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. 2020 Jul 8;13(14):3060.
doi: 10.3390/ma13143060.

Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Foamed Concrete

Joaquin F Castillo-Lara  1 , Emmanuel A Flores-Johnson  2 , Alex Valadez-Gonzalez  1 , Pedro J Herrera-Franco  1 , Jose G Carrillo  1 , P I Gonzalez-Chi  1 , Q M Li  3
Affiliations

Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Foamed Concrete

Joaquin F Castillo-Lara et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The mechanical characterization of plain foamed concrete (PFC) and fiber-reinforced foamed concrete (FRFC) with a density of 700 kg/m3 was performed with compression and tension tests. FRFC was reinforced with the natural fiber henequen (untreated or alkaline-treated) at volume fractions of 0.5%, 1% and 1.5%. Polypropylene fiber reinforcement was also used as a reference. For all FRFCs, the inclusion of the fibers enhanced the compressive and tensile strengths and plastic behavior, which was attributed to the increase of specimen integrity. Under compressive loading, after the peak strength, there was no considerable loss in strength and a plateau-like regime was observed. Under tensile loading, the fibers significantly increased the tensile strength of the FRFCs and prevented a sudden failure of the specimens, which was in contrast to the brittle behavior of the PFC. The tensile behavior enhancement was higher when treated henequen fibers were used, which was attributed to the increase in the fiber-matrix bond produced by the alkaline treatment. The microscopic characterization showed that the inclusion of fibers did not modify the air-void size and its distribution. Higher energy absorption was observed for FRFCs when compared to the PFC, which was attributed to the enhanced toughness and ductility by the fibers. The results presented herein warrant further research of FRFC with natural henequen fibers for engineering applications.

Keywords: air-void structure; alkaline treatment; fiber reinforced foamed concrete; foamed concrete; henequen fiber; mechanical properties; natural fiber; polypropylene fiber.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Henequen plant; (b) henequen fibers and (c) henequen fibers chopped to a length of 19 mm.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Typical uniaxial compression stress–strain curves for reinforced foamed concrete mixtures with different fiber-reinforcements and volume fractions. A stress–strain curve of the plain foamed concrete (PFC) is included in each figure for comparison purposes: (a) untreated henequen fiber; (b) treated henequen fiber and (c) PP fiber.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plain foamed concrete (PFC) specimens: (a) after the compression test and (b) after the tension test.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Deformation of the representative foamed concrete specimens at 0.35 compressive strain, reinforced with untreated henequen fiber: (a) H0.5FC; (b) H1.0FC and (c) H1.5FC; with treated henequen fiber: (d) HT0.5FC; (e) HT1.0FC and (f) HT1.5FC and with PP fiber: (g) PP0.5FC; (h) PP1.0FC and (i) PP1.5FC.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Typical uniaxial tensile stress–strain curves for reinforced foamed concrete mixtures with different fiber-reinforcements and volume fractions. A stress–strain curve of the PFC is included in each figure for comparison purposes: (a) untreated henequen fiber; (b) treated henequen fiber and (c) PP fiber.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Representative foamed concrete specimens after the tensile test, reinforced with untreated henequen fiber: (a) H0.5FC; (b) H1.0FC and (c) H1.5FC; with treated henequen fiber: (d) HT0.5FC; (e) HT1.0FC and (f) HT1.5FC and with PP fiber: (g) PP0.5FC; (h) PP1.0FC and (i) PP1.5FC.
Figure 7
Figure 7
SEM images of fiber-reinforced foamed concrete (FRFC): (a) PFC; (b) PP1.5FC; (c) H1.5FC; (d) HT1.5FC; (e) single untreated henequen fiber in the FRFC and (f) single treated henequen fiber in the FRFC.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Frequency histograms of the air-void diameters of foamed concrete mixtures: (a) PFC; (b) PP1.5FC; (c) H1.5FC and (d) HT1.5FC.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Normalized mechanical properties of foamed concrete mixtures: (a) specific compressive strength (SCS); (b) specific tensile strength (STS); (c) specific compressive absorbed energy (SCAE) and (d) specific tensile absorbed energy (STAE).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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