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Utilization of Natural Fibers in the Fabrication of Lightweight Concretes

Natural fibers; rice straw and coconut coir fiber, which are found in large quantity in Thailand, were utilized as main materials for low cost lightweight concretes. The total fiber content was varied in the range 30-50 vol%. Fine (untreated) coconut coir fiber of <1 mm in size was used in this study. Coarse rice straw (5-20 mm) and fine rice straw (1-5 mm) were treated with 15% sodium hydroxide and found effective for removing hemicellulose, lignin and fatty acids. This improved the surface roughness and hydrophobicity of the cellulose fibers hence the adhesion between the fiber surface and cement phase was greatly improved. Lightweight concrete containing 20% fine rice straw and 10% fine coconut coir fiber in the composition showed high compressive strength value of 138.73±19.13 kg/cm2 with bulk density reduced by 30% compared to 100% cement.