Author’s Accepted Manuscript

Flexural response and crack development

properties of ferrocement panels reinforced with
steel fibers

Seyed Esmaeil Mousavi

www.elsevier.com/locate/jobe

PII: S2352-7102(16)30298-4
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2017.06.010
Reference: JOBE286
To appear in: Journal of Building Engineering
Received date: 4 December 2016
Revised date: 11 June 2017
Accepted date: 11 June 2017
Cite this article as: Seyed Esmaeil Mousavi, Flexural response and crack
development properties of ferrocement panels reinforced with steel fibers,
Journal of Building Engineering, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2017.06.010
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 1

Flexural response and crack development properties of ferrocement panels

reinforced with steel fibers

SEYED ESMAEIL MOUSAVI1

Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Khodabandeh Branch, Islamic Azad University,

Khodabandeh, Iran

mousavi@khiau.ac.ir

Abstract

Effect of partial replacement of cement with silica fume on flexural strength and cracking of ferrocement simply

supported panels reinforced with steel fiber and wire mesh was explored. For the purpose of this study, various

dosages of silica fume and steel fiber were mechanically mixed with reference mortar. The ferrocement panel

specimens were prepared with 1, 2, and 3 layers of galvanized wire mesh. The water-cement ratio was fixed at

0.35 for all the test specimens. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the 28-day flexural strength of

simply supported panels by laboratory center point flexural tests. The results of 15 simply supported

ferrocement panels indicated that the fabricated ferrocement panels with silica fume content up to 15% by

binder weight exhibited superior flexural performance as compared to the control ferrocement panels with no

silica fume content. Flexural performance parameter used for comparison was flexure stress–deflection

response. The number of cracks developed at failure was also taken into account with measurements of average

crack width and crack spacing. It was further revealed that for a 15% cement replacement with silica fume and

4% steel fiber addition in mortar mix, approximately 3.6-fold increase in 28-day flexural strength was observed

when compared to the conventional mortar. In summary, inclusion of 4% steel fibers in a mortar of fabricated

ferrocement panel improved the crack resistance and flexural capacity.

Keywords:

Ferrocement; Mid span; Silica fume; Steel fiber; Flexural strength

1. Introduction

1.1. Ferrocement

A ferrocement element is a thin walled mortar which is produced by cement as a binder, sand as fine aggregate

and water reinforced with spaced layers of small diameter wire mesh (Chee and Ramil [1]; Jayasree et al. [2];

1
Tel.: +98-919-650-6440
 2

Alhajri et al. [3]; Nassif and Najm [4]). Ferrocement beam is thought to be more susceptible to cracking than

any other type of concrete beam, particularly in structures with long spans. As compared to the conventional

reinforced concrete, ferrocement is reinforced in two directions. According to Chee and Ramil [1], ferrocement

panels possess high strength and mechanical properties and bonding interaction between reinforcements and

mortar matrix. Therefore, ferrocement panels exhibit a high value of elasticity and excellent crack resistance.

Thus, there is a tendency for ferrocement application as building construction (Chee and Ramil [1]).

1.2. Silica fume

In modern technology, silica fume, a byproduct from silicon metal, has been considered as a viable

supplementary material and very reactive pozzolan for mortar and concrete productions (Shannag [5]). Several

previous research works had established that silica fume can be used as a very fine additive with pozzolanic

properties for the production of high compressive strength mortar and ferrocement elements (Chee and Ramil

[1]; Sasiekalaa and Malathy [6]). Silica fume is commonly identified as vitreous silica with a very high content

of amorphous silicon dioxide and consists of very fine spherical particles. Silica fume generally contains more

than 90% SiO2 (Masood et al. [7]). In previous studies (Chee and Ramil [1]; Arif et al. [8]; Shannag and Ziyyad

[9]; Chee and Ramil [10]; Ibrahim [11]; Burak [12]; Siddique [13]; Yerramala et al. [14]; Gupta et al. [15])

silica fume with very high amounts of SiO2 had been incorporated as a major constituent binder material for

producing of high strength concrete and mortar. The research works concluded that silica fume can be used as a

partial cement replacement material by total weight of the binder. The researchers stipulated that an optimum

content of silica fume had resulted in a tremendous increase of compressive strength and improvement of

performance of ferrocement beams. According to Wong et al. [16], a natural pozzolan such as silica fume is

commonly predominated by silica and alumina in composition. It is applied to mitigate alkali silica reaction in

concrete by promoting secondary pozzolanic reaction during the initial stage of cement setting. It was justified

that the use of silica fume causes pozzolanic reaction and cementitious products. The cementation crystals

resulted in the formation of secondary calcium silicate hydrate and pore refinement in a dense mortar.

