water treatment plants. Around 50 plants using the
technology are operational at the moment, with capacity
ranging from 3 to 150 l of treated water per second.
The water treatment plant in Divinopolis was inaugurated
in June 1998, and it is the largest of its kind built
in ferrocement in Latin America. The construction costs
were reduced to 30% of a conventional reinforced concrete
solution. In this work, two water tanks were chosen
to be monitored during operation, in order to access
the best approach to model such structures using the
finite element method, as described in the remaining of
the text.
Due to the relatively poor knowledge about the material,
including lack of reliable design and detailing
tools and guidelines, structural computations in ferrocement
still represent a major problem. Empirical formulations
are often used, many based on procedures
developed for reinforced concrete; hence, over- or
under-estimations in design often occur. As far as the
finite elements calculations for composites is concerned,
different formulations and elements are available.
The difficulty is to choose the correct modelling strategy
for the particular case of a ferrocement structure. Approaches
such as the use of layered elements (with
separated layers of steel and cement mortar), the homogenisation
techniques (volume-weighted average of
the materials) and the use of the composite bulk material
properties (direct experimental results) are possibilities
that can be considered.
Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to
present the results obtained in the investigation of the
ferrocement application in water treatment plants in
Minas Gerais, Brazil. Alternative approaches, all based
on the FE results and its underlying hypotheses, are
shown. The research also encompasses aspects such as
the construction technique and its implications in the
overall final structural response. A number of experimental
results are used to access the accuracy of the
numerical models employed.