INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

OF
International Journal of Engineering Sciences 2(2) 2013 06-10 ENGINEERING SCIENCES

Natural fibre reinforced cement concrete :

Avenue through some investigations

Dr. Ishwar P. Sonar

Associate Professor in Civil Engineering Deptt; College of Engineering Pune-5

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1.0 Introduction

Concrete is most widely used construction material due to its versatile properties. Concrete is strong in compression but
weak in tension. Steel reinforcements are used in concrete to resist tensile forces in structural members. Artificial discontinuous
fibres are also used to improve cracking resistance of concrete and toughness. Research works are being carried out on various
types of artificial and natural fibres available and their performance in cement concrete. The literature is rich and various
textbooks and research papers are already available. With the awareness of development of eco-friendly cost effective
concrete materials, scientist and researchers have tried different types of natural fibre materials like sisal, jute, flax,
bamboo, sugarcane bagasse etc;. Though these fibres are renewable and ecologically advantageous, they have some limitations
such as lower durability and lesser strength. But recent research provides several treatment processes to enhance the durability of
natural fibres. Moreover, they give less concern with safety and health during handling of fibre products.

The trend of research on natural fibre reinforced concrete composite is now increasing due increase in cost of
high energy materials and also availability of solutions to improve durability of natural fibres in concrete. Many
literatures have indicated various advantages in the use of natural fibers in cement composites, among them the following:
increased flexural strength, post-crack load bearing capacity, increased impact toughness and improved bending strength Natural
fibers exhibit many advantageous properties as reinforcement for composites Economic and other related factors in many
developing countries where natural fibres are abundant, demands that scientists and engineers apply appropriate technology to
utilize these natural fibres as effectively and economically as possible to produce good quality fibre reinforced composites in
concrete or polymer matrix for housing and other needs. At the present time, due to simultaneous awareness increase on
environment and energy, increasing attention should be paid to natural fibers with a view to conserving energy and protecting the
environment. Also in the economic interests of developing countries, there is an urgent need for new application areas for these
natural fibres. In this paper, a general review of current research works on fibre reinforced cement concrete and cement
mortar using selected types of natural fibres are presented.

2.0 Research works on composites using sisal, coconut coir, bamboo and other fibres.

Though scientist and researchers have tried different types of natural fibre materials like sisal, jute, rice husk,
flax, bamboo, banana fibre, oil palm fibre sugarcane bagasse, wood floor etc;. it is observed that test results of sisal, coconut
coir and bamboo are more promising. Other fibres are also ecologically advantageous; they have some limitations such as lower
durability and lesser strength. Therefore, brief information about recent research works on sisal, coconut coir and bamboo
reinforced cement concrete, is presented in this paper.

2.1 Sisal composite

The work done by Flávio de Andrade Silva1, Barzin Mobasheret et all [2] addresses the development and advances of
strain hardening cement composites using sisal fiber as reinforcement. Sisal fibers were used as a fabric to reinforce a multi-layer
cementitious composite with a low content of Portland cement. Use of continuous sisal fabrics that are formed by aligning and
stitching the fibers in a multilayer cement composite system present a new perspective for the use of natural fiber reinforced
composites in the construction industry. Such family of composites is defined as textile reinforced concrete (TRC). These
composites can be used in various fields of applications such as permanent formworks, facades, tanks, pipes, long span roofing
elements, strengthening of existing structures and structural building members.

A matrix with a low content of Portland cement and calcium hydroxide was used to reduce the potential aging of sisal
fibers. The composites showed high modulus at linear-elastic zones ranges with elastic modulus around 34 GPa under direct
tension. Multiple cracking behavior was observed under tensile loads with average UTS of 12 MPa at a strain of approximately
1.50 %.The first crack strength increased when increasing the fatigue stress levels. From the hysteresis stress-strain curves it was
noticed no signs of degradation for maximum stress level of 4 MPa. For maximum stress levels of 4.8 and 6 MPa there was noticed
an increase in the hysteresis area and decrease in the Young´s modulus.

