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Application of Areca Palm Fibers as Strength Enhancement in Conventional Concrete

Concrete is very strong in compression but weak in tension. It is therefore reinforced with steel reinforcement to carry the tensile stresses. The use of steel reinforcement in concrete is expensive, and calls for investigation on other materials that are cheap in order to reduce the cost. Due to these reasons, a study has been made with the objective of determining the suitability of areca palm fibers in reinforcing concrete for improving its properties at fresh and hardened states. The sampled areca palm fibers were treated by using 5% by weight of NaOH solution. Experiments were conducted on concrete grade C25 with addition of fibers in five mix proportions of 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7% and 0.9% by weight of cement. The results showed that the workability of concrete with fibers is lesser than that of conventional concrete. Also, the modulus of elasticity and compressive strength increased to an optimum weight fraction of 0.7% beyond which they started to decrease. The ability to resist cracking and spalling were also enhanced. The study found that the optimum fibers content was 0.7% by the weight of the cement and that areca palm fibers can be used to improve the engineering properties of concrete. Keywords: Areca fibers, concrete, workability, compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity