Mechanical behavior of ferrocement composite beams incorporating advanced mesh reinforcement and ECC mortar

Abstract This study evaluates the structural behavior of various ferrocement beams through experimental testing. Ferrocement offers the potential to produce lightweight, low‐cost prefabricated structural elements with enhanced shear behavior and ductility. Twelve beam specimens with identical dimensions and longitudinal steel reinforcement were fabricated for the experiments. Beam A0 serves as the reference specimen, while beam A1 was strengthened with conventional stirrups. The remaining specimens were strengthened using different configurations of ferrocement mesh reinforcement. The studied parameters include the number of wire mesh layers, the types of wire mesh (welded, expanded steel mesh, and fiberglass wire mesh), the use of stirrups, the span‐to‐depth ratio ( a / d ) 1.5, 3, 4.5, and two types of mortar high‐strength mortar and engineered cementitious composite (ECC). The results demonstrate that ferrocement significantly enhances beam toughness and effectively reduces crack width. The beam reinforced with fiberglass mesh exhibits the lowest first‐cracking load and ultimate load among all tested specimens. In contrast, the ferrocement beam strengthened with three layers of expanded wire mesh achieves a higher ultimate load than beams reinforced with other types of wire mesh. Furthermore, the use of ECC mortar in ferrocement beams increases the maximum load compared with beams cast with high‐strength mortar. An increase in the number of expanded wire mesh layers significantly enhances the ultimate load capacity compared with the reference beam A0, achieving 124.68%, 150.65%, 186.04%, 147.73%, and 166.56% for beams B0, B1, B2, G1, and G2, respectively. In addition, the expanded wire mesh beams demonstrate superior toughness relative to the reference beam, with values ranging from 215.60 to 1573.40 kN.mm.