Investigation on the flexural behaviour of ferrocement pipes and roof panels subjected to bending moment

This paper presents experimental results on the behaviour and ultimate load of fifteen pipes and six roof panels made of ferrocement. Additional results from three roof panels, carried out by others, are also compared with this research results. OPC cement, natural sand and galvanised iron wire mesh were used for the construction of 20 mm thick specimens. The pipe length was 2 m and roof panel length was 2.1 m. The main variables studied were the number of wire mesh layers which were 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 layers, the inner pipe diameter which were 105, 210 and 315 mm, cross sectional shape of the panel which were channel and box sections and the depth of the edge beam which were 95 mm and 50 mm. All specimens were simply supported and tested for pure bending with test span of 600 mm at mid-span. Tests revealed that increasing the number of wire mesh layers increases the flexural strength and stiffness. Increasing the pipe diameter or depth of edge beam of the panel increases the cracking and ultimate moments. The change in the pipe diameter led to larger effect on ultimate moment than the effect of change in the number of wire mesh layers. The box section showed behaviour and strength similar to that of the channel with same depth and number of wire mesh layers.