NICMAR

Construction Practice Workshop

Title:
Casting of a Ferrocrete Slab 2 X 2 X 1 with reinforcement tied with
chicken mesh with
suitable specifications.
Name:
Group E
Ms Amruta Hombali

AP16274

Mr. Ankuar Kumar

Ms Dhwani Modi
Mr Siddharth Nahta
Mr
Shubham
Deshmukh

AP16275
AP16276
AP16277
AP16278

Ms
Aparna
Padmanabhan
Mr Aman Khare
Mr Anirudh Shetty
Mr M Tushith Nag

AP16279
AP16280
AP16281
AP16282

Theory:
Ferrocement is a highly versatile form of reinforced concrete made up
of wire mesh,
sand, water, and cement, which possesses unique qualities of strength
and serviceability. It can be constructed with a minimum of skilled
labor and utilizes readily available materials. There are several
applications of Ferro cement which include building industry, irrigation
sector, water supply and sanitation areas. it is an excellent composite
in the case of seismic resistant structures.
Ferrocement is a building material composed of a relatively thin layer
of concrete, covering such reinforcing material as steel wire mesh.
Because the building techniques are simple enough to be done by
unskilled labor, ferrocement is an attractive construction method in
areas where labor costs are low. There is no need for the complicated
formwork of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) construction, or for the
welding needed for steel construction, everything can be done by
hand, and no expensive machinery is needed.
The main difference between ferrocement and reinforced concrete is
ferrocement is a thin composite made of cement matrix reinforced
with closely spaced small diameter wire meshes instead of larger
diameter rods and large size aggregates. The thickness of ferrocement
generally ranges from 25 - 50 mm.

Ferrocement is an environment friendly sound technology and

possesses excellent unique properties such as good tensile strength,
improved toughness, water tightness, liglitness, fire resistance,
resistance to cracking and cost, time and material effective
construction technology.

Applications:

Fishing and Cargo Boats

Tugs and Barges

Bridges
Docks and Marinas
Permanent
food-storage
dumps
Cattle feeders and water
troughs

Floors
Cooling towers

Wall paneling
Water storage (drinking or
irrigation)
Pipes and irrigation conduits
Decorative panels and tiles
Slabs or shingles for roofs
Pads for drying tea, coffee,
cocoa,
coconuts, other oilseeds etc.
Telephone and power poles
Shutters and formwork for
use in
standard
concrete
construction

Raw materials:
Ferrocement is a composite thin element which is constructed of
building materials Cement, Fine Aggregate, Weld Mesh 2x2, Chicken
Mesh 0.5 inch, 6mm dia Bar &Binding Wire.
Material Requiremet:
1. Steel Reinforcing Mesh
Ferrocement uses layers of continuous/ small diameter steel wire/ weld
mesh netting (metallic or non-metallic) as reinforcement with high volume
fraction of reinforcement (2 to 8%) and the specific surface of
reinforcement is considerably higher for ferrocement than for RCC. Also,
the reinforcing steel wire mesh has openings large enough for adequate
bonding; the closer distribution and uniform dispersion of reinforcement,
transform the otherwise brittle mortar into a high performance material
distinctly
different
from
reinforced
concrete.
Skeletal
steel

rods/wires/strands are used as spacer material and to form the skeleton of

the shape of the structure to be built, around which the mesh layers are
later attached.
2. Cement
Portland cement is generally used in ferrocement. But the type of cement
should be selected according to the need or environment in which the
structure is built, for example ASTM cement Type I-V mentions the
strength characteristics of cement and its specific use / application (ACI
549, IR 93). Mineral admixtures, such as flyash, silica fumes, or blast
furnace slag, may be used to maintain a high volume fraction of fine filler
material as well as to enhance the properties at wet and hardened state.

3. Aggregate
Only fine aggregate is used in ferrocement. Coarse aggregate is not used
in ferrocement. Normally, the aggregate consists of well graded fine
aggregate (sand) that passes a 2.34 mm sieve; and since salt-free source
is recommended, sand should preferably be selected from river-beds and
be free from organic or other deleterious matter (Sakthivel &
Jagannathan, 2011). Good amount of consistency and compactibility is
achieved by using a well-graded, rounded, natural sand having a
maximum top size about one-third of the small opening in the reinforcing
mesh to ensure proper penetration (ACI Committee 549R-97). The
moisture content of the aggregate should be considered in the calculation
of required water.
4. Water
In ferrocement, the water used for mixing cement mortar should be fresh,
clean and fit for construction purposes; the water of pH equal or greater
than 7 and free from organic mattersilt, oil, sugar, chloride and acidic
material (ACI Committee 549R-97).
Calculations:
1. Dimension: 2 feet x 2 feet x 1 inch
2. Volume: 0.0093 M3
3. Considering Shrinkage and Wastage 30%
Therefore required volume = 1.3 x 0.0093 = 0.012 M3
4. Mix Proportion ( Mortar ratio- Cement : Sand)= 1:3
1
a. Requirement of Cement = 4 x 0.012 = 0.003 M3

=0.003 X 1440
b. Requirement of Sand =

3
4

So requirement of water =

= 4.32 Kg

x 0.012 = 0.009 M3

=0.003 X 1650
5. Water Cement Ratio- Say 0.40

Kg
cum

4.32 X 0.40
1

Kg
cum

= 14.85 Kg

= 1.7 Litre

Procedure:
a. A plastic paper is properly placed on leveled ground.
b. Clamp the mould.
c. Cut the reinforcement in the size of 2 X 2 and support it with 6 mm dia

bars from all the four side of the square with a diagonal bar also
d. Pack the complete assembly with chicken mesh with the help of

e.
f.
g.
h.

binding wire so that there should not be any unevenness in the

reinforcement.
Put releasing agent (Oil) on the plastic paper.
Prepare the mortar as per the calculations mentioned above
Place the half inch layer of the moratar in the mould and then place
the reinforcement.
Place the mix on the rest of half inch.

Approximate Rate:

Sr. No.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Particulars
Cement
Fine aggregate
(River Sand)
Weld Mesh
Chiken Mesh (0.5
Inch)

Quanti
ty
4.32
0.009

Unit

Rate

Amount(
)

Kg
M3

6.4 / Kg
5500/2.83 M3

27.64
17.49

ft2

50

ft2

2500/200 ft2
(50 ft x 4 ft)
700/400 ft2
(4 ft x 100 ft)

14

5.
6.
7.

6 MM dia Bar
Binding Wire
Male Worker

0.5
0.01
1

Overhead Charges (Electricity, Water,

Supervision Etc) = 1%

Kg
Kg
hr

47/kg
60/kg
30/hr
Total
Final amount
for single
pannel

Casting of a Ferrocrete slab 2 X 2 X 1

23.5
0.6
30
163.23
165