Issue 78

D. D. Joshi et alii, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 78 (2026) 315-345; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.78-19

stiffness degradation, cumulative energy dissipation and equivalent damping ratio. The results demonstrated improvements in strength, ductility and energy dissipation capacity, along with reduced stiffness degradation in the SSWM strengthened specimen. Overall, the study demonstrated that SSWM strengthening enhances the performance of damaged RC beam column junctions subjected to cyclic loading. As discussed above, researchers have explored steel wire mesh including SSWM for structural strengthening under different loading conditions. It has been used for axial confinement of concrete cylinders, plain concrete columns, for the flexural, shear and torsional strengthening of RC and precast beam; and for the strengthening of beam-column junctions under both monotonic and cyclic loading, as presented in Fig. 6.

Figure 6: Summary of studies related to SSWM strengthening of structural elements under different loading conditions.

Apart from SSWM, researchers explored different variants of steel wire mesh, namely, galvanized steel wire mesh, welded wire mesh and stainless-steel expanded metal sheet mesh (SSEMSM) for strengthening of structural elements such as concrete columns, RC beams, deep beams, RC beam-column joints and shear wall. A brief review of these studies is provided herewith. Hadi and Zhao [59] investigated the use of different wire mesh materials for confinement of high-strength concrete columns to reduce cover spalling. Three types of mesh were considered including fiberglass fly mesh (FGFM), standard aluminum fly mesh (SAFM) and galvanized steel wire mesh (S12.7 WM). A total of sixteen column specimens were tested under concentric, eccentric and pure bending loading, while four beam specimens were tested under four-point loading. The results showed that galvanized steel wire mesh significantly enhanced the ultimate load capacity of columns by 4.25% to 45.59% under both concentric and eccentric loading, although the improvement in ductility was limited. Based on the experimental studies, the authors concluded that steel wire mesh is an efficient and economical solution to enhance ultimate load resistance of column specimens. Qeshta et al. [71] investigated the flexural performance of RC beams strengthened using wire mesh-epoxy composites. A conventional galvanized welded wire mesh with square openings was used for the study. Five RC beams were tested under four-point loading, strengthened with a four-layer wire mesh-epoxy composite applied to the tension face of the beams. The results showed that the proposed strengthening system increased the first crack load up to 90% and the yield load of the beams by up to 47% compared to the control specimen. Hawileh et al. [72] compared the performance of RC beams strengthened with CFRP composites and galvanized steel mesh (GSM) laminates prepared from unidirectional ultrahigh strength steel wires. Two different variants of GSM i.e., medium density (MSM) and high density (HSM) laminates were considered for the study. The laminates were applied at the tension face of the beam using epoxy adhesive. Experiments were conducted on eight RC beams subjected to symmetrical four-point monotonic loading. The maximum enhancement in load-carrying capacity of 65% was observed for beams strengthened with high density GSM laminates, compared to control RC beams. Based on the findings, authors concluded that galvanized steel mesh laminates can be used for flexural strengthening of RC beams. Hamoda et al. [73] used welded wire mesh and glass fiber mesh filled with strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) concrete for shear strengthening of RC deep beams. A total of nine RC deep beams were tested under three-point loading to examine the effect of strengthening measures. The study considered the influence of mesh type, number of mesh layers and the provision of additional anchorage using high-strength bolts. Hybrid SHCC-mesh systems were applied to one half of the beam on side faces, with and without anchors. The results indicated that the ultimate load capacity of strengthened beams increased by 14% to 82% compared to the control specimen. Significant improvements were also observed in cracking load, elastic stiffness, ductility and energy absorption, along with more favorable failure modes. Beams strengthened with welded wire mesh exhibited greater ultimate load capacity and overall superior performance compared to those with

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