Therefore, a dense mortar mix is suitable for use in ferrocement beam with high durability, performance,

flexural strength and compressive strength (Siddique [13]).

1.3. Fiber reinforcement

In recent developments on the use of wire mesh as reinforcement in mortar of ferrocement has been

incorporated as constituent reinforcing elements in the ferrocement production. Besides, steel fiber is specially

designed to enhance concrete strength in its hardened state. It is widely used in buildings, bridges, roof
 3

engineering and highway. ASTM A820 provides the mechanical and physical properties of various types of

steel fiber. According to ASTM A820, tensile strength of steel fibers varies between 1100 MPa to 1400 MPa.

The diameter and length of steel fibers also were designed to be 0.4-1.2 mm and 25-60 mm respectively.

However, there is a lack of sufficient data on the effect of silica fume and steel fiber on the formation of cracks

and mechanical behavior of ferrocement panels. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the 28-day

flexural strength of simply supported panel by laboratory center point loading tests with various proportions of

silica fume and steel fiber. The outcome of this study is an optimal mix design of a dense mortar mix for

improvement of flexural performance of ferrocement panels.

2. Experimental program

The laboratory investigation plan was designed to research the flexural response and cracking of ferrocement

panel fabricated using steel fiber, wire mesh reinforcment and mortar containing silica fume.

2.1. Materials (Cement, Silica fume, Sand, Superplasticizer and Water)

For the purpose of this study, ASTM Type I Portland cement as the binder was prepared from YTL Company.

Silica fume powder with gray in color was provided from Norchem Company. The properties of silica fume are

specified in Table 1. Locally poor graded river sand as a fine aggregate was used in the mortar mixes. For the

purpose of soil classification, results of sieve analysis test were used (ASTM D422). According to Unified Soil

Classification System (USCS) the river sand was classified as poorly graded sand (SP). Prior to mixing, the sand

was washed to remove its natural dust in the form of clay and silt in the raw stock pile. Polycarboxylic ether as a

superplasticizer was used to reduce water in the mixes. From the manufacturer the relative density of

Polycarboxylic ether is 1.10 at 25 °C. The potable water from supply network was attained as mixing water. In

addition, the chemical compositions of Portland cement, river sand and silica fume from XRF tests are specified

in Table 2. Based on Table 2, majority cement is composed of quicklime, silica, alumina and ferric oxide. In

silica fume, the total amount of pozzolanic oxide compounds as stated by ASTM C618 (i.e. SiO2, Al2O3 and

Fe2O3) is 96.2299% of the total oxide compounds. The particle size distribution curves of the silica fume and

river sand are plotted in Figs. 1 and 2.

Table 1 Properties of the silica fume (from manufacturer)

Property Value

Particle size (μm) <1

Bulk density (kg/m3) 130-430

 4

Color Grey

Specific gravity 2.2

Surface area (m2/kg) 17000-30000

Pozzolanic activity with cement (%) 120-210

Table 2 Weight percentage chemical composition of materials

Weight (%)

Oxide compound Cement River sand Silica fume

MgO 1.1379 0.1023 0.9871

Al2O3 4.8379 3.2247 0.1915

SiO2 22.6103 91.0235 94.0683

P2O5 - 0.4562 -

SO3 2.0235 0.1182 0.3011

K2O - 1.1297 1.2612

CaO 65.9012 0.3721 0.7805

TiO2 - 1.0992 -

Fe2O3 3.4892 1.8124 1.9701

ZnO - 0.2154 -

ZrO2 - 0.4387 -

Na2O - - 0.4402

Total weight (%) 100.0000 99.9924 100.0000

 5

100
90

Percentage passing (%)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Diameter (μm)

