Title:
Flexural Behavior of Reactive Powder Concrete Ferrocement Hollow Beams Reinforced by Different Mesh Type
Author(s):
M. Alaa, Mohamed H. Makhlouf, M. H. Mansour and K. M. Elsayed
Publication:
IJCSM
Volume:
19
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
Ferrocement, Flexural strength, Expanded wire mesh, Welded wire mesh, Nonlinear finite-element analysis
DOI:
10.1186/s40069-025-00772-6
Date:
9/30/2025
Abstract:
In fact, the non-economic design of concrete structures is becoming a big challenge. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate the flexural behavior of ferrocement hollow beams experimentally and analytically. To achieve this objective, five specimens of reinforced concrete beams were prepared and tested under a single-point-loading system until failed. The beams have clear spans of 1500 mm and cross-section dimensions of 100 * 200 * 1600 mm. The ferrocement beams were strengthened with either welded wire mesh (WWM) or expanded metal mesh (EMM) and have an extruded foam core (EFC). The structural behaviors of the studied beams, including the measurements of first crack, deflection, ultimate load, failure mode, crack pattern, and ductility index, were investigated. In addition, finite-element model (ABAQUS) was validated using the experimental data. The results indicated that the use of a second layer of expanded steel mesh reinforcement in ferrocement beams was found to significantly enhance their performance. The addition of this reinforcement resulted in an increase in the ultimate load capacity and maximum deflection by 11.38% and 2.92%, respectively. Moreover, the finite-element models created using the ABAQUS finite-element program were validated against the experimental data. The comparison between the nonlinear finite-element (NLFE) ultimate loads and the experimental ultimate loads, with an average ratio of 0.96, varies between 0.94 and 0.98 in the numerical results. This indicates that the numerical models accurately predicted the beams' behavior.