International Journal of Mechanics and Solids ISSN 0973-1881 Volume 3 Number 2 (2008) pp.

195203 Research India Publications http://www.ripublication.com/ijms.htm

An Experimental Study on Ferro Cement Channel Units Under Flexural Loading

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T.Chandrasekhar Rao, 2T.D.Gunneswara Rao and 3N.V.Ramana Rao Department of Civil Engineering, S.V.H.College of Engineering Machilipatnam, India. 2 Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal 506 004, India. 3 Professor of Civil Engineering Department JNTU College Of Engineering, Hyderabad, India.
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Abstract This paper presents an experimental study on the strength and behavioral aspects of voided Ferro cement channel type units for pre cast beams. As these beams are lighter in weight, they find their place in seismic resistant design of structures. Eight channel type Ferro cement units were tested for four points loading. The variable parameter includes the number of layers of wire mesh. The flexural strength of the voided channels was compared with that of solid channels too. The test results indicate that the drop in flexural strength with the voids is very negligible compared to the decrease in the weight of the member. The Moment curvature response of the voided members under flexural loading improved with the post ductility of the member with increase in the number of layers. Keywords: Ferro cement, Flexural loading, cracking, Moment curvature response, voided beams.

Introduction
Ferro cement is a composite material constructed by cement mortar reinforced with closely spaced layers of wire mesh. The ultimate tensile resistance of Ferro cement is provided solely by the reinforcement in the direction of loading. Ferro cement is light in weight and adoptable to any shape of cross section, hence it is ideally suited for

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pre-cast construction. Even though the thickness of the Ferro cement sections is very small, choosing proper shapes of cross sections the flexural rigidity of the section can be increased. Unlike studies on the behavior of Ferro cement elements under flexure, very limited research reports are available on the behavior of Ferro cement compound structural sections like I, C, T and L etc., in general and voided Ferro cement compound sections in particular. In the present investigation Channel type of cross section has been chosen. An experimental program has been planned to investigate the flexural response of these units under flexural loading.

Review of Literature
Several investigators reported on the flexural behavior of Ferro cement elements [16]. Mansur and Paramasivam [1] conducted studies on the cracking behavior of Ferro cement elements and predicted the ultimate strength of Ferro cement in flexure using plastic analysis. Trian Onet, et.,al.,[2], have studied on the behavioral aspects of Ferro cement in flexure and reported that Ferro cement elements have better performance under working loads owing to their very small crack widths and improved ductility at post cracking range. E.Z. Tatsa [3] presented the limit state design philosophy for the design of Ferro cement elements in bending. D.N.Trikha, et.,al.,[4], conducted analytical and experimental studies on the behavioral aspects of cored Ferro cement slabs, proposed empirical expressions for the estimation of modulus of rupture and effective moment of inertia to estimate the deflections. S.K. Kaushik et.,al.,[5] performed investigations on behavior of ferrocement cored plates concluded that these slabs improve the heat and sound insulation properties. Moreover these slabs are lighter in weight there by providing economy for the supporting systems like footings. Cracking Moment and Ultimate Moment The elastic analysis can be adopted for the estimation of the cracking moment [4]. i.e, Ig M cr = cr yt cr = Cracking stress in MPa Ig = Gross Moment of inertia of the transformed ferrocement channel section. Mcr = Crack moment kN.m For the evaluation of ultimate strength of the Ferro cement sections the procedure followed for reinforced concrete sections may be adopted. Material Used Ordinary Portland cement giving a 28days mortar (1:3) compressive strength of 53MPa and fine aggregate confirming to the requirements of ASTM-C-33 was used in the entire investigation. Galvanized woven square mesh was used as reinforcement to the Ferro cement elements. The diameter of wire was found to be 0.55mm. The openings in the mesh are 2mm x 2mm. The yield strength of the wires of the mesh was found to be 415MPa. A Cement Sand ratio of 0.50 and a water cement ratio of