Fig. 1 Particle size distribution curve of the silica fume

100
Percent passing by weight (%)

90
80
70
60 D50 = 0.29 mm
50
40
30
20 D10 = 0.11 mm
10
0
0.01 0.1 1 10

Grain size (mm)

Fig. 2 Grain size distribution curve of the river sand

2.2. Steel reinforcements

High strength Lunang end hook steel fiber was prepared from Dezhou Lubang Steel Wool Company. TS 45-25

steel fiber with a diameter of 0.55 mm and a length of 25 mm (vide Fig. 3) was used in both cube and panel

specimens. The steel fibers were used to enhance strength and durability of mortar in its hardened state. The

physical and mechanical properties of steel fiber are tabulated in Table 3. Detailed information on the

mechanical and physical characterization of the steel fiber are presented in ASTM A820. The galvanized woven

square wire mesh locally available in the market with openings of 10 mm and wire diameter of 0.3 mm was used

as the internal reinforcement. Following the guidelines of ACI Committee 549 [17], some physical and

mechanical properties of wire mesh were tested in the laboratory. The ultimate elongation, ultimate strength and
 6

density of wire mesh were determined to be 14%, 220 MPa and 5.1 g/cc respectively. The volume fraction of

the wire mesh has been calculated according to ACI Committee 549 [17]. The volume fraction of the wire

meshes was determined 0.33%, 0.5% and 0.67% for 1, 2, and 3 layers wire mesh respectively. The wire mesh

was used only in fabricated panel specimens with 1 to 3 layers.

Fig. 3 Steel fiber used in ferrocement specimens under study

Table 3 Properties of the steel fiber from manufacturer

Type Length (mm) Diameter (mm) Tensile strength (MPa)

TS 45-25 25 0.55 1100

2.3. Mix proportions and mortar tests

For the purpose of this study, Portland cement was partially replaced with four different dosages of silica fume

(i.e. 5, 10, 15, and 20% by total cement weight). Silica fume was specially used to achieve a high strength and

performance of ferrocement panels (Chee and Ramil [1]). Steel fiber was designed to be 2% and 4% by dry

weight of mortar sample. In order to optimize compressive strength of ferrocement, 15 mixes with various

dosages of silica fume and steel fiber were examined. A reference mortar mix without silica fume and steel fiber

was also investigated. The reference mortar composition was designed to be 0.5:1:3 (water: binder: fine

aggregate). To achieve the desired workability of the mortar mixes and also infiltration through the

reinforcements, the superplasticizer dosage was maintained constant at 1.5%. The optimization of

superplasticizer is shown in Fig. 4. The superplasticizer dosage was found to ensure the proper mix workability

and compaction. This led to a reduction of water-cement ratio to 0.35. Henceforward, the water-cement ratio

(w/c) was maintained constant at 0.35. In order to investigate the effects of silica fume and steel fiber on

compressive strength of mortar mixes, silica fume and Portland cement were slowly mixed in a mixer for about
 7

3 minutes. Later, water, superplasticizer and steel fiber were added to the mixture. Following the standard

procedure stated in ASTM C305, further mixing durations were applied on each batch. Then, provided mortar

was cast in a cube mould with dimension of 50 mm (ASTM C109) and cured at a temperature of 25 ± 2°C for

24 h. The cube specimens were then removed from the moulds and immersed in a curing tank for 1, 7, 14, 21,

and 28 days. To evaluate the compressive strength of the mortar specimens a Universal Testing machine was

employed in accordance with ASTM C109 (Fig. 5 (a)).

