Effect of Adding Polypropylene Fibres to Flexural Strength of Ferrocement

Abstract

Developing a lightweight structure is a increasing trend throughout the globe in the construction industry. For this form of building, Ferrocement, a thin-shell concrete strengthened with continuous wire mesh layers, had been seen as an alternative material. Ferrocement had become the promising composite material for applications of prefabricated components and strengthening. However, the cracking potential attributed to drying shrinkage is high considering the tiny size and big ferrocement surface area. The application of polypropylene fibres (PPF) as secondary reinforcement in ferrocement mortar was used in this study to manage such cracks. This paper introduces the effect of adding PPF to the behaviour of flexural ferrocements. This study revealed that 66.6% of the variation in ferrocement flexural strength was dictated by volume fraction (Vr) under flexural testing; 31.4% by a proportion of PPF (Pf) and 2% by Pf and Vr interaction.