Using Jute Fiber to Improve Fresh and Hardened Properties of Concrete

ABSTRACT

The brittle nature of concrete sometimes makes it challenging for many critical applications. Research has indicated that including discrete short-length, closely spaced fibers in concrete could improve its ductility and act as a crack arrester. As Bangladesh is the prime producer of natural fiber jute, this research aimed to improve the concrete property with this biomaterial. Laboratory work evaluated the mechanical property and shrinkage cracking resistance of jute fiber reinforced concrete with different fiber fractions (viz. 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.4% by concrete volume) and lengths. The fibers were designated J20 and J25 for 20 and 25-mm lengths, respectively. A portion of the fiber was treated with alkali before using in concrete to improve its property. Jute Fiber Reinforced Concrete (JFRC) was analyzed qualitatively, semi-quantitatively, and quantitatively for compressive, splitting tensile strength, and plastic shrinkage cracking. It was found that the compressive and splitting tensile strengths can be improved by 7% and 25%, respectively. Furthermore, the bio-fiber had a significant influence on shrinkage crack control. In a controlled environment, up to 61% crack area and 62% maximum crack width reduction were achieved. Overall, jute fiber was found to be a sustainable biomaterial for concrete construction in an arid region.

摘要

混凝土的脆性有时使其对许多关键应用具有挑战性. 研究表明，在混凝土中加入离散的短长度、紧密间隔的纤维可以提高其延性，并起到防裂剂的作用. 由于孟加拉国是天然纤维黄麻的主要生产国，本研究旨在用这种生物材料改善混凝土性能. 实验室工作评估了不同纤维含量（即混凝土体积的0.1%、0.2%、0.3%和0.4%）和长度的黄麻纤维增强混凝土的力学性能和抗收缩开裂性能. 纤维分别被指定为长度为20毫米和25毫米的J20和J25. 在用于混凝土之前，对部分纤维进行了碱处理，以改善其性能. 对黄麻纤维混凝土（JFRC）的抗压强度、劈拉强度和塑性收缩开裂进行了定性、半定量和定量分析. 研究发现，抗压强度和劈拉强度分别可以提高7%和25%. 此外，生物纤维对收缩裂缝的控制有显著影响. 在受控的环境中，实现了高达61%的裂纹面积和62%的最大裂纹宽度缩减. 总的来说，黄麻纤维被发现是干旱地区混凝土建筑的可持续生物材料.

KEYWORDS:

• Jute fiber (JF)
• Fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC)
• compressive
• splitting tensile strength
• Shrinkage cracking
• fiber length

关键词:

• 黄麻纤维
• 纤维增强混凝土
• 压缩，
• 劈裂抗拉强度
• 收缩开裂
• 纤维长度

Highlights

• The performance of natural fiber (jute) was evaluated in cementitious media.

• The effect of fiber length was evaluated in terms of concrete properties improvement.

• The fiber content was varied from 0.1-0.4% by the volume of concrete to evaluate the effect.

• The biomaterial (jute) was found to improve concrete’s tensile strength and shrinkage crack.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.