INVESTIGATIONS ON FERROCEMENT CYLINDRICAL SHELL ROOF

Abstract

Ferrocement is a composite material made out of rich mortar and reinforcement primarily consisting of layers of wiremesh and skeletal steel.. It has been recognised as a suitable material for construction in developing countries due to lighter weight and economical compared to R.C.C. Here, the work on ferro-cement roofing elements is undertaken to develop a llousing, technique suitable for the low income group. The thesis presents the study of the behaviour of ferrocement cylind-rical shell units as .roofing elements. Two specimens of 3 m span and another two of 5 m span each with 0.6 m radius and 5Q0 semi-central angle were cast and tested under unformiy distributed load. The support conditions were simply supported for all the specimens. The loading in both the cases was found to be More than that stipulated in I.S. S75 for curved roofs during testing. 'The theoretical and experimental value 'of deflections and stresses were compared. The ,distribution of inplane forces ts- evalu-ated and represented in figures. It is seen that cylindrical shells can be used as roofing elements for low cost houses because these satisfy all the prescribed conditions of loads. deflections and crack widths with an economy of 17%6