Strenght test to the FerroCement Panels
Panels of Ferro Cement (PFC) have been used by EcoTec in Nicaragua since 1991, when the Cuban EcoSur partner CECAT intorduced them. The system had been developped by Dr. Hugo Wainsthok who in earlier years had built large fisherboats in ferrocement and in 1984 built a series of two-storey houses with panels in Cuba.
Recently the panels were tested at the EcoTec workshop in Nicaragua, and the results were outstanding. They were placed between two supports with 220 cm of free span and loaded with cement bags. With a load of 4 bags they did not show any deviation from the string that was spanned across, even after 7 days.
Then the load was increased day by day, and finally at a total load of 510 kg the cracks appeared and the panels were badly bent, however they did not collapse.
Of course the forces in walls of one- or two-storey building will never approach such numbers, not even in earthquakes. Similar panels will be used in post-eartquake construction in Haiti and with different dimensions thay are also used for slab floors in multi storey buildings.
Recently a team of students in the Dominican Republic has made their diploma work on the earthquake safety of houses built with PFC and a team of Cuban engineers has done different computer based modulations on multy storey houses for their masters degree. Both are at the moment under scrutiny of top Cuban specialists and soon they will be published on this site.
Production of such panels has recently also started in Ecuador, where they are monitored for quality under the guidelines of the best specialists of the technology, the PFC are an extremely durable and presentable material for many applications.