Experimental Investigation on Mechanical Properties of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber Reinforced Cement Mortar

Abstract

The present experimental investigation is carried out to identify the potential of the oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber as reinforcing material in the cement mortar. In the present investigation, two types of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres such Stalk and Spikelet are used. The fibers are incorporated in cement mortar mix on the basis of weight of cement. Three different fiber contents such as 1%, 2% & 3% as well as three different lengths 10 mm, 15 mm & 20 mm of fibers are used in this study. The workability and mechanical properties are determined for all the mixes. The mechanical properties are determined for both 7 days and 28 days. The experimental results reveal that the flexural and split tensile strength of both types of fiber composites shows better results than control mix. The workability and compressive strength of the control mix is slightly more than reinforced mixes. The experimental results indicate that the Spikelet fibers show better result than stalk fibers.