The Effect of Thickness and Mesh Spacing on the Impact Resistance of Ferrocement Slab

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of the thickness and mesh spacing on the impact of ferrocement for the concrete slab of 300mm x 300mm size reinforced subjected to low impact projectile test. A self-fabricated drop-weight impact test rig with a steel ball weight of 1.236 kg drop at height of 150 mm, 350mm, and 500mm has been used in this research work. The objective of this research is to study the relationship of impact resistance of ferrocement against slab thickness and mesh reinforcement spacing. There is a good linear correlation between impact resistance of ferrocement against slab thickness and its mesh spacing. The first and ultimate crack impact resistance for 40 mm slab are 2.00 times and 1.84 times respectively against the 20 mm slab with the same mesh spacing. The first and ultimate crack impact resistance for 40 mm slab with 20 mm mesh spacing are 2.24 times and 3.70 times respectively against 50 mm mesh spacing with the same slab thickness. The mesh with higher content of reinforcement provides more contribution to the slab resistance as compare with the thickness.