18
28-day compressive strength (MPa)

16

14

12

10

4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Superplasticizer dosage (%)

Fig. 4 Optimization of the superplasticizer dosage

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
 8

(e) (f)

Fig. 5 (a) Universal testing machine for compression test, (b) Test setup for flexural strength test, (c) Fresh

mortar with silica fume and steel fiber, (d) Cube test specimens, (e) Test specimen preparation and (f)

Ferrocement panel specimens

The results of compression test on cube specimens are indicated in Fig. 6. From Fig. 6 the strength loss

can be clearly seen in early age (i.e. 1 day), while after 28 days curing, the compressive strength drastically

increased. This provides an indication that the insufficient cement content coupled with dilution effect of silica

fume which is induced a slow pozzolanic reaction in early age. It was found that the 28-day compressive

strength of mortar mix with the composition of 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF was higher when compared to

other mortar mixes. Hence, for a 15% cement replacement with silica fume and 4% steel fiber addition in mortar

mix, approximately 84% increase in 28-day compressive strength was observed when compared to conventional

mortar. This is due to the filler effect of the fine particles of silica fume which are capable to impart the filler

and pozzolanic effects, thus increasing the compressive strength of the test specimen.
 9

30 100% PC, 0% SF, 0% TS-SF

Compressive strength (MPa) 100% PC, 0% SF, 2% TS-SF
100% PC, 0% SF, 4% TS-SF
25
95% PC, 5% SF, 0% TS-SF
95% PC, 5% SF, 2% TS-SF
20 95% PC, 5% SF, 4% TS-SF
90% PC, 10% SF, 0% TS-SF
90% PC, 10% SF, 2% TS-SF
15 90% PC, 10% SF, 4% TS-SF
85% PC, 15% SF, 0% TS-SF
85% PC, 15% SF, 2% TS-SF
10
85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF
80% PC, 20% SF, 0% TS-SF
5 80% PC, 20% SF, 2% TS-SF
0 7 14 21 28 80% PC, 20% SF, 4% TS-SF
Curing time (day)

Fig. 6 Effect of curing on compressive strength of the test specimens

Notes: PC: Portland cement, SF: Silica fume, TS-SF: Steel fiber

2.4. Specimen preparation

The test specimen preparation was initiated by placing 5 mm spacer blocks on the bottom surface of a horizontal

wooden mould with dimension of 500 × 200 × 50 mm. The inner surface of the mould was lightly lubricated to

prevent the specimen from being damaged while removing it from the mould. Prior to mortar casting, a steel

wire mesh was positioned on the 5 mm spacers. This provides a 5 mm cover for the ferrocement panel

specimens. The ferrocement mortar was produced using a mechanical mixer in accordance with ASTM Standard

C305. The first layer of fresh mortar was poured into the mould and vibrated about 15 seconds on a vibrating

table. For each ferrocement test specimen 1, 2, and 3 layer wire meshes were used. It should be noted that

utilization of the wire mesh for fabricating ferrocement panels can increase their ductility under loading. The

second and last layers of mortar were also vibrated for 15 s. For the purpose of compression tests, from each

ferrocement panel specimen, a total of 15 mortar cubes were moulded and cured for 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days.

The ferrocement panels were cured in a curing tank for 28 days. The detail of ferrocement panels are shown in

Table 4.

Table 4 Ferrocement panel specimen detail

Number of mesh layer Mortar thickness - Wire mesh

1 25 mm - mesh - 25 mm
 10

2 15 mm - mesh - 20 mm - mesh -15 mm

3 5 mm - mesh - 15 mm - mesh -15 mm - mesh -15 mm

2.5. Center point flexural strength test

In order to perform the flexural strength test on the ferrocement panels, the procedure of ASTM C293 for center

point loading test was adopted. The flexural strengths of ferrocement panels produced were determined by a

center point flexural test using a universal testing machine (vide Fig. 5 (b)). The effective span of ferrocement

panel was designed to be 450 mm. The flexural strength test was initiated by gradually increasing center point

load and simultaneously corresponding mid-span deflection was measured using a dial gauge of 10 mm range

and grade of 0.01 mm. In each flexural strength test the number of cracks was recorded. In addition, for each

test specimen the crack width was measured using both the gypsum cover and a scaled microscope and average

crack width was obtained.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Compressive strength

