Addition Of Natural Fibers Research Articles

Characterization of tunnel excavated earth-based mortars for rammed earth repair

The aim of this work is to study the possibility to reuse the tunnel excavated earth in order to elaborate earth-based mortar for rammed earth reparation. The tunnel excavated earth-based mortars were compared with raw earth based-mortars, largely used in practice. The cement was used as stabilizer and the hemp fibers were used to diminish the cracking due to shrinkage. The mechanical, thermal and hydric properties of mortars were characterized after 28 days. The mortars were maintained in hydrothermal chamber at controlled conditions, 20 ± 2 °C and 50 ± 5 HR. The obtained results show that the mechanical performances increase with the increase of cement by earth ratio. While, the increase of cement content affects negatively the thermal conductivity of earth-based mortars. Whereas, the thermal properties were improved with the addition of natural fiber. The excavated earth-based mortars show higher mechanical performances and good thermal properties compared to raw earth-based mortars.

An investigation on thermal and chemical behavior of jute/hemp/flax fiber reinforced woven composites and its hybrids

Natural fiber has emerged as a viable alternative to synthetic fibers like glass, carbon, and Kevlar for the development of polymeric composites. Present study focused on Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential thermal analysis (DTA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of the reinforced fibers and developed composites. HR-X-Ray Diffraction of neat epoxy, jute, hemp, and flax fibers was also performed. For TGA, as the temperature increases up to 2500C, thermal degradation of all composites is higher as compared to the neat epoxy. Addition of natural fibers as reinforcement with epoxy matrix affects the transmittance peaks between 1000-1500 cm-1 and 1608-1738 cm-1 in FTIR spectra. The peaks transmittance between 1000-1500 cm-1 represents the chemical compositions of the fibers (hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and pectin) which are the necessary part of plant fibers. In X-ray diffraction, two sharp peaks appear at a diffraction angle of 21.40 and 14.80 for jute, hemp, and flax fibers. Peak at a diffraction angle (2Ɵ) of 26.30 represents α-cellulose and 14.260 represents non-cellulose material such as hemicellulose and lignin in fiber.

A comprehensive overview of jute fiber reinforced cementitious composites

Natural fibers are eco-friendly, cost-effective, lightweight, renewable, have better thermal properties and corrosion resistance capabilities. The addition of natural fibers in cementitious composites (CCs) will be a sustainable step to enhance their mechanical properties as well as encouraging green construction. Jute fibers are cheap among all the natural fibers and are abundantly available in several developing countries. This study describes the impact of utilizing jute fibers in CCs for sustainable construction. The influence of jute fiber on the mechanical strength of CCs is reported, including compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength. Additionally, the microstructure of jute fiber is discussed, and jute fiber-matrix interaction is explained. The effect of varying jute fiber length and content on the mechanical strength of CCs has been described, and optimum jute fiber length and content have been reported. The current research initiative expects to promote understanding of the concerns and difficulties encountered during the production of jute fiber reinforced CCs. It was concluded that incorporating jute fibers can enhance the strength properties of CCs if used in shorter lengths and lower volume contents, while higher volume content of jute fibers degraded the strength properties of CCs. In addition, the current research is quite limited in terms of practical applications of jute fiber reinforced CCs, and more research is needed in the future to determine their applications in civil engineering construction. Future research has been recommended in light of the different parameters discussed in this study. Moreover, this review will be helpful in promoting the use of jute fiber for the green construction of CCs.

Preparation, properties, and laser processing of poly(ɛ‐caprolactone)/poly(lactic acid) blends with addition of natural fibers as a potential for printing plates application

AbstractIn this research, biodegradable blend of poly(ɛ‐caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is proposed as a new material for the production of a printing plate for embossing process. Printing plates for embossing consist of raised printing elements and recessed nonimage elements. In production of printing plates, laser technology was used in order to form a relief printing plate. The embossing process is based on the principle of the pressure of the relief printing plate into the printing substrate, which causes the controlled deformation of the substrate and three‐dimensional (3D) effect. Coir fibers (CFs) were added as a natural filler to PCL/PLA blends to improve and adjust the properties of produced blends. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs, dynamic mechanical analysis analysis, roughness, and hardness were measured on prepared materials, and 2D and 3D microscopy was conducted on laser engraved printing plates. Results have shown that the addition of CFs improved the mechanical properties of produced materials. DMA results indicate the semicrystalline structure of all prepared blends, and that the addition of CFs raises the elasticity of the composites. Laser engraving showed that it is possible to engrave the produced biodegradable materials and to use it as a material for production of printing plates.

