Influence of Multi Directional Expanded Metal Mesh Reinforcement on Cement Mortar Flexural Performance

This study investigates the effect of varying the number and orientation of expanded metal mesh EMM layers as internal reinforcement on the flexural performance of mortar prisms, including flexural strength, toughness, first crack-load, and deflection at mid-span. Mixes were prepared using EMM layers embedded in prisms of dimensions 40 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm. The number of EMM layers were (one, two, and three) and their orientation; horizontal (perpendiculat to applied load), vertical (parallel to applied load), and a combination of both. The results showed that the incorporation of EMM improved the overall flexural performance significantly. This improvement became more pronounced with the increase in the number of EMM layers. Mixes reinforced with vertically aligned EMM layers exhibited greater improvements than those with horizontal alignment. The percentages of increase in flexural strength, toughness, and first crack-load for mix reinforced with three layers of horizontally alignend mesh were 80% , 595% , and 156 %, respectively. While for mixes reinforced with three layers of vertically aligned mesh, the corresponding values were 127%, 1474%, and 242%. The deflection results exhibited two different trends; under the same applied load, mixes reinforced with EMM showed lower deflection than the plain unreinforced mix, whereas at ultimate load, reinforced mixes recorded higher deflection. The mix reinforced with a combined orientation layers demonstrated the most significant improvements for all flexural performance tests, and the percentages of increase in flexural strength, toughness, and first crack load were 140%, 2063%, and 2875% relative to reference mix, repectively.