___________________
*Corresponding author
Email address: ips.civil@coep.ac.in (Dr. Ishwar P. Sonar)
© 2013 SCMR All Rights Reserved.
 Ishwar P. Sonar / International Journal of Engineering Sciences 2(2) 2013 06-10 7

2.2 Coconut coir composites

C. Asasutjarit a, J. Hirunlabh a, et all [ 1] have presented investigation conducted in Thailand on the development of
coconut coir-based lightweight cement boards (CCB). These boards were made from coconut coir, cement and water. They are
intended to be used as building components for energy conservation. The investigations focused on parameters, mainly, fiber
length, coir pretreatment and mixture ratio that affect the properties of boards. The physical, mechanical and thermal properties of
the specimens were determined after 28 days of hydration. Results of this study indicated that the best pretreatment of coir fibers
was to boil and wash them as it can enhance some of the mechanical properties of coir fiber. The optimum fiber length was 1-6 cm
fraction, and optimum (cement: fiber: water) mixture ratio by weight was 2:1:2. The produced CCBs satisfied most recommended
mechanical standards. In addition, investigation on thermal property of specimens revealed that coconut coir-based lightweight
cement board has lower thermal conductivity than commercial flake board composite. That is an important feature to promote the
use of CCB_ as energy saving material in buildings.

2.3 Bamboo wood cement composites

Rahim Sudin, Narayan Swamy [8] tried to utilize flakes produced from naturally occurring bamboo, and fibres extracted
from agricultural wastes emanating from oil palm trees can be utilized to produce cement-bonded particleboards for applications
in the housing and building industries and in infrastructure construction. The bamboo flakes contained a high amount, about
4.92%, of sugars which had a significant retarding effect on the setting and strength development of the portland cement matrix.
With a bamboocement ratio of 1: 2.75 and 2% aluminium sulphate alone or in combination with sodium silicate, it was possible to
produce a board which satisfied the strength and dimensional stability requirements of international standards. Fibres extracted
from oil palm fronds were, on average, 0.40 mm thick and 19.3 mm long. For the production of wood fibre cement composites,
cement replacement materials such as fly ash, rice husk ash and latex were used in conjunction with chemical admixtures to
counteract the adverse effect on the hydration characteristics of the cement matrix. All the strength and dimensional stability
tests reported in the paper were carried out according to Malaysian Standard MS 934.

The boards were produced with an oil palm fibre/cementitious materials ratio of 1:2.5 and a target density of 1,300
kg/m3. The tests showed that with 1020% of cement replacement material and the chemical admixtures, it was possible to produce
boards that satisfied the strength and dimensional stability requirements of national standards. Theses tests emphasize that with a
holistic approach combining cement replacement materials, chemical admixtures and modern production processes, bamboo
flakes and oil palm fibres can be successfully utilized to produce particle boards that will satisfy the strength and dimensional
stability requirements of national standards and which can be used in a wide range of infrastructure construction applications.

3.0 Durability aspect of natural fibres

3.1 Sisal

Flávio [2] stated that vegetable fiber cement composites produced with ordinary Portland cement matrices undergo an
aging process in humid environments in which they may suffer a reduction in post cracking strength and toughness. This
durability problem is associated with an increase in fiber fracture and decrease in fiber pull-out due to fiber mineralization. This
mineralization process is a result of migration of hydration products (mainly CaOH2) to the fiber structure. Efforts to develop
durable cement composite laminates reinforced by long sisal fibers for structural purposes have shown much promise recently.
A newly developed matrix with a low Calcium Hydroxide content was used. This matrix increases the long term durability of the
natural fiber with a low cement content (only 50% as compared to conventional systems) that helps reduce CO2 emissions and
cost, resulting in a sustainable alternative. In his research, a modified matrix that was previously investigated and showed no
strength and toughness reduction after accelerated aging was used. This work presents recent advances on the mechanical
behavior of durable sisal fiber reinforced cement composites. Monotonic direct tensile tests were performed in the composites.
The crack spacing during tension was measured by image analysis and correlated to strain.

