Saudi Journal of Engineering and Technology (SJEAT)
Volume-4 | Issue-03 | 78-122
Original Research Article
Investigation on Production of Light Weight High Tensile Strength Concrete Using Sugarcane Bagasse Fiber
Abreham Desta
Published : March 31, 2019
Abstract
Concrete, the most common construction material which has less tension capacity. And, a light weight concrete has many
application in construction industry now a days due to its provision of less dead load, improvement for seismic structural
response, suitability for transporting, and handling economically. Reinforcing material such as natural fiber, can be used
to increase crack control and ductility by reducing the tendency of brittleness of concrete. The objective of this study was
to evaluate the density, and tensile strength with its correlation with compressive strength of normal weight and
lightweight concrete produced when incorporating with sugarcane bagasse fiber. The study has great significance in
developing new advanced concrete product which has reduced density and high ductility with reduced crack.
Furthermore, the usage of sugarcane in construction can reduce of environmental pollution. Sugarcane fibers extracted
from bagasse by manually was used in volume fraction of 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% in terms of weight of cement in
mix with average fiber length of 25mm. In this study, lightweight aggregate (scoria) was used by replacing the normal
weight aggregate by 50% and semi-lightweight concrete achieved. In order to obtain the output of the objective of the
study, total of 48 cubes, 48 beams, and 48 cylinder specimens was prepared, and the tests performed on 7th and 28th days
curing period. As result of the testing showed that the increase of fiber decreased the unit weight of concrete with light
weight aggregate, but it is not uniform for normal weight concrete. The optimum value containing addition of sugarcane
bagasse fiber is 0.5% due to flexural and split tensile strength with a little impact on compressive strength. Therefore, the
use of sugarcane fiber in concrete is suitable for addition that do not exceed 0.5% of the concrete mixture.