Comparative study on structural behavior of fibrous-ferro-cement panel reinforced with welded and expanded wire grid subjected to flexural loads

This study focuses on understanding of ferro-cement panels respond to flexural loading. To achieve this objective the flexural load test was conducted on ferro-cement panels reinforced with welded wire grid (WWG) and expanded wire grid (EWG)) separately and varying amounts of steel fibers (SF). All the panels were made with mortar cast using a water-to-cement ratio of 0.4 and then cured for 28 days. This study investigated the combined influence of wire grid layers (1, 2, and 3 layers) and steel fiber content (1% and 2%) on the behavior of ferro-cement panels. Flexural tests were conducted on 500 × 200 × 50 mm panels, demonstrating that both SF content and the number of layers of wire grid enhanced the flexural strength (FS). The study focused on key parameters like first crack load and ultimate load, corresponding deflections, FS, ductility index (µD), and width of crack at ultimate load. The WWG and EWG panels with 2% SF layers had significant increases in ultimate load (up to 477.27%) with minimal deflection (4.80 mm). The WWG and EWG panels with 3 layers and 2% SF exhibited 170.47% and 180.00% higher µD than control panels without grid and fibers. Interestingly, using three layers of WWG or EWG panel and SF significantly improved crack resistance at both the initial and failure stages.