The Structure and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Fibers-Reinforced Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Composites Modified by Electron Beam Irradiation

The need for the development of new biodegradable materials and modification of the properties the current ones possess has essentially increased in recent years. The aim of this study was the comparison of changes occurring in poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) due to its modification by high-energy electron beam derived from a linear electron accelerator, as well as the addition of natural fibers in the form of cut hemp fibers. Changes to the fibers structure in the obtained composites and the geometrical surface structure of sample fractures with the use of scanning electron microscopy were investigated. Moreover, the mechanical properties were examined, including tensile strength, elongation at break, flexural modulus and impact strength of the modified PCL. It was found that PCL, modified with hemp fibers and/or electron radiation, exhibited enhanced flexural modulus but the elongation at break and impact strength decreased. Depending on the electron radiation dose and the hemp fibers content, tensile strength decreased or increased. It was also found that hemp fibers caused greater changes to the mechanical properties of PCL than electron radiation. The prepared composites exhibited uniform distribution of the dispersed phase in the polymer matrix and adequate adhesion at the interface between the two components.

Experimental study on fiber reinforced bituminous concrete

In India flexible pavement is widely used. The major problem associated with flexible pavement is its performance. In the past studies it has been found that performance of bituminous concrete has improved with the addition of natural fiber. In this paper authors selected coir fiber as a reinforcing material. The author was focused on the Marshall Method of mix design. In this study author found that optimum bitumen content (OBC) and optimum fiber content (OFC) for 20 mm fiber length is 5.6% and 0.4% respectively.

Mechanical Properties of Mortars Reinforced with Amazon Rainforest Natural Fibers.

The addition of natural fibers used as reinforcement has great appeal in the construction materials industry since natural fibers are cheaper, biodegradable, and easily available. In this work, we analyzed the feasibility of using the fibers of piassava, tucum palm, razor grass, and jute from the Amazon rainforest as reinforcement in mortars, exploiting the mechanical properties of compressive and flexural strength of samples with 1.5%, 3.0%, and 4.5% mass addition of the composite binder (50% Portland cement + 40% metakaolin + 10% fly ash). The mortars were reinforced with untreated (natural) and treated (hot water treatment, hornification, 8% NaOH solution, and hybridization) fibers, submitted to two types of curing (submerged in water, and inflated with CO2 in a pressurized autoclave) for 28 days. Mortars without fibers were used as a reference. For the durability study, the samples were submitted to 20 drying/wetting cycles. The fibers improved the flexural strength of the mortars and prevented the abrupt rupture of the samples, in contrast to the fragile behavior of the reference samples. The autoclave cure increased the compressive strength of the piassava and tucum palm samples with 4.5% of fibers.

Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite as a Strengthening of Concrete Structures: A Review

For centuries, concrete is the main material most widely used in a building. The strength and durability of this material will decrease over time due to several factors that influence the mechanism of its structural characteristics. Although the compression strength is excellent, it is weak in tensile. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are widely used as an alternative material to replace metal-based engineering materials. This material has properties such as lightweight products, low production costs, easy to form, high tensile and flexural strength, and elastic. The purpose of this review paper is to provide information about the application of FRP composites as reinforcement of concrete structures either as repairs or new structures. Initially, FRP composite materials were used as reinforcement structures for reinforced concrete column-beam joints. The resulting structure has increased the flexural ability due to the load given. The addition of natural fiber (jute) to concrete also increases in the hardness of concrete. Other investigations regarding the application of FRP composites in concrete to improve strength performance are discussed in this paper. Finally, the technique of wrapping FRP composites in concrete in an effort to improve the performance of the resulting structure is also discussed in the paper.

