A Study on Mechanical Properties of Agave Fiber on M20 Grade Concrete

Concrete is one of the most versatile building materials, with about two Billion tons of utilization worldwide during each year. Concrete is widely used in all types of infrastructural applications because it offers considerable strength. It can be cast to fit any structural shape in building. The advantages of using concrete include high compressive strength, good fire resistance, high water resistance, low maintenance, and long service life. The disadvantages of using concrete include poor tensile strength, low strain of fracture and formwork requirement. The major disadvantage is that concrete develops micro cracks during curing. It is the rapid propagation of these micro cracks under applied stress that is responsible for the low tensile strength of the material. Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension in order to overcome the weakness steel reinforcement is being provided. However usage of steel reinforcement is expensive. Considerable efforts have been made world-wide to add various types of fibers to concrete so to make it more strong, durable and economical. Natural fiber such as agave, coconut, sisal fiber has certain physical and mechanical characteristics that can be utilized effectively in the development of reinforced concrete material.

Fibers or fibres are a class of hair-like materials that are continuous "'filaments"' or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to pieces of thread. They can be used as a component of composite materials. Fibers are classified in to Natural fiber, which consists of animal and plant fiber and Man-made fiber, which consists of synthetic fibers and regenerated fibers

There are plenty of renewable resources obtainable from the plant kingdom, and a vast resource for different natural fibers viz. Jute, Banana, Coir, etc., which are abundantly available in many parts of world. However, there are still a number of other vegetable fibers which have not been used as textile fibers. From the plant kingdom, one of the abundant sources of strong natural fiber is “Agave Americana”. Agave Americana fibers are also called “Pita Fibers”. These fibers are cellulosic in nature

Fig: Agave Plant Uses of Agave Fibers Agave fibers exhibit high tensile strength and have low density. Because of this, historically, they were used in manufacturing twines and ropes for fishing and agricultural purposes. Further, these fibers can be used for the production of nets, carpets, rugs, doormats, bags, sacks, fish stringers, furniture webbing, drapes, upholstery padding, saddle pads, cushion stuffing, brush brittles, baskets, bracelets, headbands, sandals, decorative items, clothing and other woven objects. Papers also have been made from lower grade Agave fibers. Agave fibers are also used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado Research findings showed that Agave fiber can also be utilized for other industrial purposes. There can be a potential application of Agave Americana fibers in composites as well as in nonwovens. Bio-plastics, geotextiles, carpets, fiber boards, dart boards and molded furniture can also be manufactured using Agave fibers.

In the present study we are adding Agave Fiber in Percentages of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%, by volume of cement with optimum length of 40mm for M20 Grade concrete and casted cubes and cylinders and tested for Compressive strength and tensile strength at 7,14,28 Days

The basic materials for mixing concrete are required such as 1. Cement 2. Fine aggregate 3. Coarse aggregate 4. Agave fibres 5. Water The cement used was OPC 53 grade cement. The different tests were conducted as per Indian Standards to determine the properties of this cement. For initial & final setting time IS: 8112-1989 is used and for standard consistency of cement IS: 4031(part-4) 1988. For specific gravity of cement (IS: 2720- part 3) is used. The Table 2.1 shows the results.

Fine aggregate The sand is used as fine aggregate is used in the concrete. Various tests were conducted to determine the properties of fine aggregate which are shown in the Table 2.2. Grading is the particle- size distribution of an aggregate as determined by a sieve analysis. The tests were done according to IS: 2386 (Part-1) – 1963.

Aggregate is commonly considered inert filler, which accounts for 60 to 80 percent of the volume and 70 to 85 percent of the weight of concrete. Maximum size of aggregate affects the workability and strength of concrete. In this study the natural coarse aggregates are used, which was bought from the nearby quarry. Aggregates of 20 mm passed and 12.5 mm retained size were chosen for the experiment which is clean and free from deleterious materials. The following Table 2.3 shows the tests conducted in order to determine the properties of this aggregate.

The Agave Fibers were extracted from the agave plants .The leafs of the plant were cutted and soaked in the water for 20 days for easy removal of fiber. The soaked leafs were taken and Extract the fiber after that they were dried and cutted to optimum length of 40mm, which are uniformly and randomly distributed in the concrete matrix. The different fibre contents were chosen 0%,1%, 2%, 3% ,4% and 5% for each mix.

