STRENGTHENING OF REINFORCED CONCRETE SQUARE COLUMNS BY MEANS OF FERRO CEMENT JACKET

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation to clarify the behaviour of reinforced concrete square columns strengthened using ferrocement jacket. Strengthening using ferrocement jacket is relatively a new technique, which has a high strength/weight ratio, good resistance to cracking and impact loading, acceptable resistance to fire, and more resistance to corrosion than traditional materials. Ten reinforced concrete short columns with nominal cross-sectional dimensions of 200 × 200 mm with a total length of 1200 mm were cast and tested under axial loading until failure. The main parameters in this study were the number of layers of wire mesh, type of wire mesh, and the cement mortar strength. The results showed the effectiveness of the ferrocement jacket in improving the column capacity and reducing the vertical and lateral deformation. The results from the experiment were compared with the theoretical results obtained from the modified ECP 203 and modified ACI 318 equation codes.