Study on Flexural Behaviour of Hybrid Ferrocement Slabs

Abstract

Inmultistorey building structures the slab and floor units account for something like 50 to 60% of the material requirements. The thickness of the slabs is selected so that deflections and cracks will not be a problem. However, for very heavily loaded slabs, such as slabs supporting large-span lengths and slabs of the garage, it is unavoidable that the self weight of the slabs will be increased because the thickness of those slabs must be increased. Slabs are the most widely used structural elements of modern structural complex. The cast in – situ reinforced concrete roof floor slab is the simplest form of slab construction, but it is rather wasteful in materials particularly cement. Substantial savings can be effected by modifying the composition of the slab so that its weight is reduced without imparing its strength or behaviour. For that we go for ferrocement slabs. The success of ferrocemment largely depends on its durability aspects and corrosion problems of thin reinforcing wire or welded mesh. As a laminated composite, ferrocement often suffers from spalling of matrix cover and delamination of extreme tensile layer. In order to overcome the above effects this study focuses on the various steps to be adopted in order to minimize the defects in ferrocementslabs. This paper presents the details of self compacting concrete (SCC) ferrocement slab panels incorporating micro steel fibers and polyester fibers (RECORN 3 S) under flexure. A total of 18 slab panels have been casted. The size of the slab is 650mm (length) x 300 mm (width) x 60 mm (thickness). The parameters studied in this investigation includes the number of weld mesh layers and the percentage of steel fibers and polyester fibers i.e (0.75% and 0.25%). Test procedures for self compacting (SCC) have been explained in brief. Aim of the study is that observation of the load carrying capacities, deformation at ultimate load.