Experimental study of the effect of adding fan palm fibers on concrete durability exposed to severe environments

Abstract

Adding Fiber to Concrete became a common practice to improve its durability, but for environmental purposes, it is preferable to use natural fibers instead of synthetic ones. In addition, using fibers prepared from tree waste that improves many concrete physical and mechanical properties is environmentally effective and costly preferable. Natural fibers extracted from Fan Palm trees that were cured chemically when used in concrete lead to improvements in concrete physical and mechanical properties. On the other hand, one of the major challenges that faces the commercial use of natural fibers in concrete is its durability. For that reason, an experimental program was conducted to study the durability of natural fibers by measuring the volume stability of the concrete when exposed to different severe environment conditions. The investigation recorded the length change of concrete bars with 1% fiber volume fraction and without fibers when exposed to sea water, solution with 2% MgSO4, 2% Na2SO4, and NaOH for a period of 150 days. The study was performed on three grades of concrete 30MPa ,40MPa, and 60MPa to monitor the effect of different concrete grades on the results. From the results, it can be concluded that adding Fan Palm fibers to concrete significantly improves its resistance when exposed to sea water, MgSO4, Na2SO4, and NaOH solutions. After 150 days of exposure to harsh environment, the expansion of concrete bars for length change measurements was recorded for the concrete with fibers and compared to that of control mixture (without fibers). The reduction was between 20% and 40% for different Concrete grades and solutions. In Summary, Fan Palm Fibers maintain their durability in concrete when exposed to severe chemical exposures. In addition, adding natural fibers to concrete decreases concrete bar Expansion thus improves its durability.