Fabrication and Characterization of Cement-Based Hybrid Concrete Containing Coir Fiber for Advancing Concrete Construction

Abstract

Nowadays, the incorporation of natural fiber, such as coir fiber, to high-strength concrete has sparked a lot of attention in the construction materials industry. This is because coir fibers are significantly cheaper and more widely accessible than synthetic fibers. Natural fibers such as bamboo, flax, hemp, and coir have distinct microstructures and chemical compositions from cement-based materials. The physical and mechanical properties of natural fiber, such as coir fiber, are significantly correlated with fiber concentration and cellulose component. However, coir fiber has high stretching to failure, while bamboo, flax, and hemp fibers are very resistant to stress and increase stiffness. Based on these distinctive fiber qualities, it is anticipated that coir fiber would facilitate the development of cement-based materials for advanced concrete building applications. In this paper, coir fiber-reinforced cement-based concretes were evaluated in terms of workability, compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and permeability. The relationship between strength and fiber content was analyzed to understand the impact of coir fiber on the properties of coir fiber-reinforced cement-based concrete. Based on the results obtained, it is determined that 2% coir fiber modification offers the highest compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength. Moreover, the modulus of elasticity is increased, and the permeability is plummeted by the volume fractions of coir fiber 1%, 2%, and 3% because the blending of coir fiber has a bridging and dispersing mechanism of the force-carrying capacity in concrete. In conclusion, coir fiber might be a viable choice for improving the strength and durability of concrete. Therefore, the sparing use of coir fiber presented in this research can be implemented for the manufacturing of concrete in the future.

Investigation of Mechanical and Thermal Stabilities of Tamarind Seed- and Peanut Shell Powder-Reinforced Vinyl Ester Composite

“…In contrast, the tensile modulus decreases because the natural fllers add fexibility to the composite, reducing its stifness. Te tensile property of the composite material falls when an extra hybrid fller is introduced to the mixture of materials [15,21,[25][26][27][28]. Tis is because the mixed fller has a lower tensile modulus.…”

Influence of Spanish Broom Fibre Treatment, Fibre Length, and Amount and Harvest Year on Reinforced Cement Mortar Quality

“…In this study, CEM I 42.5 R was used with a specific gravity of 3.16 g/cm 3 and a specific surface area, according to Blaine, of 3785 cm 2 /g. The XRD analysis was made, and obtained diffraction pattern for cement was corrected for divergence slit (ADS to FDS) and for systematic error using the external Si standard.…”

“…Sedan et al [53] also concluded similarly that the flexural strength of the composite decreases due to a non-homogeneous mixture and especially because of poor adhesion between the fibres and the matrix. Katman et al [3] claimed that a weaker transition zone is created around the fibres, so there is a tendency for the entire specimen to be weaker. According to [54], the increase in fibre length leads to a high volume of large capillary pores.…”

“…Steel fibres have limited use because of corrosion [2]. Although synthetic fibres do not have corrosion problems, their production is expensive and energy-intensive [3]. Therefore, recently more and more focus has been directed to natural fibres, whose extraction requires a low amount of energy, has a low environmental impact, and which are available [2].…”

Mechanical Characterisation of Fibre Concrete with Optimum Mix Design

“…Concrete will be the most soughtafter building material for the foreseeable future due to its wonderful behavior and ability to be used either hybrid or unaccompanied [2]. On the very other side of the coin, concrete has numerous undesirable properties such as: brittleness, poor fracture resistance, low impact resistance and high weight, hence the need to improve concrete properties must be considered [3]. In order to improve the properties of the concrete and make it more practical for use in the construction of various types of structures and infrastructure, the addition or substitution of materials in the concrete mix has increased to a greater extent [4][5] [6].…”