Open Access

Natural Fiber in Cement and Concrete Matrices - A Review

Vikas Srivastava, vikas_mes@rediffmail.com
Department of Civil Engineering, SHIATS (Formerly AAI-DU), Allahabad, India.,, P.K. Mehta, Department of Civil Engineering, MNNIT, Allahabad,India. Satyendra Nath Department of Environmental Science, SHIATS (Formerly AAI-DU), Allahabad, India.

---

---

Abstract

The natural fibres, abundantly available in nature and also generated as agricultural waste, can be used advantageously in improving certain physical properties of cement matrix and concrete, even though the durability of resultant mix is relatively poor. As compared to the fibres widely used in construction activities viz. steel, glass carbon synthetic etc., these are advantageous in the sense that they are renewable, non abrasive, cheaper, comparatively more flexible etc. Also, the health and safety concerns during their handling, processing and mixing are less. Several natural fibres have been used in experimental studies and construction activities to investigate and improve upon the mechanical properties of cement and concrete matrices which are brittle in nature. This paper presents a review of the effects of natural fiber inclusion on the mechanical properties of cement and concrete matrices in green and hardened state.

Full Text

Reference

---

Agopyan, V. and Jhon, V.M., Durability evaluation of vegetable fibre reinforced materials, Build.Res.Inf., 20(4), 233-235 (1992).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613219208727212
Al-orami, S.K., Seibi, A.C., Mechanical characterisation and impact behavior of concrete reinforced with natural fibres, Compos. Struct., 32, 165-171 (1995).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0263-8223(95)00043-7

Boghossian, Emma and Leon D Wegnar., Use of flax fibres to reduce plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete. Cem. Concr compos., 30(10), 929- 937 (2008).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2008.09.003

Filho, R.D., Toledo and Sanjuan, M.A., Effect of low modulus sisal and polypropylene fibre on the free and restrained shrinkage of mortars at early age , Cem. Concr. Res., 29(10), 1597-1604 (1999).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(99)00136-2

Ismail, M.A., Compressive and tensile strength of natural fibre-reinforced cement base composites, Al-Rafidian Eng. J., 15(2), 42- 51 (2007).

Jhon, V.M., Agopyan, V and Parado, T.P., Durability of cement composites and vegetable fibers for roofing. Proceedings 3rd Ibero American Symposium on roofing for housing, Cyted/USP, Sao Paulo, CIB., 51-59 (1989).

Kriker, A.G., Debicki, A., Bali, M.M., Khenfer and Chabannet, M., Mechanical properties of date palm fibres and concrete reinforced with date palm fibres in hot-dry climate, Cem. Concr. Compos., 27(5), 554-564 (2005).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2004.09.015

Oraimi, S.K., Seibi, A.C.Ramakrishna, G and Sundarajan, T., Impact strength of a few natural fibre reinforced cement mortar slabs: a comparative study, Cem. Concr. Compos., 27(5), 547-553 (2005).

Reis, J.M.L., Ferreira AJM., Assessment of fracture properties of epoxy polymer concrete reinforced with short carbon and glass fibres, Constr Build Mater., 18, 523-528 (2004).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2004.04.010

Reis, J.M.L., Ferreira AJM., The influence of notch depth on the fracture mechanics properties of polymer concrete, Int. J. Fract., 124, 33-42 (2003).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:FRAC.0000009302.36274.e9

Savastano, H. Jr., Agopyan, V., Adrian, M.N and pimental, L., Plant fiber-reinforced cement components for roofing, Constr Build Mater., 13, 433-438 (1999).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(99)00046-X

Savastano, H. Jr., Warden, P.G and Coutts, R.S.P., Microstructure and mechanical properties of waste fibre-cement composites, Cem. Concr. Compos., 27(5), 583-592 (2005).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2004.09.009

Savastano, H.Jr., Santos, S.F., Radonjic, M and Soboyejo, W.O., Fracture and fatigue of natural fiber-reinforced cementitious composites, Cem. Concr. Compos., 31(4), 232-243 (2009).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2009.02.006

Siddique R., Fracture toughness and impact strength of high-volume class F fly ash concrete reinforced with natural san fiber, 12, 25-36 (2006).

Siddique, R., Concrete beams reinforced with twines of natural fibers, J. Ferrocement., 27, 119-125 (1997).

Siddique, R., properties of concrete incorporating high volumes of class F fly ash and san fibers, Cem. Concr. Res., 34(1), 37-42 (2004).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(03)00192-3 

Soroushian, P and Ravanbakhsh, S., Control of plastic shrinkage cracking with specialty cellulose fibres, ACI Mater. J., 95(4), 429-435 (1998).