Cementitious material with bio-based recycled agricultural waste

  • B. Nepal
  • C. S. Chin
  • S. W. Jones
Keywords: Agricultural waste, cementitious material, fibre reinforced concrete, mechanical properties, straw

Abstract

Fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) is a significant achievement of modern construction. Fibres increase the ductile capacity of concrete by enabling it to undergo large deformation before failure. The tensile strength of concrete is increased whereas it would otherwise only be strong in compression. Although FRC has several advantages, the use of steel fibres means it only provides a little contribution towards sustainability; therefore a shift towards new and innovative building materials is an urgent necessity. Most manmade fibres such as steel, synthetic or polymer are industrially manufactured and widely used. Such fibres are nondegradable, non-renewable and expensive. In this research, natural and innovative biodegradable fibres, their preparation and properties and interaction with concrete have been highlighted. Agricultural fibres viz. rice and wheat straw have been used. Rice and wheat are a staple food all over the world. After harvesting the commercial crop there remains huge quantities of straw produced. This straw has generally been seen as a waste product and disposed of since it has a very few economic benefits. One of the major problems of today is the disposal of straw by open air burning and its impact on air pollution has been well documented. Thus the wastage of straw could be minimised if a viable use for it can be found in the construction industry. Being a relatively new material, in this research, the chemical and physical properties of agricultural fibres have been studied. The influence of the addition of fibres in both fresh and hardened concrete has also been investigated. The findings present an interesting insight into agricultural fibres. Due to its easy availability and low-cost, straw has the potential to be a promising bio-based construction material.

Published
2017-06-21
How to Cite
Nepal, B., Chin, C. S., & Jones, S. W. (2017). Cementitious material with bio-based recycled agricultural waste. Academic Journal of Civil Engineering, 35(2), 589-596. https://doi.org/10.26168/icbbm2017.89