Abstract:
The natural fibres, abundantly available in nature and also generated as agricultural
waste, can be used advantageously in improving certain physical and strength
properties of cement matrix and concrete. As compared to 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 research examines the
effects of fibre aspect ratio of palm bunch fibre on the physical and strength properties
of concrete. Experimental studies on compressive strength in accordance with BS
1881: Part 116 (1983), split tensile strength in accordance with BS1881, Part 117
(1983) and flexural strength in accordance with BS 1881: Part 118: (1983) were
conducted with fibre aspect ratios of 75, 100, 125 and 150. The addition of palm
bunch fibres significantly improved many of the engineering properties of the
concrete, notably toughness, split tensile and flexural strengths. The ability to resist
cracking and spalling were also enhanced. However, compressive strength was
adversely affected. The toughness or energy-absorbing capacity increased, but there is
an optimum aspect ratio (125), beyond which the toughness started to decrease.
Overall the study has demonstrated that addition of palm bunch fibre to concrete leads
to improvement of its engineering properties. Further work is however, required to
assess the long term durability of concrete enhanced with palm bunch fibre.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of CONSTRUCTION AND WOOD
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION, Faculty of TECHNICAL EDUCATION,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University of Education, Winneba,
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Philosophy
(Construction Technology) degree.
OCTOBER, 2018