Strengthening of Concrete Cylinder Using Various Stainless-Steel Wire Mesh

Using locally available materials, such as Stainless-Steel Wire Mesh (SSWM) can be a sustainable and cost-effective solution for strengthening concrete. In this study, experimental work was performed with concrete cylinders confined with eight kinds of locally available SSWM to evaluate compressive strength variation. Specimens were divided into four groups according to mesh opening shape and wrapping alignment:1) unwrapped specimens, 2) specimens wrapped with 00 aligned rhombus shape opening SSWM, 3) specimens wrapped with 90⁰ aligned rhombus shape opening SSWM, and 4) specimens wrapped with square shape opening SSWM. The result shows that SSWM wrapping with any type of opening and alignment over the concrete cylinder increases the load-carrying capacity of the cylinder (1.3% to 32.6% more than unwrapped cylinders). As an individual case, the specimen confined with rhombus shape opening SSWM (thickness- 1.5 mm, opening cross-section- 14mm X 5mm, and weight 2.004 kg/m2) in 90o alignment takes the highest compressive strength (19.5 MPa) and that is 32.6% higher than the unwrapped specimen. But, considering group-wise results, square-shaped opening SSWM carries a higher load-carrying capacity than rhombus-shaped opening SSWM. This type of SSWM increases compressive strength by 11.9% to 21.1% compared to the unwrapped specimens. It was also revealed that wrapping alignment variations of rhombus shape opening SSWM do not change the specimen’s compressive strength significantly.