Physical and Mechanical Performance of Coir Fiber-Reinforced Rendering Mortars

Abstract

Coir fiber is a by-product waste generated in large scale. Considering that most of these wastes do not have a proper disposal, several applications to coir fibers in engineering have been investigated in order to provide a suitable use, since coir fibers have interesting properties, namely high tensile strength, high elongation at break, low modulus of elasticity, and high abrasion resistance. Currently, coir fiber is widely used in concrete, roofing, boards and panels. Nonetheless, only a few studies are focused on the incorporation of coir fibers in rendering mortars. This work investigates the feasibility to incorporate coir fibers in rendering mortars with two different binders. A cement CEM II/B-L 32.5 N was used at 1:4 volumetric cement to aggregate ratio. Cement and air-lime CL80-S were used at a volumetric ratio of 1:1:6, with coir fibers were produced with 1.5 cm- and 3.0 cm-long fibers and added at 10% and 20% by total mortar volume. Physical and mechanical properties of the coir fiber-reinforced mortars were discussed. The addition of coir fibers reduced the workability of the mortars, requiring more water that affected the hardened properties of the mortars. The modulus of elasticity and the compressive strength of the mortars with coir fibers decreased with increase in fiber volume fraction and length. Coir fiber’s incorporation improved the flexural strength and the fracture toughness of the mortars. The results emphasize that the cement-air-lime based mortars presented a better post-peak behavior than that of the cementitious mortars. These results indicate that the use of coir fibers in rendering mortars presents a potential technical and sustainable feasibility for reinforcement of cement and cement-air-lime mortars.

Effects of Particle Size Distribution of Standard Sands on the Physical-Mechanical Properties of Mortars

“…One of the criteria proposed by CSTB is based on the ratio between the modulus of elasticity and flexural strength ( E / f t ). It is known that a low modulus of elasticity contributes to better deformability, while a high flexural strength indicates better mechanical strength to support the applied load, therefore, the mortar tends to present a higher susceptibility to cracking when the ratio E / f t is high [ 56 ]. The results shown in Table 5 indicate that although the MSS30-20 mortars can be considered stiff, the E / f t ratio is lower when compared to the other mortars, which suggests a more ductile behavior and less susceptibility to cracking.…”

A Discussion on Winter Indoor Hygrothermal Conditions and Hygroscopic Behaviour of Plasters in Southern Europe

“…The MBV results are reported in Table 1. The physical and hygric characterization of the plasters was performed in previous studies [39][40][41][42]. The material properties needed for the simulations were defined following the indication of Posani, Veiga and Freitas [43], based on the results of the experimental campaigns.…”

Recycled Materials in Civil and Environmental Engineering

“…The paper by Pederneiras and coworkers [ 16 ] studied the physical and mechanical properties of environmentally friendly and low-cost products based on coir fibers in rendering mortars with two different binders. It was observed that the addition of coir fibers led to improvements in the cracking behavior and that the volume fraction of the fibers and the binder used were the main factors which improved the brittleness of the conglomerate.…”