Effect of ferrocement confinement on behavior of

concrete

Imran Nazir Supervisor:Engr. Touseif Arshad

FA/17-RCV-002-MUST

Department of Civil Engineering (MUST)

 Important Terms
Ferrocement
Ferrocement is a construction material consisting of wire meshes and cement mortar.
Confinement
Strengthening or repairing of deteriorating concrete.(The strength, ductility and energy absorption
capacity of new concrete columns during construction can be enhanced by providing external
confinement by employing the ferrocement)
Retrofitting
Upgrading of certain building systems (existing structures) to make them more resistant to seismic
activity (earthquake resistance)
Confined and Unconfined Specimens
The specimens with confinement of ferrocement are called Confined Specimens where as the
specimens with the absence of ferrocement are called unconfined Specimens.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is the process of returning a building or structure to its previous good conditions.

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 Introduction
In long-term performance the main construction materials such as steel and concrete have exhibited
signs of deterioration. This is due to either the inherent nature of the materials or the weak resistance
offered by these materials to adverse environmental conditions and natural disasters such as fires and
earth quakes. Strengthening the reinforced concrete columns may become necessary for a number of
reasons, such as substandard detailing of the steel reinforcement and deterioration of the concrete
under severe environmental conditions. Recent evaluation of the civil engineering infrastructure has
demonstrated that extensive retrofitting, innovative rehabilitation and strengthening methods for
concrete structures became necessary to extend the life expectancy of many concrete structures.
Researchers are working on the techniques by which deficiencies can be minimized during
construction stage.

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 Research problem/Need of new Knowledge

From the past few decays the community is facing a lot of problems in structural members
with the passage of time such as shear cracks, lack in tensile and flexural strength, fracture
and buckling of structural members etc.
So there is need of materials to retrofit and strengthen the structures. One such strengthening
technique currently being studied is the confinement of concrete columns. There are a lot of
confinement materials that are used for strengthening the concrete structures such as
Ferrocement, glass fiber, aramid fiber, carbon fiber, etc. The use of ferrocement as an
external confinement to concrete column is investigated in this study.

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 Objectives and Significance
• To achieve the improvement in many engineering properties of materials such as such as tensile
and flexural strength, toughness, fracture, crack control, fatigue resistance and an impact
resistance.

• To obtain a batter resistance against Earthquake.

 Basic raw materials are readily available in most countries.

 Low labour skill required
 Ease of construction, low weight and long lifetime
 Undergo large deformation before cracking.
 Superior strength properties as compared to conventional reinforced concrete.

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 Experimental investigation
Materials
1. Cement =ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 43 grade
2. Sand =Natural river sand, specific gravity of 2.65
3. Coarse aggregate =Crushed graded aggregate, maximum size of 20 mm
4. Mix proportions =M25, M30, M35, M40,M45, M50 and M55.

Casting
For this investigation, plain cement concrete (PCC) specimens with different compressive strengths
were prepared. A total of 42 cylindrical specimens (21 each for controlled and confined specimens)
with a diameter of 150 mm and a height of 900 mm

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Mix proportions of concrete (by mass)

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 Confinement of plain cement concrete
For the preparation of confined specimens, the plain cement concrete specimens were wrapped with
ferrocement laminates. The specimens were taken out after curing (28 d), and then the surface of the
specimen was roughened. A rich mortar of 1:1 (cement mortar) was applied on the roughened surface
of the specimens, and then wire mesh of a constant (single layer) thickness was wrapped around the
specimen. Finally, the specimens were plastered with 1:2 mix mortars with a w:c ratio of 0.4 and a
confinement thickness of 15 mm. Thus, the diameters of the confined specimens were 180 mm, i.e. the
diameter of plain concrete, 150 mm, plus ferrocement confinement thickness equal to 15 mm around
the specimen.

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Confinement of plain cement concrete

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 Testing of Specimens

• The specimens were placed in a 200 ton load frame.

