. The behavior of structure is

found satisfactory under the earth*uake loading. /n

estimate of cost is also presented which shows that it is an

economical solution.

An6ar et al# 6ike many other countries in the world,

significant developments in cementitious materials have

been made in Thailand, spearheaded by the nternational

Ferrocement nformation 1enter (F&) located at /sian

nstitute of Technology (/T) Thailand, several other

academic institutions, and the construction industry. This

paper highlights some of these developments together

with their applications. &pecial focus is given to

ferrocement and laminated cementitious composites, and

the use of indigenous materials such as vetiver grass, thai

silk, bamboo, etc. 0ifferent aspects such as materials,

design, and construction are discussed together with theapplication of finite element analysis to structures made

from cementitious composites.

Anen et al# -.//70 This paper addresses the composite

action between the ferrocement slabs and steel sheeting.

This is an important issue that could impact the

performance and strength of space trusses. The current

paper presents the experimental models of ferrocement

slabs with and without steel sheeting and their numerical

models using the finite element method. Finite element

models were developed to simulate the behavior of the

slab through nonlinear response and up to failure, using

the /'&I& ?ackage. /dditionally, the comparison

between the theoretical and experimental models is

presented and discussed.

8a"annat)an9 A#9Ferrocement construction technology

is *uite popular throughout the world. Ferrocement, a

thin element, is used as a building construction as well as

a repair material. This paper attempts to review the

literature on ferrocement and bring out the salient features

of construction, material properties and the special

techni*ues of applying cement mortar on to the

reinforcing mesh. This study brings out the importance of

using ferrocement in swimming pools and water tanks,

silos, corrugated roofs, shell and dome structures, and

also in the repair of old deteriorated R11 structures. /lso

is discussed in this paper a similar material to

ferrocement, termed as ngineered 1ementitious1omposite, which uses fibers as reinforcement. The

recommendations of this study include addition of fibers

in ferrocement to reduce crackwidth. The present authors

recommend that experimental investigation may be

conducted on new reinforcing materials by researchers in

the future. The study concludes that ferrocement will

certainly be one of the best structural alternatives for R11

in the future.

AUTHORS VIEW

From the past researches it is observed that the use of

ferrocement is implemented, but the use of

ferrocementconcrete composites are *uite small. t is

reviewed that ferrocement causes less deterioration in

the structure as compared to plain concrete, but the

ferrocementconcrete improves the overallperformance of the structure and also prevents the

structure from the corrosion. &o the further

ferrocementconcrete should be analysed.

REFERENCES

+!- /. 'asser. (>$$C). 8ehavior and &trength of Ferrocement

1omposite lements under 0ifferent 1ases of 6oading, ?h.0.

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+>- /1, (!":$). J&tateoftheart report on ferrocement,K

+$$$). J&tate of /rt Report on FerrocementK,

/1 1ommittee 9C", /merican 1oncrete nstitute.

+C- /khtar, &., /rif, 4. and Luraishi, 4./. (>$$"). Jse of

1hemical 1orrosion nhibitors for ?rotection of 4etallic Fibre

Reinforcement in Ferrocement 1omposites .K The /rabian

Mournal for &cience and ngineering, 1)7!$9!!


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+#- Fahmy et.al (>$$9). J?ermanent ferrocement forms7 a viable

alternative for construction of concrete beams.K 1.2ur ;orld n

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+!9- ? ?aramasivam (>$$!). JFerrocement structuralapplications.K 1.2ur ;orld n 1oncrete N &tructures. 'ational

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