Combined effects of rice husk ash and nylon fiber on engineering properties of cement mortar

Abstract

Utilization of waste materials is of utmost importance in creating a sustainable future. Industrial waste as well as recycled materials are used as supplementary cementitious materials in order to preserve the environment as well as to enhance the properties of the construction material. In the reporting work, rice husk ash (RHA) and nylon fibers were added to cement mortar (a mixture of cement, sand and water) to investigate their individual, as well as combined effect on flexural and compressive strengths, sorptivity, and abrasion resistance of cement mortar. Test results obtained in this study indicate that RHA can be blended up to 10% by weight of cement to obtain higher flexural and compressive strengths as the addition of RHA improves the strength of the cement paste by enhancing the production of calcium-silicatehydrate. Nylon fiber reinforcement with 0.5 vol% showed efficient increment in flexural and compressive strengths of the mortar as a result of fibers holding the elements of the composite together. Replacement of cement with 10 wt% RHA effectively reduced the sorptivity of mortar as the addition of RHA results in the formation of a dense calcium-silicatehydrate structure reducing the porosity and blocking the capillaries inside the paste. Addition of 0.5 vol% nylon fiber to the cement replaced with 10 wt% RHA showed an increase in abrasion resistance of the mortar as nylon fibers can retain during longer time period of stress due to their high elasticity. Overall results indicated that the combined addition of rice husk ash and nylon fibers can increase the performance of cement mortar effectively by increasing its mechanical as well as durability properties.

Reinforced cementitious composite using viscose rayon fiber from textile industry waste

“…These data were also in compliance with other studies with similar textile synthetic and recycled fibers, which showed that 0.5% of fibrous reinforcement is efficient for increasing mechanical properties. 39,64 On the other hand, addition above 1 wt% decreased the mechanical properties of cementitious composites reinforced with cellulose fibers as mentioned by Ghasaei et al 65…”

“…These data were also in compliance with other studies with similar textile synthetic and recycled fibers, which showed that 0.5% of fibrous reinforcement is efficient for increasing mechanical properties. 39,64 On the other hand, addition above 1 wt% decreased the mechanical properties of cementitious composites reinforced with cellulose fibers as mentioned by Ghasaei et al 65 From Figure 7, it is observed that, in fact, samples that achieved the lowest compressive strength (FRC1, FRC2, and FRC4) had black areas in their structures, representing air voids, and agglomerated fiber points. In addition, fibers distributed in the cementitious matrix were observed, with the presence of pores.…”

“…The results were promising for matrix with 0.5 wt% waste reinforcement, since studies with synthetic Nylon fibers with the same fraction achieved lowest compressive strength at 7 days of curing. 39 On the other hand, the lowest compressive strength was 6.06 ± 0.3 MPa for the sample with 4 wt% residue reinforcement. It is worth mentioning the uniformity obtained in the compression results, with variation coefficients of 4.38% and 4.62% for the samples with 0.5and 4 wt% of residues, respectively.…”

“…[35][36][37] The insertion of natural, synthetic, or residual cellulosic fibers have shown great potential, improving the mechanical properties (flexural and compressive strengths) of cementitious composites. [38][39][40] In addition, the use of fibrous waste contributes significantly to the sustainable development of the textile and construction industry. 41 It is important to highlighted that the CV fiber waste is not enough explored in the scientific literature, only a few studies approach this type of fiber for the reinforcement of cementitious composites materials.…”

Utilización de geopolímero para la mejora de las propiedades en morteros cal-puzolana y su empleo en países en desarrollo.

“…Finalmente, varios son los investigadores que han estudiado la influencia de la CCA en morteros y hormigones con cemento Portland, con resultados que demuestran mejoras en alguna de las características del objeto de estudio respecto del mortero control [79] [80][81] [82]. También se han realizado investigaciones en hormigón de alto rendimiento [83], en morteros y hormigones con fibras de nylon [84][85] y en hormigones autocompactantes [86] [87].…”