Mechanical and durability study of high performance concrete with addition of natural fiber (jute)

In this present era, though the use of cement-based materials plays an important role in growth and development of infrastructure, it poisons the environment by releasing CO2. Based on this interpretation, we are moving forward to opt for a substitute material which will lead us towards a green and sustainable solution. The research aims at identifying the characteristics of High Performance Concrete (HPC) by partially replacing silica fume (10%) and fly ash (20%) with concrete. In this analysis, compressive strength of concrete values for distinct trial blend ratios was determined on the 7th, 14th and 28th day. Based on this compressive strength of the trial mixes the proportions of the material are resolved. Using this outcome, samples are casted with a steady water-to-cement proportion (w / c = 0.28), retained for curing. The study's primary goal is to examine and identify the optimum dosage of superplasticizer, substitute cement with different ratios of silica fume and fly ash and evaluate the mechanical characteristics like compressive and split tensile strength of HPC with Silica Fume and Fly ash with an addition of natural fiber (jute) and later on study later on study the durability properties like sorptivity, acid attack, etc. The following result confirmed that the concrete also works better in mechanical and durability characteristics with jute at 1 percent than any other concrete.

Animal fibers as water reservoirs for internal curing of mortars and their limits caused by fiber clustering

We present a bottom-up experimental research to address evidence of internal curing of mortars using randomly distributed pig-hair as water reservoirs. Plain and reinforced mortars with pig hair ranging from 0 to 8 kg of fibers per cubic meter of mortar were prepared. The microstructures of plain and reinforced mortars were scanned using electron microscopy and the microhardnesses were measured within the bulk cement paste and cement paste near pig fibers. Electrical resistivity, surface absorption, and residual compressive strength of mortars after freeze-thaw cycles were used to test the effects of internal curing caused by pig hair. Natural fibers used to reinforce mortars increase their toughness and provide part of the necessary water for internal curing, yet internal curing originated by the addition of natural fibers is not proportional to fiber dosage; where the potential to form fiber clusters increases as fiber dosage increases. Results show that there is an optimum fiber dosage that maximizes internal curing caused by these fibers. This study contributes to the research on reinforced mortars with natural fibers to provide sustainable solutions for construction materials.

Effect of Alfa fibers on the mechanical and thermal properties of compacted earth bricks

The main objective of this work is to study the feasibility of using fibers extracted from the Moroccan Alfa plant, as a reinforcement of compacted earth bricks. Alpha fibers have been modified by alkali and hydrothermal treatments respectively. The bio-composites were produced from a mixture of 30% earth and 70% crushed sand (0–4 mm) by mass, as a matrix. The treated and the untreated Alfa fibers were added by two ratios 1 and 1.5% by weight. The mechanical (flexural and compressive strength), physical (capillarity, porosity, and thermal conductivity), and morphological properties of the compacted specimens were studied. These analysis were carried out after 7 days of curing. The results show that the mechanical properties of the compacted earth bricks increase with the addition of natural fibers. The compacted earth bricks with 1% by weight of alkali treated Alfa fibers show better mechanical properties with low thermal conductivity.

Physical and mechanical properties of lightweight concrete with the addition of crude palm oil production wastes

The increased area of oil palm plantations in Indonesia followed by increased production and amount of palm oil waste. One of the waste products of palm oil produced from the process of purifying Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is Spent Bleaching Earth (SBE). This research will utilize SBE waste as sand substitution material in concrete manufacture. The addition of natural fiber from the Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) in the manufacture of concrete is expected to increase the mechanical strength of concrete that meets the SNI requirements. The process of making concrete begins by mixing all ingredients, stirring, moulding, compacting manual, and curing for 28 days. Concrete making is done by substituting SBE by 10%, 30%, and 50% based on sand weight, and fiber by 2%, 4%, and 6% based on sample volume. The results showed that the substitution of 28.98% SBE for sand weight, and 5.95% EFB based on Light Weight Concrete (LWC) volume, produced concrete with the best properties.

Exploration of Characteristics of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete and Its Influence on Regular Concrete

Concrete is the most widely used product in the construction sector mainly because of its properties and its capability to be moulded to any size. Plain concrete has low tensile strength and forms internal micro cracks. It has been proven that with the addition of natural fibers and synthetic fibers in concrete, it helps in the durability and functionality of structure. The steel fibers are added to the concrete in very low volume doses and it has been effective in decreasing the plastic shrinkage in cracking and also acting as a crack arrestor. In this journal, experimental analysis on steel fiber reinforced concrete is done on M30 and M50 mix with 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2% volume fraction of steel fiber content and is compared with samples of 0% steel fiber content and these samples are investigated on their compressive, split tensile and flexural strengths.