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0.45 were used for casting the units. Ferro cement control specimens of size 70.7mm x 70.7mm cubes for compression test and 100mm x 200mm cylindrical specimens for split tension test were also cast along with the test units. The compressive strength of the mortar found to be 36.87MPa, while the split tensile strength of the same was found to be 3.72 MPa. Experimental Investigation The experimental investigation composed of casting and testing of eight-channel type Ferro cement specimens. It is aimed to prepare a channel cross section of dimensions 100mm depth, 100mm width and 25mm wall thickness, for a length of 2000mm. For this, wooden moulds were prepared of required shape and size. The casting was done in the inverted position of the channel ( C ) . The wooden moulds were applied with a lubricant before placing the meshes A wooden block of size 50mm x 75mm x 2000mm is inserted in the mould to have the required dimensions of the unit. First the required number of layers of mesh wire was placed and the separators of 3mm GI wire were used to separate each layer. Then the bottom portion of the channel was first filled with the cement mortar for the required thickness (25mm) then a wooden block of size 50mm x 75mm x 2000mm is inserted in the mould and remaining portion of the channel section is filled with cement mortar. Clamps were used to prevent the bulging of moulds. After a day of casting, the wooden block is removed from the mould and the wooden mould was also removed. The channel sections thus prepared were moved to the curing tank carefully. For the case of voided channel sections the aluminum pipes of diameter 12.5mm(0.5) were used and placed at the required locations. The aluminum pipes were also removed from the cast specimens after a day of casting. The eight units are divided in two Series, A series and B series. The A series indicates that the units under this category are solid ones. The variable in this series is numbers of layers mesh reinforcement i.e., 2 layers and 4 layers. The units of B Series are voided ones with 2 layers of mesh wire and 4 layers of mesh wire. The voids are located both in the rib portion and flange portion of the channel unit. The voids are spaced at 34mmc/c along the periphery of the cross section, throughout the length of the member (longitudinal direction). The details of the Ferro cement channel section were shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.

Figure 1: Beam longitudinal section

Figure 2: Beam Cross section

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Designation of the Specimens A2L: Solid beam with two layers of mesh reinforcement A4L: Solid beam with four layer of mesh reinforcement. B2L: Voided beam with two layer of mesh reinforcement. B4L: Voided beam with four layer of mesh reinforcement.

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Testing Procedure All the beams removed from the curing tank were white washed, which facilitate the crack observation during the testing. The beams were tested on universal testing machine. The load was transferred as two point symmetrical load through a rigid steel girder as shown in the test set up Fig.3. The shear span to depth ratio of 6.0 is adopted to eliminate the shear failure of the beam instead of flexure failure. The span of the beam between the supports is 1800mm, thus the flexure span is 600mm. The test beams were launched on the I-Girder of length 2.2m, which is placed on the crosshead of the UTM. Three dial gauges of least count 0.1mm were used to measure the deflections under the load points and mid span. A set of dial gauges of least count 0.0002mm is attached to the curvature frames to measure the curvature of the beam. The apparatus used for curvature measurement was presented in Fig.4. The crosshead of the machine was raised until the fixed head of the machine just touches the rollers placed at the center of loading beam.

Figure 3: Test Set Up

Figure 4: Curvature meter used for measuring curvature.

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All the beams were tested under load rate control the deflection gauge readings were noted at each interval. The crack patterns were drawn directly on the beam and test was continued until the ultimate load is reached. The cracking load and ultimate load were recorded.

Results and Discussions

The salient features of the test results were shown in the table.1. The strain distribution along the depth of the units was linear up to the cracking load in all the members i.e., (solid as well as voided). The load-deflection curves of the all specimens have indicated linear behavior up to about cracking load. The observed first cracking moment increases with increase in the number of layers of wire mesh (volume fraction of the reinforcement). After the cracking, the load deflection curves deviated from linearity and become non-linear. As the applied approaches to ultimate load, several new cracks were formed at finite spacing. The specimen is then maintained approximately, the same load level with the increasing deflection, but the cracks continued to penetrate deep into the top layers of specimens. At this stage no crushing of the matrix was observed on the compression zone. Further increase in deflection was associated with a drop in the applied load.
Table 1: Test Results
S.No Designation of Specimen A2L A4L B2L B4L %Vf of mesh reinf. 1.6 3.2 1.6 3.2 Ast(mm2) First Crack Load (N) 1350 1500 1200 1400 Ultimate Load(N) 2900 4500 2500 3900 Mcr(N-m) MU Experimental (N-m)1410 1740 1530 2550 900 1500 1200 2280

1 2 3 4

143 286 143 286

Note: A stands for Solid beam & B stands for voided beam.

Two beams were cast and tested for each case of the unit.

