STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF FERROCEMENT FOLDED . PLATE ROOF FOR LOW COST HOUSING

Abstract

Housing shortage is one of the major problem in India, where th+-M need for cheaper housing ha.s to be met with their limited natural resources. The steady increase of population and inf lux of migrants from the rural areas have led to an acute housing shortage in the cities. To meet the housing shortage in the country within reasonable time frame prefabrication of the full structure or some major components seems to be the only answer. Adoption of prefabrication leads to a product with a. better finish, strength and quality. The materials are efficiently utilized and enormous time and money saving are obtained. One such item is the rooting sysl:em, for this ferrocement is a. suitable construction material because of its lighter weight, ease of construction, economy of mataria,ly; a,r hit tura.l flexibi 1 ity and bfat.tar utit iZatiran of human resources. Therefore, the structural behaviour of ferrocement folded plate roof ing system needs to be studied. The study presents the results of an experimental Investigation on the ferrocement folded plate roof subjected to service i ive load. The .normal room size {3. im x 4. lm) which is generally found in low lost houses is selected for this present investigation. The roof was made of five pre-carted ferrocement units and the roof was tested up to service live load. The serviceability load for the roof was found to be 345 kg/rn. This load prov ides suf f is ient cons iderat ion for heat insulation treatment over the roof in addiLion to the Live load for n asaessible aa,ae (150 kg/m`). The economic a.e pet: t of the roof shaws that the ferrocement folded plate roof is about 30% cheaper than R.G.C.