Development of Hybrid Jute Fibre Composite Plates for Potential Application in Shear Retrofitting of RC Structure

Application of natural fibre based composite plate in retrofitting of structure is the current interest of construction industry. This paper presents the finding of an experimental study on jute rope fibre hybrid composite plates for potential application in shear strengthening of RC beam. In the experimental programme, hybrid composite plates had been fabricated using jute rope and carbon fibres with five different mixes i.e. 45% jute rope with 0% carbon; 43% jute rope with 2.5% carbon; 41% jute rope with 5% carbon; 41% jute rope with 7.5% carbon and 39% jute rope with 10% carbon.The physical and mechanical properties of the fabricated hybrid composite plates were thenexperimentally investigated. Results showed thatcarbon contents had an influence to enhance the tensile strength of the plates. Hybrid composite plate with 10% carbon content had shown 170% higher tensile strength as compared to that of plate without carbon fibre. The carbon content also had enhanced the modulus of elasticity of plates. Higher percentage of carbon had shown higher tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of hybrid composite plates.All fabricated plates had linear elastic properties under tension. The density of plates increased with the increasing of carbon content in composite plates. The research findings indicated that the developed hybrid composite jute rope could be used for shearstrengthening of reinforced concrete beam.