What is the Difference Between Ferrocement and Reinforced Concrete

The key difference between ferrocement and reinforced concrete is that ferrocement concrete has a large specific surface of reinforcement, whereas reinforced concrete has comparatively a low specific surface of reinforcement.

Ferrocement and reinforced concrete are two types of construction materials. These are composed of wire meshes and cement mortar.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Ferrocement Concrete
3. What is Reinforced Concrete
4. Ferrocement vs Reinforced Concrete in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Ferrocement vs Reinforced Concrete

What is Ferrocement Concrete?

Ferrocement can be described as a type of thin-wall reinforced concrete that is commonly constructed using hydraulic-cement mortar that is reinforced with relatively closely spaced layers of continuous, small wire mesh. Usually, this mesh is made from metallic or other suitable materials. This type of construction material is used in construction because of its low self-weight. In addition, it does not require skilled workers or frameworks. This material was developed by an Italian architect named P.L. Nervi in 1940.

Frrocement concrete is a versatile reinforced concrete and is a type of thin reinforced concrete construction having a large amount of small diameter wire meshes that come as uniformly in the cross-section. Moreover, the mesh is made of either metal or any other suitable material. These are the significant properties of ferrocement.

What is Reinforced Concrete?

Reinforced concrete is a composite material having low tensile strength and ductility. It’s this inclusion of reinforcement that gives it high tensile strength or ductility. Usually, this reinforcement involves steel bars that are typically embedded passively in the concrete before setting the concrete.

Generally, the reinforcing schemes are designed to resist the tensile stresses in certain regions of the concrete. This can cause unacceptable cracking and structural failure. Moreover, modern reinforced concrete can consist of various reinforcing materials that are made of steel.

For a strong, ductile, and durable construction, the reinforcement has to have high relative strength, high toleration of tensile strain, good bond to the concrete, thermal compatibility, and durability in the concrete environment (not subject to corrosion or sustained stress).

What is the Difference Between Ferrocement and Reinforced Concrete?

Concrete is an important construction material. There are different classifications for this material, and we can categorize it into two groups as ferrocement and reinforced concrete, according to the reinforcing material and some other properties. The key difference between ferrocement and reinforced concrete is that ferrocement concrete has a large specific surface of reinforcement, whereas reinforced concrete has comparatively a low specific surface of reinforcement. Moreover, the composition of ferrocement concrete includes cement, sand, water, and wire mesh. On the other hand, the composition of reinforced concrete can be given as cement, sand, water, and steel bars. Therefore, the reinforcing material for ferrocement is wire mesh, and for reinforced concrete, it is steel bars. This makes ferrocement higher in strength and durability compared to that is reinforced concrete.

Below is a summary of the difference between ferrocement and reinforced concrete in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Ferrocement vs Reinforced Concrete

Ferrocement is a type of thin-wall reinforced concrete that is commonly constructed using hydraulic-cement mortar that is reinforced with relatively closely spaced layers of continuous, small wire mesh. Reinforced concrete is a composite material made of cement, sand, water, and steel bars and has low tensile strength and ductility. Moreover, the reinforcing material of ferrocement is wire mesh, while the reinforcing material of reinforced concrete, is steel bars. The key difference between ferrocement and reinforced concrete is that ferrocement concrete has a large specific surface of reinforcement, whereas reinforced concrete has comparatively a low specific surface of reinforcement.

Reference:

1. “Reinforcement in Concrete Topic.” American Concrete Institute.
2. “Reinforced concrete.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Talbruecke-Bruenn 2005-08-04” By Photos: Benutzer:Störfix. Combination: Florian.Arnd – Derivative work by Florian.Arnd: Ccombination of File:Talbruecke-Bruenn-1_2005-08-04.jpg and File:Talbruecke-Bruenn-3_2005-08-04.jpg by Benutzer:Störfix. (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia