Modeling And Comparing Of Styrene Butadiene Rubber Latex And Polypropylene Fibre Polymers Modified Flexural Ferrocement Member Using Plate And Wire Element

Abstract

Ferrocement has found extensive application in thin-walled structures owing to its uniformly distributed reinforcement, which
enhances cracking resistance, tensile strength-to-weight ratio, ductility, and impact resistance. However, conventional cement mortar used in
ferrocement is prone to the formation of micro-cracks even under relatively small loads. To address this limitation, ferrocement proposed the use of
polymer-modified ferrocement mortars, which significantly improve durability and flexural performance. The present study aims to supplement and validate
these experimental findings of Styrene butadiene rubber latex and polypropylene fibres polymers modified Flexural ferrocement member, which significantly
improve durability and flexural performance, through numerical modeling using the finite element software. A material model for polymer-modified cement
mortar was developed based on experimental test data. In particular, the effects of incorporating Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) latex in liquid form and
polypropylene fibers into the cement mortar were investigated. Two distinct modeling strategies for polymers modified ferrocement slabs were considered and
compared. In the first approach, the steel mesh reinforcement was idealized as an equivalent steel plate representing the same volume of steel. In the second,
more rigorous approach, the mesh was explicitly modeled using wire elements. While the wire-element model provided a detailed representation, the equivalent
plate model proved to be computationally more efficient, with results that closely matched those of the rigorous approach. A parametric study was also conducted
by varying the steel volume fraction, polymer fiber content in the cement matrix, and the grade of cement mortar. The numerical predictions obtained from
ABAQUS showed strong agreement with the experimental results reported, thereby validating the proposed modeling approach. The objective of
study of Abacus Polymer modified ferrocement (PMF) slab element to reduce the full scale experimental cost before design and construction.
As of now there is no new methodology to design and adopt the PMF and trial error are adopting and there is no prescribed Indian Standard
method.