Natural fibre reinforced concrete
I am currently working on my final year project - Concrete Reinforced with Natural Fibres and was wondering if you would be able to direct me to the best person to speak to about experience (if any) that EWB has had with building with natural fibres or interest in potential of using natural fibres in concrete?
1 Answer
Hi Julija
Below I summarise some of the answers from practitioners with some experience of this and similar studies.
It really depends on what you are trying to reinforce. If you are trying to find a replacement for steel reinforcement in columns and beams the general consensus is that steel is far better.
However, if it is for less stresses such as solid floors or around tap stands etc. then fibre concrete with chopped up straw or bamboo does stop cracking. Biggest issue is decay of anything organic in concrete particularly in damp conditions.
More strength could be found in strips of discarded tins or old cgi sheets lapped. That in the lower section of a beam will bind with the concrete and provide tensional strength.
You can find a lot on using bamboo for reinforcement. There is also hempcrete, although this is mainly as a replacement for aggregate that provide insulation.
You may also wish to look at the parallel studies in reinforcing adobe with fibres such as straw, cow manure, pine needles, coconut fibre or cactus. These might also work for cement stabilised adobe.
It would be good to know more details about your project. If you would like to be put in touch directly with people I can ask the KP administrator to connect us by email.
Best
Lizzie
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