Effect of Portland cement replacement with silica fume and steel fiber addition on compressive strength of

mortar mix is indicated in Fig. 7. From Fig. 7 it can be observed that the maximum compressive strength of the

mortar mixes was obtained for the test specimen with a composition of 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF. This

implies that the inclusion of 4% steel fiber and 15% partial replacement of Portland cement with silica fume

contributed to the strength gain after 28 days curing in water. This is due to the filler effect of silica fume in the

voids between cement particles. Herein, the silica fume particles acted to fill the cement paste-aggregate which

improved the overall particle packing of the silica fume-cement mortar. However, for a 20% partial replacement

of PC with silica fume did not observed a remarkable strength enhancement. This may be attributed the

inadequacy of cement to promote hydration reactions. From the aspect of curing duration, the long term strength

of mortar mixes (i.e. 28 days) is higher than those of cured in 1 to 21 days. The similar trend and behavior of

mortar mix with silica fume and steel fiber can be found in the study of (Siddique [13]). According to Siddique

[13], application of 15% silica fume was more effective for strength improvement of mortars. After judging the

trend of compressive strength it was decided to further investigate on the 28-day flexural strength of

ferrocement panels with the maximum compressive strength.

 11

28-day compressive strength (MPa)

30

25

20

15

10

Mortar composition

Fig. 7 Effect of cement replacement with silica fume and steel fiber addition on compressive strength of the

mortar mix

3.2. Flexural strength

Effect of reinforcements on flexural strength of ferrocement panels is shown in Fig. 8. Based on Fig. 8, a good

correlation was established between the number of mesh layers and 28-day flexural strength. From Fig. 8, using

3 layers of the galvanized wire mesh in fabricated ferrocement panels led to higher flexural strength than the

specimens produced with 1 and 2 layers of wire mesh. The similar behavior of increasing flexural strength with

wire mesh can be found in the study of Milon et al. [18]. Depending on the yield strength of wire mesh the mid

span deflection can be varied. Generally, due to the higher yield strength of wire mesh, greater mid span

deflection of the ferrocement panels can be obtained. Besides, increasing number of mesh layers improved the

elastic behavior of the test specimens. The maximum flexural strength corresponding to the ferrocement panel

with a composition of 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF and 3 layers wire mesh was determined to be 12.5 MPa.
 12

14

28-day flexural strength (MPa)

12

10
Reference mortar
8 100% PC, 0% SF, 4% TS-SF

6 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF

0
0 1 2 3

Number of mesh layer

Fig. 8 Effect of internal reinforcement, steel fiber addition and silica fume replacing on 28-day flexural strength

of ferrocement panels

Fig. 9 illustrates the experimental results of the effect of partial replacement of Portland cement with

silica fume on 28-day flexural strength of ferrocement panels. It is observed from Fig. 9 that the ferrocement

panels with 1.5% superplasticizer have the maximum flexural strength. As shown a 15% and even 20% cement

replacement with silica fume in the mortar greatly improved the 28-day flexural strength of the ferrocement

panels. However, replacing of Portland cement with 20% silica fume had no significant improvement of the

flexural strength of the test specimens when compared to that of 15% cement replacement. Generally, the

effectiveness of a mortar mix depends on water-cement ratio, mixing time, slump and temperature of the mortar.

Among several influential factors increasing water-cement ratio strongly affects the strength of hardened mortar.

Therefore, a chemical admixture in the form of superplasticizer is used to improve the mortar strength by

reducing w/c ratio.

 13

28-day flexural strength (MPa)

100% PC, 0% SF
6

5 100% PC, 5% SF
4
100% PC, 10% SF
3

2 100% PC, 15% SF

1 100% PC, 20% SF

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Superplasticizer dosage (%)

Fig. 9 Effect of superplasticizer and partial replacement of cement with silica fume on 28-day flexural strength

of ferrocement panels without reinforcements

The summarized results of 28-day compressive strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of

ferrocement panels are presented in Table 5. It was generally discovered that the use of silica fume for cement

replacement by cement weight and steel fiber addition to mortar mixes had resulted in an increase of

compressive strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of the test specimens. However, the effect of

20% binder replacement with silica fume on strength of ferrocement panels was little when compared to that of

15% cement replacement. The strength improvement is due to the filler and pozzolanic effects of silica fume

particles in the existence pores between the cement particles. Besides, addition of steel fibers also contributed to

the reinforcement and strength enhancement of the test specimens. This is due to the bonding interaction

between steel fibers and the mortar paste. This bonding at fiber-mortar matrix plays a significant role in flexural

performance of ferrocement panels. For instance, the test specimens reinforced with 4% steel fibers indicate the

highest flexural strength and crack resistance. The report by Alvarez et al. [19] supports this discussion.

