Impacts of Baobab Stem Fibre Reinforcement in Enhancing the Concrete Strength

Abstract

Concrete has a limited ductile range, poor tensile strength, and low crack resistance. Therefore, for concrete to function at its best, reinforcing is needed to compensate for these weaknesses. The aim of the study is to assess how the inclusion of baobab stem fibre affects the mechanical characteristics of concrete. Additionally, it sought to investigate the correlation between compressive and flexural strengths when baobab stem fibre is utilised as a reinforcement material. Concrete mixed with baobab stem fibre at volumes of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%, each with a fibre length of 50mm, was produced using a mix ratio of 1:2:3. The concrete had a constant water/cement ratio of 0.50 and was cured for the periods of 7, 14, 28, 60, and 90 days before testing. Test are carried out to determine how the inclusion of baobab fibre as reinforcement influences workability, compressive strength, and flexural strength. The findings indicated that higher volume fraction of baobab fibre in the concrete influence negatively its workability and compressive strength, but had a positive impact on flexural strength. The flexural and compressive strength results were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Minitab 19 software. The results revealed coefficients of variation, with R2 values of 97.42% and 93.41% regarding the correlation between flexural and compressive strength, respectively, considering the percentage of baobab fibre volume and curing period. indicating, the percentage baobab fibre volume and curing age are useful predictors of the generated models. The results show that adding baobab fibres to concrete can enhance its performance, especially in terms of flexural strength.