Use of agriculture waste as short discrete fibers and glass-fiber-reinforced-polymer rebars in concrete walls for enhancing impact resistance

Residual wastes of large-scale productions are constantly gaining attention in developing countries for their possible use in manufacturing of sustainable materials. Natural fibers (jute fibers) that are abundantly available in agriculturally progressive countries when used in concrete can engage construction industry for adopting environmentally friendly material composites. Jute fibers have tendency to improve performance of concrete in terms of energy absorption. Structures that are vulnerable to blast happenings are supposed to absorb the high impact energy in case of such unprecedented event. The overall goal of the research program is to improve the dynamic performance of concrete by addition of natural fibers. The specific aim of this study is to improve impact resistance of concrete walls by addition of jute fibers. Prototype walls are prepared using steel rebars and GFRP rebars with normal concrete and jute fiber reinforced concrete. 50 mm long jute fibers are used, 5% by mass of cement. Mix design ratio of 1: 2: 3: 0.6 (Cement: Sand: Aggregates: w/c) is taken. Impact testing is performed using modified pendulum impact apparatus. Impact strength and dynamic response is investigated. Dynamic properties are determined at different damage stages. Post impact fiber concrete matrix is analyzed. Empirical and analytical equations are developed based on obtained results. The obtained results show domination of GFRP rebars reinforced concrete walls having jute fibers over other combinations. Thus, obtained dominant combination of rebars and fiber reinforced concrete can be practically implemented to avoid possible spreading of concrete fragments against blast impact, saving human lives.

Comparative Analysis the Addition of Natural and Artificial Fibres in Concrete

Concrete structurally has a fairly large compressive strength, but has a lack of tensile strength and is brittle. This weakness can be corrected by adding natural or artificial fibres to the concrete mix evenly with a random orientation. The purpose of this study was to investigate about the effect of adding natural fibres and artificial fibres on compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete. Test specimens used are cylindrical concrete measuring 150 mm x 300 mm with natural fibres from bamboo Betung and artificial fibres from local Bendrat wire. The variation of the percentage value of the fibre fraction volume is 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% and the test is carried out when the concrete is 28 days old. The results showed that the addition of natural fibres and artificial fibres to the concrete mix can increase the compressive strength and tensile strength of normal concrete at a fraction volume of 0.4%. Increased compressive strength of normal concrete is 24.31% for bamboo Betung fibre and 20.81% for Bendrat wire fibre. Whereas the increased in tensile strength of normal concrete for Betung bamboo fibre increased by 77.12% and for Bendrat wire fibre increased by 3.24%.

The Influence of Wood and Basalt Fibres on Mechanical, Thermal and Hydrothermal Properties of PLA Composites

In this study, biodegradable biocomposites based on polylactide with basalt fibres (BFs) or wood fibres (WFs) of 7.5 or 15 wt% were prepared by injection moulding. Various tests, including tensile test, bending test and impact test, were carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of the composites. Additionally, the samples were tested at different temperatures. Depending on the type of fibre, differences were noted in their mechanical properties; the addition of WF caused a decrease in strength and the higher the fibre content, the higher the decrease was noted from 18% up 25% in the case of tensile strength. However, the Young modulus was improved by 45% for composites with 15 wt% of WF. The addition of BF improved all the properties, especially Young modulus was improved by over 45%. Despite the low strength observed in neat polylactide at high temperatures-394 MPa, the addition of WF or BF improved the flexural strength more than twofold up to 1684 MPa (PLA/15BF). Moreover, the addition of natural fibres caused an increase in dimensional stability as shown by the decrease of the coefficient of thermal expansion which dropped over 50% for composites with 15 wt% of BF, which significantly expands the areas of use of materials. After 4 weeks of biodegradation, only a slight decrease approximately 5% was observed in the mechanical properties together with an increase in crystallinity. Overall, the results confirm that the prepared composites can be successfully used in engineering applications with long-term operation.