• The load was measured by means of a proving ring having a capacity of 300 ton.
• Axial load was applied with an increment of 0.5 ton.
• Deformation was measured by dial gauges with an accuracy of 0.01 mm.
• Two dial gauges, one at the top and the other at the bottom, were placed at the longitudinal
direction

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Testing of Specimens

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 Results and discussion
Effects of confinement on load
 Due to confinement, the initial cracks that formed in M25, M30, M35, M40, M45, M50, and M55
specimens were at 15%, 17.5%, 19%, 22.5%, 24%, 27%, and 30.5% of ultimate load, respectively
 It is observed that the ultimate load carrying capacity of confined specimens was increased in the
range of 78%, 54.8%, 54.6%, 60.2%,46.3%, 47.2%, and 45.3%, respectively, as compared to the
controlled specimens.
Effects of confinement on deformation
 Due to the confinement effect, the deformations first initiated on the ferrocement laminates. Only
after the failure of the laminates, the core failure took place.
 The increase of axial and radial strains in M25, M30, M35, M40, M45, M50, M55 specimens was
in the range of 38.8%, 22.3%, 4.02%, 34.5%, 47.3%, 32.3%, 21.9% and 50.7%, 27.2%, 18.8%,
34.4%, 48.8%, 37.8%, 39.2%, respectively.
 Because of confinement, the crack growth and crack network formations occurred at a much
controlled rate, leading to these higher strains as compared to the controlled specimens.

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 Results and discussion
Effects of confinement on failure
 The first crack started at the top of the specimen at 15–30.5% of ultimate load and the number of
cracks started increasing gradually on all the sides of the specimens.

 The cracks were extended at 1/3rd height of the specimen irrespective of the concrete strength and
ultimately the specimen reached the failure.

 It was observed that there was no failure between the core and ferrocement laminates. But the
specimen failure was due to the network of cracks in the core concrete and the yielding of
transverse wires.

 The failure modes clearly demonstrated that the transverse wires were subjected to hoop tension
and thereby produced passive confinement pressure

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 Results and discussion

Failure modes of confined and unconfined concrete specimens. Ultimate load carrying capacity of confined and unconfined concrete
specimens.

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 Results and discussion
Prediction of confined concrete compressive strength
From an adopted Walliudin and Raffeeqi prediction model the ultimate confined compressive strength
of the specimen is given by

Fct =ƒcu + kƒy

where k = ΚmΚgΚp
Hence, the equation becomes

Fct = fcu+ 35pΚmΚrƒy

where Κp= 35pkr, Fct is theoretical compressive strength of concrete; ƒcu, is unconfined compressive
strength of concrete; p, volume fraction of wire mesh reinforcement = 0.151; Κg is coefficient to
account for the grade of concrete = 1.0; Κm, coefficient to account for the method of confinement =
0.88; Κr, is ratio of cross-sectional and surface area of shell = 0.416, and ƒy
the yield strength of wire = 310 Mpa

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 Results and discussion

Comparison between theoretical and experimental ultimate compressive load carrying capacity

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 Case Study
Ferrocast confinement sections were casted for three types of loading cases.
Case 1 – Complete section under compression .

Case 2 – Only core concrete under compression.

Case 3 – Eccentric loading

Cylindrical mould of 150mm diameter and 300mm height was used. Ferro cast confinement was of

25mm thick and core concrete of 100mm diameter at the centre of the cylinder. Galvanized Iron mesh
was used.

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 Test Results

Case 1 - Complete section under Compression. Case 2 – Concrete core in Compression. Case 3 – Section in Bending

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 Conclusion
 After evaluating the results of all the cases it can be concluded that Ferrocast confined sections are
very much suitable compare to standard concrete sections.
 Case 2 shows significant improvement in compressive strength capacity of confined sections
compare to concrete cubes.
 Case 3 shows the most significant results, in eccentric loading (case -3) failure on compression side
was observed, as section was failed at 55.60Mpa compressive stress but no cracks were observed
on tension side even after tensile stress of 12.85Mpa was developed on tension side.
 Hence it can be concluded that confined section is capable of taking minimum tensile stress of
12.85Mpa and even more, as no cracks were observed on tension side.

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 Comments/Remarks
I. Ferrocement can be used effectively and efficiently for confinement of concrete.

II. Confining the concrete with ferrocement results in an increase in the strength by 78%, 54.8%,
54.6%, 60.25%, 46.3%, 47.2%, and 45.3% in M25, M30, M35, M40, M45, M50, and M55 grades
of concrete specimens, respectively, as compared to the controlled specimens.

III. Confining the concrete with ferrocement laminates results in the enhancement of axial and
radial strains in M25, M30, M35, M35, M40, M45, M50, and M55 specimens in the range of
38.8%, 22.3%, 4.02%, 34.5%, 47.3%, 32.3%, 21.9% and 50.7%, 27.2%, 18.8%, 34.4%, 48.8%,
37.8%, 39.2%, respectively, as compared to the conventional specimens.

IV. Increase in load carrying capacity due to improvement of dimensional stability caused by the
presence of composite material and large fraction of mesh.

V. The strength of the concrete that is confined with ferrocement can be predicted from an adopted
analytical model with reasonable accuracy
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Thanks

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