Reinforced Concrete

Effects of Fibre Treatment on the Properties of Sisal Fibre Reinforced Ternary Concrete.


Patrick Oguguo Nwankwo and Emmanuel Achuenu.

Summary
Most of the developing counties are very rich in agricultural and vegetable fibres. The use of vegetable fibres as reinforcing agent in composite matrices (such as cement and polymer) is attracting more attention for various low-cost building products. However, the main draw back in the use of vegetable fibres in composites is the lack of durability. In this work, sisal fibre treated by boiling and washing was used as the reinforcing agent in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete.

The cement-based matrix was modified by blending with fly ash (Fa) and calcined waste crushed clay bricks (CWCCB) as pozzolanas. Nine variations of the concrete specimens were prepared. Some specimens were blended with Fa and CWCCB and reinforced with 3% volume fraction of heat treated or untreated sisal fibres, while some specimens were not bended, but reinforced with either 3% volume fraction of heat treated or untreated sisal fibres. The mix ratio was 1:2:4 (one part binder, two parts fine aggregate and four parts coarse aggregate). The OPC was kept constant as 50% of the binders, while Fa and CWCCB were varied in the ratios; 20:30, 25:25 and 30:20 (Fa: CWCCB). The water/binder ratio was 0.6. Treatment of sisal fibres by boiling and washing improved the workability of concrete and enhanced the compressive strength of plain and ternary concrete. The ternary concrete with 25:25 (Fa: CWCCB) blend, reinforced with 3% volume fraction of heat treated sisal fibre gave the highest compressive strength.

Key words: Sisal fibre, Heat treatment, Ternary concrete, Fly ash, Calcined waste crushed clay bricks, Pozzolanas.

Read more here.



Cement Marketing Consultant
#CementMarketingConsultant

UltraTech Joins EP100

The Climate Group is an international non-profit, founded in 2004, with offices in London, New Delhi and New York. Their stated goal is a world of under 2°C of global warming and greater prosperity for all, without delay.

And they propose to bring about these changes by:

Bringing together powerful networks of businesses and governments, which shift global markets and policies, towards this goal.
By acting as a catalyst to take innovation and solutions to scale. And use the power of communication to build ambition and pace.
By focusing on the greatest global opportunities for change.

EP100
The Climate Group’s global EP100 initiative in partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy brings together a growing group of energy-smart companies committed to using energy more productively, to lower greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate a clean economy.

The Climate Group estimates that if 100 companies double their energy productivity by 2030 – generating twice as much economic output for every unit of energy consumed – over 170 million metric tons of emissions could be avoided cumulatively, equivalent to taking 37 million cars off the road for a year.

By setting ambitious targets and integrating energy efficiency into business strategy, leading companies are driving clean tech innovation while delivering on emissions reduction goals – inspiring others to follow their lead.

Dalmia Cement, H&M and Johnson Controls are already on EP100 according to The Climate Group's official website.

The Aditya Birla's UltraTech Cement is the latest company to join the EP100 initiative. UltraTech has committed to double its energy productivity, improvement of energy performance is one of the critical levers for UltraTech to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations. This will also provide a strategic boost to UltraTech's low carbon growth target of reducing carbon intensity by 25 per cent by 2021 (2005 baseline) according to a statement issued by the company.

Ms.Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, said, “It’s hugely encouraging to see UltraTech, one of the leading cement producers globally, step up on energy efficiency – this is a win-win for emissions reduction and business growth. We need to see many more cement companies and other large energy users in hard-to-abate sectors follow UltraTech’s lead.”

Mr.K K Maheshwari, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited said, “UltraTech Cement has always been at the forefront in adopting sustainable processes in its business operations. The Company has some of the best performing plants on energy metrics across the world. As a responsible organisation, we realise the need for further substantial improvements in energy productivity. Our membership of EP100, we believe, will play a catalytic role in helping us accelerate towards doubling our energy productivity, which is a key strategic lever to achieve sustainable business growth”.