Performance of lightweight mortar reinforced with doum palm fiber

Abstract

Natural fibers are increasingly used in composites because of their low cost and good mechanical properties. Cement reinforced with natural fibersis contemplates as a new generation of construction materials with superior mechanical and thermal performance. This study of three sizes’effect of Doum palm fiber explores the mortar’s behavior reinforced with different fiber ratio. The aim is to determine the optimal addition to improve mechanical and thermal properties of natural fiber reinforced cements. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties of composite are examined. Tensile properties of Doum fibers are verified to determine their potential as reinforced material. Findings prove that the use of alkali-treated Doum fiber as reinforcement in cement mortar composite leads to the upgrading of the mechanical properties including thermo-physical properties against composites reinforced with raw fibers and control cement mortars. While, the compression and flexural strength of the cement mortar reinforced with alkali-treated Doum fiber with diameter 0.3 mm (CT3) are metered to be 11.11 MPa, 5.22 MPa, respectively for fiber content 0.5%. Additionally, based on thermo-physical tests, it is assessed that the thermal conductivity and diffusivity decrease for cement mortar reinforced with Doum fiber with diameter 0.2 mm (CT2).