Journal Article

PROPRIETATILE MECANICE SI COMPORTAMENTUL LA RUPERE AL UNOR COMPOZITE CU CONTINUT DE FIBRE DE COCOS/MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF COCONUT FIBRE-BASED GREEN COMPOSITES

Abdullah, Alida, Jamaludin, Shamsul Baharin, Noor, Mazlee Mohd, Hussin, Kamarudin

2012

Overview

Coconut fibre is the most interesting fibre as it has the lowest thermal conductivity and bulk density. Some researchers have reported that the addition of coconut fibre reduced the thermal conductivity of the composite samples [2,6,7]. Asasutjarit and co-workers [2] studied the effect of chemical composition modification and surface modification of coconut fibres as reinforcement to the mechanical properties of cement composites. They observed that the mechanical properties of composites: modulus of rupture and internal bond, increased as a result of chemical composition and surface modification. Asasutjarit and co-workers [6] also investigated the effect of fibre length, fibre pretreatment and mixture ratio that affect the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of cement composites after 28 days of hydration. Their results indicated that the boiled and washed fibre improved mechanical properties. In addition, the optimum fibre length was 1 to 6cm fraction and the optimum (cement:fibre:water) mixture ratio by weight was 2:1:2. Thermal property of composites revealed that coconut fibre-based lightweight cement board has lower thermal conductivity. A study from Khedari and co-workers [7] reported on the development of a new type of soil-cement block using coconut fibre. Various mixture ratios were considered. They concluded that the use of coconut fibre as an admixture can reduce the block thermal conductivity and weight. The optimum volume ratio of soil:cement:sand to produce good properties is 5.75:1.25:2. The ratio of coconut fibre is 20% of cement corresponding to 0.8 kg/block. The compressive strength and thermal conductivity decreased when the quantity of fibre increased. It can be seen that, from the previous investigation, major works have been focused on the effect of fibre to the mechanical properties of cement composites. However, this paper presents the development of coconut fibre based-green composites by conventional method of mixing and curing process. In this work, coconut fibre is added to substitute the portion of sand in the ratio of cement to sand. This proposed design mixture was aimed to reduce the use of sand in cement composite. The effect of weight % of coconut fibre to the modulus of rupture and compressive strength was investigated and correlation between modulus of rupture and fracture behaviour is also presented.

• Publisher: Foundation for Materials Science and Engineering - \"Serban Solacolu\"
• Subject: Cement / Composite materials / Concrete / Curing / Heat conductivity / Influence / Investigations / Lignin / Mechanical properties / Morphology / Raw materials / Sample size / Studies / Thermogravimetric analysis