Experimental study on behaviour of ligno-cellulosic fiberreinforced concrete

Concrete is the most widely used man made material on earth sought the attention of engineers worldwide. Researchers are focusing on the additive materials that could alter or increase the desired characteristics of a concrete. Various additives have been developed which turned out to be successful in the history of concrete. One such material which garnered the attention of various people is lingo-cellulosic fiber. It enables the concrete to provide good strength and reduced cracking. Jute fibers fall under the category of lingo-cellulosic fiber since they consist of 70% cellulose, 20% lignin and 10% of hemicellulose. They possess all the characteristics to be reinforced with concrete but not in their natural form since they possess hydrophilic character. Hence they need some pretreatment to be carried out to reinforce it with concrete. We are opting for a change in the composition of the concrete with some pretreatment to the fiber. In this study, the cubes and flexural beam specimens are cast using concrete grades M30 and M40. The varied percentage use of pretreatment jute fibreadded to concrete in the range of 2%and 4%. From the test results, the optimum amount of the jute fibre was found to be 2% that could be added to the concrete and as long as the content of jute fibers is increased, the strength of the concrete reduced.