Optimizing Reinforced Concrete Structures: A Comparative Investigation of Diverse Wire Mesh Configurations

Abstract

Abstract The current study use varied steel wire meshes in lightweight concrete to investigate the effects on mechanical properties in lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC). There were three types of steel wire mesh used: hexagonal (chicken) wire mesh, welded square wire mesh, and expanded metal mesh in various layers and orientations in LWAC. Several mechanical properties such as flexural strength (FS), compressive strength (CS), and energy absorption (EA) were investigated. A total of 45 prisms specimens with dimension of 100x100x500mm ( width x depth x length) was casted for FS, 33 cube specimens were prepared for CS 150x150x150mm, whereas 45 specimens were costed for EA tests with a dimension of 400x300x75mm (LxWxH) respectively for 14 days of curing. The experimental results shows that the wire mesh as an additional reinforcement in the beam, enhanced the flexural behavior of the beam by distributing the forces along the section. The increment of the flexural resistance of the reinforced concrete due to the addition of one layer of chicken wire mesh, welded square wire mesh, and expanded metal mesh is 52.96%, 23.76%, and 22.2% respectively. The flexural strength in one-layer hexagonal wire mesh shows the highest FS which is 29.49MPa compared to the rest of the layers. However, the lowest FS were found in the wire mesh with one layer in all three meshes (hexagonal, welded, and expanded). There is a gradual decrease in the CS of concrete incorporating LWAC by increasing the layers of the hexagonal, welded, and expended wire mesh. The highest CS were found in the hexagonal wire mesh with one layer that is 36.56MPa. There is no such variation in the CS of combination of all three types of meshes and were found 29.79MPa. The highest energy was recorded in the expanded and chicken wire mesh with three layers before the ultimate failure that 1108.7 and 1425.6 Joul whereas, for welded square wire mesh, the highest energy absorption (752.3Joul) were found in the combination of three layer. For the first layer of hexagonal wire mesh reinforced concrete, the energy absorption was increased by 82.81% before crack whereas, it increases 88.34% before ultimate failure. Finally, it was concluded and recommended that hexagonal wire mesh outperforms than welded and expanded wire meshes.