Natural fiber reinforced high calcium fly ash geopolymer mortar

This study investigated the properties of high calcium fly ash geopolymer mortars containing natural fibers. Two types of natural fibers, namely sisal fiber and coconut fiber were incorporated in the geopolymer mortar with varying proportions at 0%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0% volume fraction. The mechanical, thermal, and physical properties of geopolymer mortar reinforced with fibers were tested and compared with those of glass fiber (synthetic fiber) and control (0% fiber) geopolymer mortars. Results revealed that the addition of natural fiber (sisal and coconut fibers) as reinforcing materials resulted in significant improvement in tensile and flexural strength performances similar to the use of glass fiber. Meanwhile, the workability, dry density, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and compressive strength values tended to decrease.

The Fly-Ash Based Geopolymer Composites as an Innovative Material for Circular

A circular economy is the answer to the problem of wasting raw materials and increasing environmental pollution. It is based on the effective use of materials - from extraction, through use, to the way of managing waste. Analyzing the impact of particular industries on the production of pollution, it can be concluded that the construction is one of such industries. In order to reduce the negative impact of the construction on the environment resulting from energy consumption and large amounts of generated waste, various researches are carried out on modern and innovative materials production solutions. One of the possibilities is a production technology based on the alkaline-activated compositions and geopolymers. The advantage of this technology is that it has a much lower carbon footprint compared to the traditional production methods used in construction - during the synthesis of geopolymers the emission of CO2 is 4-8 times lower and also the energy consumption is reduced up to 2-3 times. This article shows the possibility of using the industrial and mining waste for creating new eco-friendly materials – geopolymers. The paper presents the results of studies on geopolymer composites reinforced with addition of 1% by weight of different types of natural fibers i.e.: short hemp fibres, raw flax fibres (shortened), long flax fibres (stannous) and linseed cotonin. The paper showed that geopolymer composites can be successfully produced with the addition of natural fibres (often waste) and have good strength parameters even after long-term use.

Energy behavior assessment of rice husk fibres reinforced polymer composite

Natural fibre composites, possess characteristics that are beneficial towards the environment and ecosystem, completely biodegradable, renewable, offer strength and reliability of the material properties, and enhance economic development because of its ability in replacing synthetic composites. One of them refers to rice husk, which is a non-timber source that is easily available from agricultural wastes. Hence, rice husk fibres were selected as fibre-reinforced composites, while polypropylene as matrices in this research. Rice husk composite (RHC) specimens were produced via injection molding process. The composite composition was fixed at 35% of fibre content. The cycle tests were conducted to obtain cyclic properties by adhering to specifications outlined in ASTM D3479. Servo-hydraulic machines were used for five different stresses with constant amplitudes of R=0.1, R=0.3, and R=0.5 of S75, S80, S85, S90, and S95 to determine the stress effects on energy dissipation and fatigue life of the material. The results indicated that there was increment in energy loss for the increasing fatigue life in every cycle. This shows that with the addition of natural fibres in composites, the material exhibited viscoelastic behaviour, in which energy loss was represented by matrix cracks and broken fibres.

Evaluation of the hybridization effect on the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of bamboo/kenaf/epoxy hybrid composites

Bamboo-/kenaf-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites were prepared by hand layup method. The aim of this study is to look into the hybridization effect of bamboo and kenaf fibers at different ratios on thermal and thermo-oxidative (TOD) stabilities of hybrid composites. Three types of hybrid composites were fabricated with different mass ratios of bamboo fiber mat (B) to kenaf fiber mat (K), namely B/K 70:30, B/K 50:50 and B/K 70:30 while maintaining total fiber loading of 40% by mass. The thermal stability and thermo-oxidative (TOD) stability were analyzed by thermogravimetric analyzer. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to investigate the oxidation onset temperature (OOT) of all the composites. The results reveal that bamboo composite shows higher thermal stability than kenaf composite in both inert and oxidative atmospheres. An increase in bamboo fibers mass ratio in the hybrid composite improved the thermal and TOD stability. The thermal and TOD stabilities of the hybrid composites follow the sequence of B/K 70: 30 > B/K 50:50 > B/K 30:70. Pure epoxy composite recorded the highest OOT at 197.50 °C. The results show that the addition of natural fiber in the epoxy matrix has significantly reduced the OOT compared to the pure epoxy. Data obtained from this work will help us to fabricate a sustainable and biodegradable component for automotive or building materials.