Performance Evaluation and Health Monitoring of Ferrocement Structures

For a comfortable livelihood, suitable shelter is one of the essential requirements of an individual. Shortage of shelter is still a problem all over the world. India is facing a shortage of 18.78 million houses. To fulfill the rapid demand for housing, the prefabrication technique is gaining popularity around the world and is increasingly used in the construction of the structures like buildings. Ferrocement construction is one of the economical methods for prefabrication. The construction of the lightweight prefabricated sandwich structural element in the building construction industry is a developing trend all over the world. Sandwich structural elements have the property of a high strength-to-weight ratio, and lightweight, good thermal insulation properties. Web sandwich panels consisting of a thin layer on top and bottom faces can be suitably used as prefabricated structural components. Relatively higher strength can be achieved in ferrocement panels by providing the webs in the ferrocement sandwich panels. Most of the ferrocement structures are subjected to severe loading and their performance is likely to change with time.