3.2 Coir

Several approaches were proposed to improve the durability of vegetable fibrecement composites by M. Sivaraja
Kandasamy [7]. These included carbonation of the matrix in a CO2-rich environment; the immersion of fibres in slurried silica
fume prior to incorporation in ordinary Portland cement matrix; partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement by undensified
silica fume or blast furnace slag. The performance of modified vegetable fibremortar composites was analyzed in terms of effects
of aging in water, exposure to cycles of wetting and drying and open air weathering on the microstructures and flexural behaviour.
It was suggested that immersion of natural fibres in a silica fume slurry before the addition to the cement based composites was
found to be an effective means of reducing brittleness of the composite in the environment. Also early cure composites in a CO2-
rich environment and the partial replacement of OPC by undensified silica fume were the efficient approaches in obtaining natural
8 Ishwar P. Sonar / International Journal of Engineering Sciences 2(2) 2013 06-10

fibres with improved durability. The past research activities on natural fibrous concrete focused on mechanical strength and micro
structural studies at 28 days curing period only. But no elaborative studies have been carried out so far on accelerated curing
methods. So this paper focuses on this for getting a rough idea about the life of natural fibres in concrete.

Rheological properties of coir fibre reinforced cement mortar in terms of flow value, cohesion and angle of internal
friction were determined for three different mix ratios and four different aspect ratios and fibre contents. Based on the rheological
properties of fresh mortar, it was recommended to use shorter fibres with low fibre-content for achieving workability and higher
fibre content for better cohesiveness in wet state.

M. Sivaraja Kandasamy [7] all have conducted experimental investigation on the durability of natural fibres such as
coconut coir and sugarcane bagasse. From his extensive experimental study, it is well known that natural fibres enhance all the
strength and flexural performance of concrete. The effect of curing ages on mechanical properties such as compressive strength,
split tensile strength, modulus of rupture and flexural performance and micro structural properties have ascertained and discussed.

3.3 Bamboo

Humberto C. Lima Jr. Æ Fabio [3]compiled research findings on durability issues of natural fibres in alkaline
environment. Doubts about bamboo durability in concrete were based on studies concerning the durability of natural fibres
working as Portland cement-based composites reinforcement. Conversely, Cordero and Lopez concluded that bamboo
degradation is only observed in a construction when the correct procedures were not applied, and they added that this material was
widely used as reinforcement in load bearing walls in Brazil, with durability lasting more than 100 years. Gram studied the
mechanism of natural fibre degradation in an alkaline environment and suggested that the mechanical property loss of natural fibre
within a concrete mass is associated with the chemical decomposition of the lignin and the hemi-cellulose from the intermediate
lamella. Those substances get dissolved by the alkaline water from the concrete pores, breaking the links among the fibre cells. As
a result of this, the long fibres are decomposed into small unitary cells, where the fibre-cell lumen is filled with calcium hydroxide.
This phenomenon not only reduces the fibre tensile strength, but also causes the fibre flexibility to decrease. Despite these
conclusions, the fibres durability studies can not be directly extended to bamboo-splints. Firstly, because the bamboo
macrostructure is different from the fibres and secondly, the bamboo-splint length used in concrete reinforcement presents a much
higher area/perimeter ratio, thus making the penetration of cement hydration products into the bamboo fibres very difficult. The
bamboo is a composite material, whose culms are divided into segments by diaphragms or nodes and its outermost layer, the
barker, consists of epidermal cells that contain a waxy layer called cutin. The innermost layer is composed of sclerenchyma cells.
The middle layer is formed by fibres, veins and sap conducts which are randomly disposed in the transversal section and wrapped
in a tissue, a kind of matrix called parenchyma. On average, 30% of the culms are composed of parenchyma, 60% by fibres and
10% by veins and sap conducts. These percentages change from species to species and they influence directly the physical and
mechanical properties of the bamboo, which are directly related to the fibre volumetric ratio. The fibres are composed of long dead
cells, sclerenchyma, their walls are mainly comprised by cellulose and are responsible for bamboo's good mechanical properties.
Their average length and diameter were found to be 2.8 and 0.013 mm, respectively . The parenchyma is composed of flexible
cells, connected through cavities, whose walls are thin and made of cellulose stiffened by lignin. The function of parenchyma is to
store nutritional reserves for the vegetable and it is also responsible for the protection of the fibres; in spite of being the weakest
tissue of the bamboo. Working as reinforcement in concrete, bamboo splints usually have larges dimensions than the sisal and
coconut fibres. This fact means that the great majority of bamboo fibres are completely encased into the parenchyma and they are
not directly exposed to the alkalinity of the cementitious matrix, therefore, the higher number of the fibre end points is not
detrimental. In addition, as mentioned before, the bamboo-splint dimensions make the penetration of cement hydration products
much more difficult.