According to Alvarez et al. [19], after occurring fracture of the test specimens, additional load could be

supported by the bonding of the fibers and mortar paste before the separation of the ferrocement panel. This can

be seen in Fig. 10 that the total area under the stress-deflection curve corresponding to the test specimen

inclusion of 4% steel fibers is higher when compared to specimens without steel fiber. Alvarez et al. [19] have

stipulated that the area under the curves is representative of the load capacity and energy absorbed by the test

specimens during load application. Gaidhankar et al. [20] recently have found about 72% increase in 28 days

flexural strength of ferrocement specimens reinforced with 1% steel fibers (by volume of the ferrocement

specimen) incorporated with 2 layers of mesh as compared to that without steel fibers. Furthermore, silica fume

and steel fibers increased the modulus of elasticity of mortar matrix. The modulus of elasticity of test specimens
 14

containing 4% steel fibers was found to be greater than that of the ferrocement panels with 2% steel fibers. The

increase in the modulus of elasticity at 28 days of curing was attributed to a combination of pozzolanic effect of

silica fume and bonding interaction between steel fibers and the mortar paste. On average, a 2.8-fold increase

was found in the modulus of elasticity of the test specimen due to the incorporation with 4% steel fiber and 15%

silica fume.

Table 5 Strength characteristics of ferrocement panels

28-day 28-day
Number of 28-day flexural
Mix designation (w/c = 0.35) compressive Modulus of
mesh layer strength (MPa)
strength (MPa) elasticity (GPa)

0 2.9 11.1

1 3.2 12.8
100% PC, 0% SF, 0% TS-SF 16
2 3.9 15.2

3 4.4 17.1

0 10.5 40

1 10.9 41.5
85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF 29.5
2 12.2 46.1

3 12.5 47.3

0 6.3 16.5

1 7.1 17.2
100% PC, 0% SF, 4% TS-SF 17.1
2 7.8 21.5

3 8.4 26

0 10.7 40.8

1 11 42
80% PC, 20% SF, 4% TS-SF 29.1
2 12.2 46

3 12.7 48

Through the laboratory flexural strength tests the maximum deflection at mid span of test specimens

was recorded using a dial gauge of 10 mm range and grade of 0.01 mm. The effective span of ferrocement panel

was designed to be 450 mm. The flexural strength test was initiated by gradually increasing center point load

and simultaneously corresponding mid-span deflection was measured. Basically, the maximum deflection of the
 15

ferrocement panels is governed by the magnitude of the imposed load on the specimen and creep as well. The

flexural center point tests were performed immediately after 28 days curing of the ferrocement specimens. The

results of the center point load bending tests are established in Fig. 10, with reference to 28-day flexure stress-

mid span deflection curves. From Fig. 10 it can be observed the existence of linear relationships of load

increment-deflection until the first cracking of the test specimens. The steep linear relationships between

flexural stress and mid span deflection of the ferrocement panels containing silica fume and steel fiber imply the

pre-cracking of the test specimens. During the pre-cracking, flexural load was carried by the mortar matrix.

From each flexural test the number of cracks developed on the lateral face of the ferrocement panels and

average crack spacing were determined as indicated in Table 6. In addition, the crack widths were measured

using both the gypsum cover and a scaled microscope. The flexural stress-crack width curves of ferrocement

panels are plotted in Fig. 11. From Fig. 11, it is clearly seen that the ferrocement panel with a composition of

85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF highly reduced the crack width developed on the lateral face of the test specimen

(vide Fig. 12). This is justifiable in that steel fiber is specially enhanced the tensile and flexural strength which is

resulted a great reduction in the crack width, although the finer cracks occurred due to the inclusion of 4% steel

fiber and 3-layer wire mesh. Therefore, the uniformly distributed steel fibers throughout the ferrocement panel

greatly improved the specimen strength in hardened state; additionally it provided exceptional flexural capacity.

