Study on the workability, mechanical properties of fish tail palm fibre reinforced concrete-emphasis on fibre content and fibre length

Abstract In recent years, a new type of natural fibre known as fish tail palm fibre (FTPF) has been discovered, and several studies have been conducted to investigate the fibres physiochemical properties, strength attributes and therapeutic capabilities. Because the utilisation of these fibres in the concrete industry is limited, this research aims to employ varying volume fractions of fibres with different fibre length as micro reinforcement in concrete to improve the pre-cracking behaviour and post-peak strength of high-strength concrete composites. Fibre dosage of 0.1% and 0.2% have only minor impact on the slump when compared to 0.3% fibre dosage. The compressive strength of control specimen was 50 MPa (M50). The maximum compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength of FTPF reinforced concrete specimens are 56 MPa, 5.11 MPa and 6.12 MPa, respectively, which was recorded for specimen with 0.2 Volume Fraction (VF) and 30 mm Fibre Length (FL). The increase in the compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexure strength is about 12%, 19% and 20% with the addition of 0.2% VF and 0.3% VF of fibres. Out of nine fibre-reinforced concrete mixes, specimen with 0.2 and 0.3 VF with 30 mm fibre length showed excellent mechanical strength. From the fractional analysis study, it can be concluded that the fibre length has about 40% contribution on the compressive strength of concrete followed by fibre length. When compared to splitting tensile strength, the fibre length and fibre volume fraction have almost equal contribution. In the case of flexural strength, the combined effect of fibre length and fibre volume has a contribution of about 46% in the strength properties of concrete.