Effective Utilization of Eco-Friendly Industrial Waste and Byproducts in Ferrocement Slab Panels

An effort has been made to examine the flexural performance of ferrocement rectangular panels using geopolymer mortar consisting of fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag as the base materials. River sand and M-Sand served as fine aggregates for the mortar. Hydroxides and Silicates of Sodium served as alkaline activators that polymerize the pozzolanic raw materials. For the designed mortar mix, the workability and compressive strength were determined using the standard test protocols. Ferrocement panels were cast using layers of fibreglass mesh and welded wire mesh (single, double and triple layers of the same type of mesh) and using hybrid layers (one type of mesh sandwiched between the other type) and subjected to the test under flexure. Characteristics like ultimate load, load versus deflection, ability to absorb energy and failure patterns were explored. Ductility enhancement is evident in welded wire mesh slabs in comparison to fibreglass slabs. Slabs with welded wire mesh have enhanced load-carrying capacities and energy absorption than the fibreglass mesh reinforced slabs. Irrespective of the type of sand and mesh, the ultimate load-carrying capacity increases with the number of layers of mesh. In the hybrid type, slabs with double welded wire mesh layers are superior with a higher load-carrying ability and ductility when compared to slabs reinforced with double fibreglass mesh layers.