In contrast, after peeling off the gypsum, the crack width in the ferrocement panel with a composition of 85%

PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF and 3-layer wire mesh is the lowest among the other test specimens. The number of

cracks increased rapidly after the first crack happened. Later, with a certain flexural load, the cracks developed

on the lateral face of the specimens slowed down. Based on the observations, the period of first cracking of

ferrocement panels decreased as the number of wire mesh increased. This process followed by yielding the

internal wire meshes as indicated with secondary slope with gradient of almost zero (Fig. 10). The rapid increase

in the crack width and yielding the internal wire meshes led to the start of failure. As shown in Fig. 10, the mid

span deflection and flexural strength of ferrocement panels increased as the number of chicken mesh increased.

This implies the ductility behavior of the test specimens reinforced with wire mesh. Whereas, the brittle

behavior was observed for the ferrocement panels with plain cement mortar without internal reinforcement.

Besides, the effects of silica fume on concrete and mortar have highlighted in previous researches (Siddique

[13]; Gupta et al. [15]; Rossen et al. [21]). Such effect is attributed to the fineness of the silica fume as a filler

and pozzolanic material at forming a dense mortar matrix.

 16

14
28-days flexural stress (MPa) Plain cement mortar, 3 layer mesh
12
Plain cement mortar, 2 layers mesh
10
Plain cement mortar, 1 layer mesh

8 Plain cement mortar without wire mesh

6 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 1 layer mesh

85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 2 layer mesh

4
85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 3 layer mesh
2

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5

Mid span deflection (mm)

Fig. 10 Flexural stress-mid span deflection of ferrocement panels with various compositions and mesh layers

14 Ferrocement panel without reinforcement

Reference mortar with 1 layer mesh

28-days flexural stress (MPa)

12
Reference mortar with 2 layers mesh
10 Reference mortar with 3 layers mesh

8 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 1 layer mesh

85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 2 layers mesh

6
85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF, 3 layers mesh

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Crack width (mm)

Fig. 11 Crack width of ferrocement panels with various compositions and mesh layers
 17

Fig. 12 First cracking of the specimen with 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF at failure

Table 6 Average crack spacing and number of cracks on the lateral face of ferrocement panels

Number of mesh Average crack

Specimen designation Number of cracks
layer spacing (mm)

0 2 59

Ferrocement panel with plain cement 1 2 55

mortar 2 4 39

3 5 34

1 5 31

85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF 2 6 26

3 8 21

Conclusions

In this paper, compressive strength, flexural strength and cracking of the ferrocement panels were investigated

through the laboratory tests, and the following conclusions are derived.

(i) The ferrocement panel with steel fiber and wire mesh has been successfully reinforced. The optimal mix

design was formulated as 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF with 3-layer wire mesh.

(ii) The inclusion of silica fume as a pozzolanic material in a mortar matrix at 15% and even 20% cement

replacement greatly improved the compressive strength, flexural strength and stiffness of the ferrocement

panels. However, replacing of Portland cement with 20% silica fume do not noticeably influence the flexural

stiffness of the test specimens as compared to that of 15% cement replacement.

(iii) The 28-day flexural strength and mid span deflection increased with increasing number of galvanized wire

mesh.

(iv) The crack width and number of cracks were affected by the mortar mix composition. Inclusion of 4% steel

fibers in a mortar of fabricated ferrocement panel improved the crack resistance and flexural capacity. The
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flexural strength of the ferrocement panel with a composition of 85% PC, 15% SF, 4% TS-SF improved 2.8-fold

in comparison to that of plain cement mortar.

(v) The crack width on the lateral face of the ferrocement panels significantly decreased as the number of wire

mesh increased. The flexural stress at first cracking increased with the increasing number of wire mesh layers.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express his sincere thanks for providing test equipments by Islamic Azad University

(Khodabandeh branch) to conduct this research.

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Highlights

► The crack resistance of ferrocement panel improved with the inclusion of steel fiber.

►The ferrocement panels with 3-layer wire mesh exhibited ductile behavior under flexural test.

► A dense mortar mix in optimal mix design improved the flexural performance of ferrocement panel.