Mechanical Properties and Fracture Behaviour of Coconut Fibre Reinforced Concrete (CFRC)

Abstract

The effect of coconut fibre content on the mechanical properties and fracture behavior of reinforced concrete was studied. The mix design used for the plain concrete and the coconut fibre reinforced concrete was based on 1:2:4 for cement: sand and coarse aggregate. Water/cement ratio used was 0.6. The coconut fibre was added as reinforcement principally to check the propagation of cracks. The composites developed by adding 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% coconut fibre (by weight) , mixing and curing. Plain concrete was cats and cured and used as control. Composites were cured for 7, 14 and 28 days. It was observed that the composite with 6% of coconut fibre demonstrated the highest compressive, flexural and split tensile strengths when compared to the control.