An Appraisal of the Shear Resistance of Ferrocement Elements

This paper deals with the shear strength of simply supported ferrocement rectangular plates subjected to four points loading. Limited literature is available on the shear behavior of ferrocement elements, as the span to depth ratio of these elements is very high. However, studies on the shear response of ferrocement assume importance to understand the material behavior. In the present study, tests on ferrocement elements varying the shear span to depth ratio (a/d) and different layers of mesh are conducted. It is observed that increase in the volume fraction of the mesh reinforcement (number of layers of mesh) increased the shear capacity of the member. It is also found that up to Shear span to depth ratio 3, shear behavior is predominant. Beyond shear span to depth ratio 3, the flexural behavior is predominant and design of the elements based on flexure is sufficient.