Water used in concrete is free from sewage, oil, acid, strong alkalis or vegetable matter, clay and loam and is satisfactory to use in concrete.

It is carried out to study the properties of M20 grade of concrete by adding Agave Fiber in Percentages of 1%, 2%, 3% ,4% and 5% by volume of cement with optimum length of 40mm. The mix proportion was (1:1.5:3) with W/C Ratio 0.5. The 150 X 150 X 150 mm cubes and cylinders were casted. The compressive strength and tensile strength was carried out at the age of 7, 14 and 28 days, at various % of Agave fibers. The experimental program for cubes and cylinders are mentioned in the table below. To achieve the objectives of the investigation the experimental program was planned to cast around 36 specimens of 150mm x 150mm x150mm and 150 x 300mm cylinders and they were tested

The workability of agave fiber with different percentages in concrete has found to decrease than normal concrete.

The cube specimen was placed in the machine, of 2000kN capacity. The load was applied at a rate of approximately 140 kg/sq.cm/min until the resistance of the specimen to the increasing load can be sustained. The specimens were tested at 7 days,14 days and 28 days.

Tensile strength is an important property of concrete because concrete structures are highly vulnerable to tensile cracking due to the various kinds of effect and applied loading itself, however tesile strength of concrete is very low in compared with compressive strength of concrete.

• The test results shows that 0% , 1% ,2% ,3% 4% and 5% of Agave Fiber shows the increasing in compressive and tensile Strength.

• The compressive strength and Tensile is been incresed From 20.12 N/mm2 and 3.14 N/mm2 for 0 % to 20.856 N/mm2 and 3.197 N/mm2 for 5 % Agave fiber .

• It has been observed that the workability of concrete decreases with the addition Agave Fibres with normal concrete

• The compressive strength of specimens gradually increased with the increase percentage of Agave fibre in concrete

• It shows that the presence of fibres in the concrete acts as the crack arrestors. The ductility characteristics have improved with the addition of Agave fibres.

Abdul R., Saikumar Y. (2015), “Study on Properties of Sisal Fiber Reinforced Concrete with Different Mix Proportions and Different Percentage of Fiber Addition”, International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, EISSN: 2319-1163 / p. ISSN: 2321-7308, Volume: 04 Issue: 03, pp. 474-477. Aggarwal, L.K. (1995). Bagasse-Reinforced Cement Composite. Cement & Concrete Composite. 17: pp. 107-112. American Concrete Institute. Cement and Concrete Terminology. ACI 116R. Baruah, P., and Talukdar, S. (2007). "A comparative study of compressive, flexural, tensile and shear strength of concrete with fibres of different origins." Indian Concrete Journal, 81(7), pp. 17-24. Concrete Composite. 21: pp. 147-154 Fadhadli, Z. (1989). Properties of Cement Sheets reinforced with Coconut Fibre. University Technology Malaysia: Master of Civil Engineering Thesis. Mohd. Younus Mohiuddin, Mohd. Tameem, M. A. Haleem (2016). Experimental investigation for the effect of agave fiber on properties of Concrete. Patrick Oguguo Nwankwo, Emmanuel Achuenu (2014), “Compressive Behaviour of Sisal Fibre Reinforced Ternary Concrete at Elevated Temperatures”, International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, ISSN 2278-7763, Volume 3, Issue 8, pp. 123 -131. Tara Sen, Ashim Paul(2015),” Confining Concrete With Sisal And Jute FRP As Alternatives For CFRP And GFRP.”, Gulf Organisation For Research And Development, International Journal Of Sustainable Built Environment, volume 4, ISSN 2212 -6090, pp. 248–264. V.D. Sabale (2014). Experimental Study of Fresh Concrete Properties of Fibre Reinforced Concrete with Metakoalin Zheng, L., Sharon Huo, X., and Yuan, Y. (2008). "Experimental investigation on dynamic properties of rubberized concrete." Construction and Building Materials, 22(5), pp. 939-947

PG Student Structural Engineering, Sindhura College of Engineering & Tech, Ramagundam, Kaimnagar