Mechanical properties and flexural behavior of sustainable bamboo fiber-reinforced mortar

Maier, M., Javadian, A., Saeidi, N., Unluer, C. , Taylor, H. K. and Ostertag, C. P. (2020) Mechanical properties and flexural behavior of sustainable bamboo fiber-reinforced mortar. Applied Sciences, 10(18), 6587. (doi: 10.3390/app10186587)

[img] Text
234375.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

3MB

Abstract

In this study, a sustainable mortar mixture is developed using renewable by-products for the enhancement of mechanical properties and fracture behavior. A high-volume of fly ash—a by-product of coal combustion—is used to replace Portland cement while waste by-products from the production of engineered bamboo composite materials are used to obtain bamboo fibers and to improve the fracture toughness of the mixture. The bamboo process waste was ground and size-fractioned by sieving. Several mixes containing different amounts of fibers were prepared for mechanical and fracture toughness assessment, evaluated via bending tests. The addition of bamboo fibers showed insignificant losses of strength, resulting in mixtures with compressive strengths of 55 MPa and above. The bamboo fibers were able to control crack propagation and showed improved crack-bridging effects with higher fiber volumes, resulting in a strain-softening behavior and mixture with higher toughness. The results of this study show that the developed bamboo fiber-reinforced mortar mixture is a promising sustainable and affordable construction material with enhanced mechanical properties and fracture toughness with the potential to be used in different structural applications, especially in developing countries.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This research is funded by the Republic of Singapore’s National Research Foundation through a grant to the Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS) for the Singapore-Berkeley Building Efficiency and Sustainability in the Tropics (SinBerBEST) Program. BEARS has been established by the University of California, Berkeley, as a center for intellectual excellence in research and education in Singapore. The research was conducted at the Future Cities Laboratory at the Singapore-ETH Centre, which was established collaboratively between ETH Zurich and Singapore’s National Research Foundation (FI 370074016) 766 under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise program.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Unluer, Dr Cise
Creator Roles:
Unluer, C.Writing – review and editing
Authors: Maier, M., Javadian, A., Saeidi, N., Unluer, C., Taylor, H. K., and Ostertag, C. P.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
Journal Name:Applied Sciences
Publisher:MDPI
ISSN:2076-3417
ISSN (Online):2076-3417
Published Online:21 September 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 The Authors
First Published:First published in Applied Sciences 10(18):6587
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record