As concrete matrix has a high pH, many authors have discussed the decay of vegetal materials when used to reinforce
cementitious matrix. The paper by Humberto C. Lima Jr. Æ Fabio L [3]presents results of an experimental investigation made to
evaluate bamboo durability to be used as concrete reinforcement. The durability was evaluated by changing the tensile strength
and Young's Modulus of bamboo. Five hundred specimens were extracted from a Dencrocalamus giganteus bamboo culms and
part of them was set into concrete prisms. A set up was developed to expose the specimens to wetting and drying cycles. Each
exposure to wetting and drying lasted 24 h. The specimens without concrete were submitted to a calcium hydroxide solution and
the samples with concrete were immersed in tap water. Tensile strength and Young's Modulus were measured after 7, 15, 30, 45
and 60 cycles. Results did not show any significant variation on these mechanical properties, attesting the durability of bamboo in
these aggressive tests.

The experimental tests on the bamboo species Dendrocalamus giganteus showed that the bamboo tensile strength is
comparable with the best woods used in constructions and even with steel. The tensile stress vs. strain curve of the bamboo is linear
up to failure. Bamboo average tensile strength is approximately 280 MPa in the specimens without node and100 MPa in the
specimens with node. Finally, 60 cycles of wetting and drying in solution of calcium hydroxide and tap water did not decrease the
 Ishwar P. Sonar / International Journal of Engineering Sciences 2(2) 2013 06-10 9

bamboo tensile strength neither the Young's Modulus

I.P. Sonar[6]have detailed comparison of load carrying capacities of bamboo reinforced hollow circular concrete
composite column and conventional reinforced solid circular column by working stress and limit state method. The investigation
shows that Bamboo reinforced pre-cast concrete composite columns are having sufficient axial load carrying capacity which can
be proposed for supporting short span floors of residential buildings up to two storey. There is lack of experimental data on such
columns and hence research is needed

I .P. Sonar [ 5] detailed experimental investigations on bamboo reinforced lintel , T beam and columns. T
Beam with 1% and 3% Bamboo reinforcement failed in flexure and bond failure. T Beam with 5% bamboo reinforcement fails in
combined effect of shear and bond failure. Maximum reinforced used in bamboo reinforced T beam is restricted up to 4% because
bamboo reinforced T beam tested with 5% bamboo reinforced showing an over reinforced failure mode.

