DESIGN OF RC BEAM WITH AND WITHOUT CHICKEN MESH AS SHEAR

REINFORCEMENT

Abstract

Chicken mesh is widely used in the building construction because of its economy, easier and fast mode of construction and better
quality control. Chicken wire mesh can be a good substitute for the conventional reinforcement and yielded the excellent results in
both strength and ductility. The IS method was adopted for M30 grade of concrete. The preliminary tests were conducted for
various properties of materials such as cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate to check their suitability for concrete
making. The mesh are provided in beam that the span of L/3 and fully Chicken wire mesh as shear reinforcement. For concrete,
cubes (150x150x150mm), cylinders (300x150mm) and beams (1000x250x150mm) were cast for determination of compressive
strength, split tensile strength flexural strength. In fresh state workability test is conducted to determine the compacting factor and
slump value. To study the flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beam the following parameter are obtained such as initial
crack load, the deflection at initial crack load, ultimate load carrying capacity of beam and ultimate deflection of the beam. To
compare the load carrying capacity of control beam by welded wire mesh as shear reinforcement.

Key Words: Chicken mesh, flexural test, deflection, crack load, ultimate load carrying capacity.
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1. INTRODUCTION The main objectives of this paper were:
a) To find the deflection, location of crack and types of
Generally welded wired mesh consists of 1mm to 10mm
failure.
diameter and cross wire space altering from 20mm to 30mm b) To compare the load carrying capacity of control
as per IS: 1566-1982. Welded mesh is widely used in the beam by welded wire mesh as shear reinforcement.
building construction because its economy, easier and fast
3. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
mode of construction and better quality control. Weld mesh
All the materials tests were conducted in the laboratory as
can be a good substitute for the conventional reinforcement
per relevant Indian Standard codes. Basic tests were
and yielded the excellent results in both strength and
conducted on fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, and cement
ductility. In this project, preliminary tests were conducted
to check their suitability for concrete making. The
for various properties of materials such as cement, fine
proportions of ingredients of the control concrete of grade
aggregate and coarse aggregate. The IS method was adopted
M30 had to be determined by mix design as per IS code.
for M30 grade of concrete for control mix ratio. Cubes,
Two types of reinforced concrete beam are cast with
cylinder and reinforced concrete beams were cast for
Chicken wire mesh. Chicken wire mesh is used in this
determination of workability test, compressive strength, split
project. The mesh are provided in the span of L/3 and fully
tensile strength and flexural strength respectively. In fresh
Chicken wire mesh as shear reinforcement. The beams are to
state workability test also conducted.
be tested under two point loading to study the flexural
1.2 ADVANTAGES OF THE WELDED WIRE MESH
behaviour of concrete beams.
a) Higher Characteristic Design Strength Table 3.1 Details of specimen are cast
b) Better Bonding Behaviour S.no Specimen Size No of
c) Economic Crack Fighting with thinny Wires and specimens
Nearer Spacing
S1 Control beam 1000x150x250mm 1
d) Savings of Labour and Time
S2 full wire mesh 1000x150x250mm 1
e) Flexibility of Handling and Placing
2. OBJECTIVES S3 L/3 wire mesh 1000x150x250mm 1

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 The diameter mesh is 1mm and used spacing of mesh is
25mm.
3.1 Material Properties
3.1.1General 4 Materials properties

This chapter briefly describes the various materials used in
this project work are Cement, Fine aggregate, Coarse
aggregate and Water.
3.1.2 Cement
Cement is the well-known building material with adhesive
and cohesive properties, which is capable of binding mineral
fragment into compact mass. The most popular Ordinary
Portland cement (OPC-53) is used in this study.
The preliminary tests were conducted for various properties
of materials such as cement, fine aggregate and coarse
aggregate to check their suitability for concrete making.
Table 4.1 shows that Properties of cement. Table 4.2 shows
that Properties of coarse aggregate. Table 4.3 shows that
Properties of fine aggregate.
Table 4.1 Properties of cement
Fineness Modulus 2%

3.1.3 Fine Aggregate Standard Consistency 31.5 %

Initial Setting Time 36 minutes

Aggregate which is passed through 4.75 mm IS sieve and
retained on 75 micron IS sieve is termed as fine aggregate. It Final Setting Time 360 minutes
fills the voids in coarse aggregate. The sand conforming IS Table 4.2 Properties of coarse aggregate
383-1970 is used in this project.
Specific Gravity 2.78
3.1.4 Coarse Aggregate
Fineness Modulus 3.98
Aggregate which passes through 75 mm IS sieve and
retained on 4.75 mm IS sieve are known as coarse Bulk density in Loose State 1507.01 Kg/m3
aggregate. Aggregates should be properly screened and if
necessary washed before use. Coarse aggregates containing Bulk density in Compacted 1642.5 Kg/m3

flat, elongated or flaky pieces should be rejected. The state

grading of coarse aggregates should be as per specifications

Water absorption 0.5%
of IS 383-1970. In this project, 20 mm size of coarse
aggregate is used.
Moisture content 0.32 %

