The Effect of Using Fan Palm Natural Fibers on the Mechanical Properties and Durability of Concrete

Many published researches have been conducted worldwide to investigate the advantages of using Natural Fiber Reinforced Concrete (NFRC), few of them use in their study fibers extracted from Fan Palm trees. This study was performed to investigate the effect of using Fan Palm fibers in concrete. Mechanical properties and resistance to plastic shrinkage cracking for Palm Natural Fiber Reinforced Concrete (PNFRC) were determined. The mechanical properties were determined from experimental program comprising of testing compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, flexural strength, and static modulus of elasticity, as well as Flexural toughness tests. To produce representative results about performance of the new composite, three parameters in the mix design were taken into consideration. The parameters are the percentage of fiber volume fraction (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5%), fiber aspect ratio L/D (60, 100), and concrete strength (30, 40, 60MPa). The results show that adding palm fibers help the concrete in gaining more strength at early stages. Most of the concrete mechanical strength increased by about 10% to 15% with more elastic deformation. In addition, adding 1% by fiber volume fraction reduced the plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete slabs in about 70%. It is concluded that Fan Palm Fibers can be used as an additive in concrete to improve its performance and open a new opening to a more sustainable composite. 