Figure 5: Tested Ferro cement channel type units

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Finally the specimens collapsed due to fracture of the mesh reinforcement. The typical crack patterns of the specimens at ultimate load are shown in Figure 5. It was observed that the number of cracks formed in all units depended on the volume fraction of reinforcement. Also from the observations it understood that, a higher volume fraction of reinforcement provides better crack control mechanism by the formation of a large number of well distributed cracks in both solid and voided specimens. The cracking load and ultimate load of solid channel sections with four layers of wire mesh are found to be more than about 11.11% and 55.17% of the corresponding values of solid channel sections with two layers of wire mesh. There is less improvement in cracking load with increase in number of layers or volume fraction of mesh wire. This is because the contribution of mesh reinforcement in pre cracking stage is limited and mostly the pre-cracking load depends on the mortar tensile strength. However the crack width at this cracking stage is very less due to the presence of closely spaced mesh reinforcement. The improvement in flexural strength at ultimate stage with the increase in the number of mesh layers is due to the fact that the mesh wires participate in the load sharing better in the post cracking stage rather than in the pre cracking stage. The similar behavior has been observed in the voided channels too.
Effect of Voids The cracking load and ultimate load of voided Ferro cement elements were compared with the cracking load and ultimate load of solid channel sections. The comparison was presented in Table.1. It can be understood that the decrease in the cracking load in the case of voided channel section is about 11.11% while the same for ultimate load is 13.79%. The decrease in the cracking load and ultimate load are approximately same because voids present in the mortar part reduced the effectiveness of the mortar contribution in the pre racking as well as post cracking stage. The mesh reinforcement in the solid and voided Ferro cement channel elements is same. The similar behavior was observed even in the case of voided and solid Ferro cement channel sections with four layers of mesh wire. Moment Curvature Relationship The moment curvature relationships of different beams tested were presented in Figure 6 and Figure 7. From these variations it can be inferred that the Ferro cement elements with more number layers of mesh reinforcement showed higher stiffness both at pre cracking as well as post cracking stage. The reason for this can be attributed to the presence of more mesh reinforcement. A drop in stiffness (slope of Moment curvature diagram) in case of voided elements was observed, when compared with the stiffness of corresponding solid beam. The presence of voids in the beam has reduced the stiffness of the elements.

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Moment Curvature Relationship of Two Layered Ferro Cement Channel Sections

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Moment (N.m)

2000 1500 1000 500 0 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12

A2L B2L

Curvature(/m)

Figure 6: Moment Curvature Relationship of Two Layered Ferro Cement Channel Sections
Moment Curvature Relationship of Four Layered Ferro Cement Channel Sections

Moment (N.m)

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 A4L B4L

Curvature(/m)

Figure 7: Moment Curvature Relationship of Four Layered Ferro Cement Channel Sections

Load Deflection Response

Load deflection response of the tested Ferro cement channel elements presented in Fig .9.From this fig it is clear that the Ferro cement channel elements with more number of wire mesh layers showed lesser deflections under the same load level. In case of voided beams the deflections are more compared to the deflections of solid beams at the same load level. Crack load of the members was taken as the load corresponding to the visible crack formed in the member. Crack width of around 5mm is noticed at the ultimate load level of the beams.

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Load Deflection Response of Ferro Cem ent Channel Sections

Load(N)

4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0.00 40.00 80.00 120.00 160.00 200.00

A2L B2L A4L B4L

Central deflection (mm)

Figure 8: Load Deflection Response of Ferro Cement Channel Sections

Load - Maximum crack width variation of Ferrocement Channel beams 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 2 4 6 MAX CRACK WIDTH(mm)

LOAD(N)

A2L B2L A4L B4L

Figure 9: Load - Maximum crack width variation of Ferro cement Channel beams

Conclusions
Based on the limited experimental investigations the following conclusions were drawn. 1. Increase in the numbers of layers of wire mesh in the Ferro cement elements increased the load carrying capacity of the member, stiffness of the member and decreased the crack width. 2. Voided Ferro cement elements showed reduced stiffness in the pre cracking and post cracking range of the member. However this decrease little compared to the reduction in weight due to the incorporation of voids. 3. Voided Ferro cement elements possess better ultimate flexural strength almost equal to the solid elements. 4. Voided ferrocement elements help as service conduits (like electric wires, cables etc.,) apart from reducing the self weight of the member. These elements also serve as better insulators of heat and sound.

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References
[1] Mansur M.A. and Paramasivam P. (1985) Cracking Behaviour and Ultimate Strength of Ferro Cement in Flexure Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Ferrocement, Bangkok, Thailand, PP 47-59. Train Onet., Magureanu C., and Vescan V. Aspects concerning the behaviour of ferrocement in flexure Journal of Ferro Cement, Vol.22, No.1, January1992 Tatsa E.Z., Limit States Design of Feerro Cement components in bending, Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol.13, 1991 pp49-59. Trikha D.N..,.Kaushik S.K, Gupta V.K., and S.Mini Behaviour of Ferrocement cored slabs, Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Ferrocement, Bangkok, Thailand, PP 135-143. S.K.Kaushik, V.K.Gupta, D.N.Trikha and S.Mini Investigations on Ferro Cement Cored Slabs, Journal of Ferro Cement, Vol.16, No.3, July1986.

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