Table 4.3 Properties of fine aggregate

3.1.5 Water
Specific Gravity 2.68
Water used for mixing and curing shall be clean and free
from oils, acids, alkalis, salts etc. Fineness Modulus 2.82

3.1.6 Reinforcement Bulk density in Loose State 1608Kg/m3

HYSD bars of 8 mm and 6 mm were used as longitudinal
Bulk density in Compacted 1643 Kg/m3
reinforcement and stirrups respectively.
state
3.1.7 Chicken wire mesh

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Water absorption 0.8%

Moisture content 2.64 %

Figure 6.2 Reinforcement details of beam specimens S3

5 Mix Design 7 Experimental setup
The flexural tests were carried out on beam of size 1000mm
Cement Fine Coarse Water
x 250mm x 150mm which reinforced with 4 Nos of 8mm
aggregate aggregate
diameter HYSD bars and 6mm diameter mild steel bar two
1 1.69 2.723 0.45 legged stirrups at 150mm center to center shear
reinforcements were provided under standard two point
loading. Dial gauge was fixed at one third of the span for

6 Preparation of the specimens finding the deflection of the reinforced beam. Figure7.1
shows that Experimental setup for flexural strength of beam.
The beam specimens are prepared according to the
following procedure

6.1 Reinforcement

Four bars of 8 mm diameter were as the longitudinal

reinforcement. The welded wire mesh was connected to the
beam specimen by using steel winding wires. The cover of
the specimen was maintained at 25 mm.
6.2 Mixing and casting of the beam specimen
The mix design for concrete was 1: 1.69: 2.723: 0.40. All
this values are within permissible limits. The mixing of the
concrete was done in an electronic drum mixture machine.
The specimens were unmolded after 24 hours and cured in a
water tank for 28 days. After curing they were kept for
drying and coated with lime for visibility of cracks during
testing. Figure 6.1 shows that Reinforcement detail of beam
specimens S2. Figure 6.2 shows that Reinforcement detail of
beam specimens S3.
Figure 7.1 Experimental setup for flexural strength of beam
8 Experimental Results and Discussion
The ultimate load carrying capacity of specimen S1, S2, S3
was 100kN, 160KN, 150kN. The experimental results
suggest that the ultimate load capacity of the beam
specimens is increased for the S2 and S3 specimen with the
full layer and L/3 of welded wire mesh. The specimen S2,
S3 has increased with 23% & 20% ultimate load carrying
capacity of control beam. This indicates that the mesh has
provided at L/3 and fully mesh wire ratio will increase the
strength of the beam specimen. Therefore, the beam with
full layer of mesh was used in this study can be used as an
alternative to control specimen. Figure 8.1 Load deflection
curve of S1. Figure 8.2 Load deflection curve of S2.
Figure 8.3 Load deflection curve of S3

Figure 6.1 Reinforcement details of beam specimens S2

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 decreases for the S3 specimen with addition of L/3 wire
mesh compare to S2. This indicates that the mesh has
provided at fully mesh wire has increase the deflection of
the beam specimen
8.3 Ductility
The ductility of the specimens increases for the specimen S2
considerably compared to the control specimen S1 and
comparable with all other specimens.
8.4 Cracks
The crack pattern is flexural for the specimen S2. It is a
combination of flexural and shear for S1, S3. Figure 8.1
Figure 8.1 Load deflection curve of S1
shows Crack pattern of S1 specimen. Figure 8.2 shows
Crack pattern of S2 specimen. Figure 8.3 shows Crack
pattern of S3 specimen.

Figure 8.1 Crack pattern of S1 specimen

Figure 8.2 Load deflection curve of S3

Figure 8.2 Crack pattern of S2 specimen

Figure 8.3 Crack pattern of S3 specimen

9. Conclusions
The conclusions of this paper are presented by the mesh are
provided in beam that the span of L/3, fully Chicken wire
Figure 8.3 Load deflection curve of S3
mesh as shear reinforcement and control concrete.
1) The specimen S2, S3 has increased with 23% & 20%
8.2 Maximum Deflection
ultimate load carrying capacity of control beam. This
The ultimate deflection value of S1, S2, and S3 is 14.85mm,
indicates that the mesh has provided at L/3 and fully mesh
16.86mm and 14.98mm. The maximum deflection values of
wire ratio will increase the strength of the beam specimen.
the specimen are increased in specimen S2, S3 with addition
of wire mesh compare to control beam. The deflection value

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2) By varying ratio of mesh has obtained 160 and 150 of the
ultimate load for specimens S2 and S3.
3) The deflection value decreases for the S3 specimen with
addition of L/3 wire mesh compare to S2. This indicates that
the mesh has provided at fully mesh wire has increase the
deflection of the beam specimen
4) The ductility of the specimens increases for the specimen
S2 considerably compared to the control specimen S1 and
comparable with all other specimens.
5) The crack pattern is flexural for the specimen S2. It is a
combination of flexural and shear for S1, S3.
The conclusion of this project shows the specimen S2 has
performed better than the control beam. Chicken wire mesh
can be a good substitute for the conventional reinforcement.
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