Preliminary Investigation of Kenaf Bio Fibrous Concrete Composites

Abstract

Low tensile strength and low energy absorption capacity of concrete apparently expose it to collapse. This adversely limits the performance of concrete under loading. The inclusion of short discontinuous randomly oriented fibres has remained a practice among others towards contributing to the improvement of low tensile and brittleness of concrete. The concept of sustainability, such as the inclusion of natural biodegradable fibre in concrete has been one of the focuses of the construction industry. This is due to the current global challenge of carbon foot print. The use of biodegradable product, such as kenaf bio fibrous concrete is being advocated for. This paper reports the fresh and hardened properties of kenaf bio fibrous concrete composite. A mix of strength 30N/mm2 at 28 days was made. A mix proportion that has a high workability and rheology suitable for the inclusion of two fibre length (25mm and 50mm) at varying fibre volume fraction each (0.5,0.75 and 1%). A total of six mixes were made for which workability, Toughness, Flexural strength, splitting tensile strength and compressive strength results were recorded. The optimum fibre length and fibre volume fraction was established as 50mm fibre length and 0.5% fibre volume fraction.