Ferrocement

Ferrocement or ferro-cement (also called thin-shell concrete or ferro-concrete) is a system of reinforced mortar or plaster (lime or cement, sand and water) applied over layer of metal mesh, woven expanded-metal or metal-fibers and closely spaced thin steel rods such as rebar, metal commonly used is iron or some type of steel. It is used to construct relatively thin, hard, strong surfaces and structures in many shapes such as hulls for boats, shell roofs, and water tanks. Ferrocement originated in the 1840s in France and is the origin of reinforced concrete. It has a wide range of other uses including sculpture and prefabricated building components. The term "ferrocement" has been applied by extension to other composite materials, including some containing no cement and no ferrous material.

Cement and concrete are used interchangeably but there are technical distinctions and the meaning of cement has changed since the mid-nineteenth century when ferrocement originated. Ferro- means iron although metal commonly used in ferro-cement is the iron alloy steel. Cement in the nineteenth century and earlier meant mortar or broken stone or tile mixed with lime and water to form a strong mortar. Today cement usually means Portland cement, Mortar is a paste of a binder (usually Portland cement), sand and water; and concrete is a fluid mixture of Portland cement, sand, water and crushed stone aggregate which is poured into formwork (shuttering). Ferro-concrete is the original name of reinforced concrete (armored concrete) known at least since the 1890s and in 1903 it was well described in London's Society of Engineer's Journal but is now widely confused with ferrocement.

The inventors of ferrocement are Frenchmen Joseph Monier who dubbed it "ciment armé" (armored cement) and Joseph-Louis Lambot who constructed a batteau with the system in 1848. Lambot exhibited the vessel at the Exposition Universelle in 1855 and his name for the material "ferciment" stuck. Lambot patented his batteau in 1855 but the patent was granted in Belgium and only applied to that country. At the time of Monier's first patent, July 1867, he planned to use his material to create urns, planters, and cisterns. These implements were traditionally made from ceramics, but large-scale, kiln-fired projects were expensive and prone to failure. In 1875, Monier expanded his patents to include bridges and designed his first steel-and-concrete bridge. The outer layer was sculpted to mimic rustic logs and timbers, thereby also ushering Faux Bois (wood grain) concrete. In the first half of the twentieth century Italian Pier Luigi Nervi was noted for his use of ferro-cement, in Italian called ferro-cemento.

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