Shear Behavior of Hollow Ferrocement Beam Reinforced by Steel and Fiberglass Meshes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the shear behavior of hollow ferrocement beams of self-compacting mortar reinforced with various types of metallic (steel wire mesh) and non-metallic (fiber glass mesh) reinforcement. The experimental program consists of casting eight ferrocement beams with dimensions of 150×225×2000 mm, with 50 mm of ferrocement thickness and a polystyrene cork core of 50×125 mm. The study parameters were the type of shear reinforcement and the number of layers of wire mesh. The results showed that the ultimate load of the beams reinforced with several layers of the fiber glass mesh (1, 2, and 3) was decreased by (3.27%, 16.52%, and 9.38%) respectively, compared to the beams reinforced with layers of steel wire mesh (1, 2 and 3). The ultimate load of these beams increased by (33.71%, 73.28%, and 122.11%) respectively, compared to the beams without shear reinforcement. Also, the ultimate load of the beams reinforced with layers of welded wire mesh was increased by (38.23%, 107.56%, and 145.09%) respectively, compared to the beams without shear reinforcement. The ductility and toughness of the beams reinforced with several layers of the fiber glass mesh (1, 2, and three) were decreased by (1.68%, 2.11%, 2.68%) and (29.39%, 25.91%, 16.06%) respectively, compared to beams reinforced with several layers of steel wire mesh (1, 2 and 3). The crack propagation was reduced and its number and crack width decreased by using steel wire mesh and fiber glass wire mesh instead of stirrups, especially in beams with two and three layers of wire mesh. The results also showed that the use of glass fiber or welded wire mesh in the reinforcement of hollow beams instead of steel stirrups has a significant effect on the failure load, deflections, crack patterns, and shear stresses, despite the clear preference for beams reinforced with steel wire mesh.