Experimental Study on Engineering Properties of Cement Concrete Reinforced with Nylon and Jute Fibers

Aneel Kumar,Manthar Ali Keerio,Naraindas Bheel,Paul Awoyera,Yue Liu,T. Tafsirojjaman

doi:10.3390/buildings11100454

Abstract

The use of synthetic fiber and natural fiber for concrete production has been continuously investigated. Most of the materials have become popular for their higher flexibility, durability, and strength. However, the current study explores the engineering properties of cement concrete reinforced with nylon and jute fibers together. Varying proportions and lengths of nylon and jute fibers were utilized in the concrete mixture. Hence, the combined effects of nylon and jute fibers on workability, density, water absorption, compressive, tensile, flexural strength, and drying shrinkage of concrete were investigated. Results showed that concrete with 1% of nylon and jute fibers together by the volume fraction showed a maximum enhancement of the compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength by 11.71%, 14.10%, and 11.04%, respectively, compared to the control mix of concrete at 90 days. However, the water absorption of concrete increased with increasing nylon and jute fiber contents. The drying shrinkage of concrete decreased with the addition of nylon and jute fibers together after 90 days. Thus, the sparing application of both nylon and jute fiber as discussed in this study can be adopted for concrete production.

Highlights

Concrete has been a broadly utilized construction material for the development of infrastructures for a long time
The current study focused on using natural fiber, i.e., jute, and synthetic fiber, i.e., nylon, as reinforcing materials for concrete
The fibers were used in concrete as reinforcement at 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% levels where the content of nylon and jute fibers kept the same level based on a preliminary evaluation of the raw materials, and it was discovered that an equal fiber constituent would be utilized to balance the volumetric fraction of fibers in each of the mixtures

Summary

Introduction

Concrete has been a broadly utilized construction material for the development of infrastructures for a long time. Nowadays, researchers are using different waste materials in concrete, which contributes a lot to a sustainable environment [12,13,14] Except for these beneficial peculiarities, concrete has undesired attributes such as low tensile strength, quasi-brittle failures, low resistance to wind and earthquake loads, and increased self-weight and/or density. The current study focused on using natural fiber, i.e., jute, and synthetic fiber, i.e., nylon, as reinforcing materials for concrete. An incredible increase in tensile strength was observed, i.e., 58% with 15 mm fibers and 42% with 25 mm fibers with a reinforcement level of 0.3% by the total volume of concrete. 2. Materials The materials utilized in this study were nylon fiber, jute fiber, and basic constituents of concrete, i.e., water, cement, fine aggregate, and coarse aggregate.

Fine and Coarse Aggregates

Mix Design and Specimen Preparation

Hardened Concrete

Slump Test

Compressive Strength of Concrete

Splitting Tensile Strength of Concrete