To understand the performance of bond stress between bamboo and concrete , pull out tests were conducted on
untreated bamboo specimens. Specimens treated with oil paint with silica powder coating, varnish with silica coating
and bitumen with silica coating were tested for pull out resistance. It is concluded that oil paint with silica powder coating
gives better result than other coatings

From the tests conducted on structural members such as bamboo reinforced concrete lintel, Columns and t beams, it is
observed that these members are having sufficient load carrying capacities to use them in temporary or semi-permanent
structures. It is also observed that, deflection in case of bamboo reinforced beams and lintels can be further reduced by using short
fibers in concrete matrix. There is need of research in development of theory and stress block parameters for such members.
There is wide scope for development of bamboo reinforced pre-cast concrete products. This will create scope and awareness in
utilization of natural fiber materials like bamboo for sustainable development point of view because this is low cost technology
and appropriate for replacement of costly steel wherever possible.

4.0 Impact of research of Natural fibre reinforced composites

Concept of Appropriate technology may be applied to judicious use of high energy materials to improve the properties
of resulting composite materials. It will also involve development of eco-friendly processes to solve environmental problems. The
development of appropriate technology in materials, products and services may demand simple cost effective equipments,
machineries and process. Therefore, this technology may involve other disciplines like mechanical, chemical and electronics.This
technology will help to set up medium to small scale industries, transfer of technology from lab to land, up-gradation of local skill,
proper use of agricultural waste, waste materials and bi-products from industries, local development of people through
participation in it directly or indirectly. This technology will sensitize the common people to understand about the alternate
materials & technologies which will go a long way in achieving goal of sustainable development towards affordable housing.
Different appropriate technology in civil engineering are suggested by I.P.Sonar [4].

This technology will improve the scope for self development, practical experience, interaction with industries and
entrepreneurship development opportunities. Thus, appropriate technologies will help sustainable development of the region
through use of local materials and skills and hence reduce the pressure on conventional costly materials and process. There is vast
scope of research in the area of development of appropriate technology in the area Natural fibre reinforced composites which
is possible through interaction of various agencies and participation in projects .

5.0 Conclusions

Current research on natural fibres like sisal , coconut coir and bamboo in concrete indicates their improved
performance in cement concrete environment. Considering the environmental challenges, abundant availability of these
natural fibres in developing countries, there is vast scope to utilize these fibres in various low cost concrete products.
Development of appropriate technology in the areas related natural fibre reinforced composites will create new avenues
for research and economic development.

References

1. C. Asasutjarit a, J. Hirunlabh a, J. Khedari d, et all “ Development of coconut coir-based lightweight cement board”
science direct, Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 277288
10 Ishwar P. Sonar / International Journal of Engineering Sciences 2(2) 2013 06-10

2. Flávio de Andrade Silva, Barzin Mobasheret all “Advances in Natural Fiber Cement Composites:A Material for the
Sustainable Construction Industry”, 4th Colloquium on Textile Reinforced Structures (CTRS4)

3. Humberto C. Lima Jr. Æ Fabio L. Willrich Æ “Durability analysis of bamboo as concrete reinforcement” Materials and
Structures (2008) 41: pp 981989

4. Ishwar P. Sonar “ Sustainable Development Through Appropriate Technologies in Civil Engineering”, International
Conference on Sustainable Built Environment ( ICSBE- 2010),Kandy, Srilanka, 13-14 Dec;2010

5. Ishwar P. Sonar , “Bamboo Reinforced Pre-cast Concrete Composite Column” All India Seminar on “ Mechanization
and Prefabrication in Buildings” organized by Institute of Engineers ( I), Indore local Centre25 26 Jan.2004

6. Ishwar P. Sonar.” Performance of Bamboo reinforced Concrete Composite Structural Elements”, Proceeding
International Conference on Sustainable Technologies for Concrete Constructions organized by India Chapter of
American Concrete Institute, held at Andheri, Mumbai, 3rd and 4th September 2010

7. M. Sivaraja Kandasamy, et all “ Study on durability of natural fibre concrete composites using mechanical strength and
micro structural properties” Bull. Material Science, Vol. 33, No. 6, December 2010, pp. 719729

8. Rahim Sudin Æ Narayan Swamy, “ Bamboo and wood fibre cement composites for sustainable infrastructure
regeneration” J Mater Sci (2006) 41:69176924