Experimental investigation on utilisation of bamboo fibre and bamboo stem ash in mortar as a sustainable material

ABSTRACT

The recent dynamic environment can’t think its modern development in the construction field without any sustainable materials. One of such materials is bamboo that is in construction practice since ancient times. This paper focuses on the effective use of Bamboo Fibre (BF) and Bamboo Stem Ash (BSA) to develop an alternative building material. BSA is used to replace cement partially with varied proportions and treated BF is included as an additive to enhance the mechanical property of system . Various proportions of bamboo mix were developed by Taguchi method of design of experiment and the results are validated by Taguchi’s approach to obtain optimal mix proportion. The mix (W/C = 0.5, BSA = 2.5%, BF = 3% and SP = 0.5%) is identified as the optimum dosage with respect to compressive and flexural strength. For water absorption the mix, 0.5 W/C, 2.5% BSA, 1.5% SP and 1% BF is identified as optimum dosage whereas in terms of dry density, the mix (10% BSA, 1% BF, 1.5% SP and 0.35 W/C) is recorded as the optimum dosage. The succeeded proportions show potential signs of addition of bamboo fibre and utilisation of bamboo stem ash as an enduring solution for better tomorrow.

KEYWORDS:

• Bamboo fibre
• bamboo stem ash
• design of experiment
• super plasticiser
• Taguchi’s Approach

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

V Prem Kumar

Mr. V. Prem Kumar was born in Vellore, Tamil Nadu in 1990. He completed B.Tech in Civil Engineering at VIT, Vellore in 2012 and M.Tech in Structural Engineering at VIT, Chennai in 2014. Currently pursuing PhD in Structural Engineering at VIT, Chennai from 2016. He is currently working as Assistant Professor at Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati and having a teaching experience of 8 years. He had published 8 papers under different research areas. At present doing research in the area of Bamboo Reinforced Concrete. He guided many B.Tech student’s projects.

V Vasugi

Dr. V.Vasugi is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai. She is the Head of Structural Engineering Division at the school at present. She received her B.E. from Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, Orissa (at present known as NIT Rourkela) , M.E, Structural Engineering. From Sathayabama Institute of Science and Technology (Chennai), and Doctoral degree from Indian Institute of Technology (Madras), in Civil Engineering specialized with Construction Materials. Her current research focuses on treatment methods to improve the quality and utilization of industrial waste (including mining, C&D, and municipal solid waste) as an alternative for construction materials to achieve a circular economy in industries. Potential utilization of Bamboo materials and its derivatives for construction Industries, GeopolymerConcrete , Light weight Aggregate concrete are the others area of research in which her scholars are working in VIT Chennai.