Impact of fly ash and banana fiber on mechanical performance of paver block concrete

Abstract

The use of concrete reinforced with natural fibres is globally considered a sustainable approach to infrastructure development. This study investigated the salient features of concrete paver blocks fabricated using fly ash, coal ash, superplasticiser, and banana fibres as fibre reinforcements. Banana fibres (15 mm in length) were prepared, followed by the fabrication and characterisation of concrete paver blocks. In the current study, banana fibre (0.5 %, 1 %, 1.5 %, 2 %, and 2.5 %) and admixture (0.5 % constantly) were used in different mix proportions in the fabrication of paver block to analyse the physicomechanical properties. The results demonstrated that the paver blocks containing 2 % modified banana fiber (with respect to weight of fly ash) show higher compressive strength (7.45 % for I-dumble and 17.12 % for zigzag paver blocks), flexural strength (14.99 % for I-dumble and 8.67 % for zigzag) and split tensile strength (12.182 % for I-dumble and 9.971 % for zigzag paver blocks), compared to other mix proportions. The use of modified banana fibres as reinforcement was found to be very effective in improving the mechanical properties and life span of paver blocks, which may lead to minimizing the preparation.