Researches and innovations on ferrocementinthe new millennium : Global perspective

In the period 2001 - 2005, ferrocement was developed by researchers, engineers and builders to respond to the needs of the construction industry in their countries. Research investigations have confirmed the shear behavior of ferrocement-soil interface, flexural moment capacity of ferrocement hollow sandwich panel system, punching shear-strength of bolted ferrocement panels, ferrocement deep beams, behavior and strength of ferrocement axial joints and sound transmission performance offerrocement panels. Engineers and builders have applied ferrocement in many new innovative ways including but not limited to using prestressing for ferrocement box girders, precasting of blocks using ferrocement facing panels, ferrocement overlays to strengthen concrete block masonry walls, ferrocement boxes to confine concrete, ferrocement panel as facing for vertical sea wall, ferrocement as strengthening and repairing materials for reinforced concrete, lamination of ferrocement and the combination of fiber reinforced concrete and ferrocement. Reported are those researches and applications in different countries, as published in the Journal of Ferrocement. The objective is to provide the trends and development outlook offerrocement technology.