ABSTRACT
The use of prefabricated ferrocement elements for the construction of industrial buildings can lead to a better finish and strength as well as the efficient utilisation of materials. Substantial savings in time and money can also be affected. Precast ferrocement northlight folded plate roofs offer a distinct possibility for construction of industrial roofs. This paper presents an investigation on two specimens having a total effective span of 10 meters with a support in the middle of the span. The effective width of the element was 1.3 m and thickness 20 mm. The plates were subjected 2 to an increasing uniformly distributed load upto a 4 kN/m2. The experimental results were validated using Simpson’s theory and the results correlate well. Based on the study, it is recommended that a load factor of 1.5 may be used for the design of ferrocement northlight folded plate roofs.
