Abstract:Concrete is a very versatile construction material, and its demand is growing day by day to meet ongoing construction work.At the same time aggressive impact of concrete materials on environment is also increasing. Concrete is recognised as foundation of our progress allowing us to build the infrastructure of modern life but raising issues like global warming in present day civilisation. This modern growth comes at the cost of a healthy ecological balance. This burning issue is of high priority for maintaining sustainability of entire ecosystem. Hence need for alternate sustainable materials in construction field is very much essential and their development has become extremely urgent in research work. This requirement is further getting intensified due to problems associated with concrete structures, that is formation and development of cracks. Poor flexural and tensile strength of the concrete is the main reason for the same. Present research work is focused on developing concrete resistance against plastic shrinkage cracking and service-related cracking. Natural fibers like Jute have been used for this research work to study the behaviour of concrete. Jute fibers are available in plenty and very cost effective. Also, these are non-toxic and bio degradable in nature. Due to these enlisted features jute fibers are chosen to be mixed with concrete in 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% of weight of concrete. Specimens were prepared for M20, M25 and M30 grade of concrete with W/C ratio = 0.35 and 0.45 respectively. Specimens were tested for tensile strength and flexural strength after 28 days of curing. Comparative analysis of the obtained results was done with tests results of 0% jute fiber concrete. Based on this comparison some important conclusions have been made, which can later be used as guidelines for fiber reinforced concrete mix design.

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1. Bureau of Indian Standards. IS 383:1970 specification for coarse and fine aggregate from natural sources for concrete (second revision) (reaffirmed 2002). New Delhi: BIS; 1970.
2. Watts J. Concrete: The most destructive materials on earth. The Guardian. 2019.
3. Worrell E, Price L, Martin N, Hendriks C. Carbon dioxide emission from the global cement industry. Annu Rev Energy Environ. 2001;26(1):303–329.
4. Ali MB, Saidur R, Hossain MS. A review on emission analysis in cement industries. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2011;15(5):2252–2261.
5. Ahmad MR, Chen B, Farasat S, Shah A. Mechanical and microstructural characterization of bioconcrete prepared with optimized alternative green binder. Constr Build Mater. 2021;281.
6. Ragavendra S, Reddy IP, Dongre A. Fibre reinforced concrete – A case study. In: Proceedings of the 33rd National Convention of Architectural Engineers and National Seminar on Architectural Engineering Aspect for Sustainable Building Envelopes (ArchEn-BuildEn); 2018 Nov 11–14.
7. Zollo RF. Fiber-reinforced concrete: An overview after 30 years of development. Cem Concr Compos. 1996;19:107–122.
8. Chandar SP, Balaji CJ. Experimental study on the mechanical properties of concrete mixed with jute fiber and steel fiber. Int Res J Eng Technol. 2015;2(2):77–82.
9. Williams GI, Wool RP. Composites from natural fibers and soy oil resins. Appl Compos Mater. 2000;7(5–6):421–432.
10. Pruthviraj KN, Mahalingasharma SJ, Patil S. Experimental study on strength behaviour of concrete reinforced with natural fibers. Mater Today Proc. 2023;80(2):659–667.

Abstract:Concrete is a very versatile construction material, and its demand is growing day by day to meet ongoing construction work.At the same time aggressive impact of concrete materials on environment is also increasing. Concrete is recognised as foundation of our progress allowing us to build the infrastructure of modern life but raising issues like global warming in present day civilisation. This modern growth comes at the cost of a healthy ecological balance. This burning issue is of high priority for maintaining sustainability of entire ecosystem. Hence need for alternate sustainable materials in construction field is very much essential and their development has become extremely urgent in research work. This requirement is further getting intensified due to problems associated with concrete structures, that is formation and development of cracks. Poor flexural and tensile strength of the concrete is the main reason for the same. Present research work is focused on developing concrete resistance against plastic shrinkage cracking and service-related cracking. Natural fibers like Jute have been used for this research work to study the behaviour of concrete. Jute fibers are available in plenty and very cost effective. Also, these are non-toxic and bio degradable in nature. Due to these enlisted features jute fibers are chosen to be mixed with concrete in 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% of weight of concrete. Specimens were prepared for M20, M25 and M30 grade of concrete with W/C ratio = 0.35 and 0.45 respectively. Specimens were tested for tensile strength and flexural strength after 28 days of curing. Comparative analysis of the obtained results was done with tests results of 0% jute fiber concrete. Based on this comparison some important conclusions have been made, which can later be used as guidelines for fiber reinforced concrete mix design.

🔒 This is a subscription article

Full text is available to subscribers and institutional members. Please choose an option below to access it.

1. Bureau of Indian Standards. IS 383:1970 specification for coarse and fine aggregate from natural sources for concrete (second revision) (reaffirmed 2002). New Delhi: BIS; 1970.
2. Watts J. Concrete: The most destructive materials on earth. The Guardian. 2019.
3. Worrell E, Price L, Martin N, Hendriks C. Carbon dioxide emission from the global cement industry. Annu Rev Energy Environ. 2001;26(1):303–329.
4. Ali MB, Saidur R, Hossain MS. A review on emission analysis in cement industries. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2011;15(5):2252–2261.
5. Ahmad MR, Chen B, Farasat S, Shah A. Mechanical and microstructural characterization of bioconcrete prepared with optimized alternative green binder. Constr Build Mater. 2021;281.
6. Ragavendra S, Reddy IP, Dongre A. Fibre reinforced concrete – A case study. In: Proceedings of the 33rd National Convention of Architectural Engineers and National Seminar on Architectural Engineering Aspect for Sustainable Building Envelopes (ArchEn-BuildEn); 2018 Nov 11–14.
7. Zollo RF. Fiber-reinforced concrete: An overview after 30 years of development. Cem Concr Compos. 1996;19:107–122.
8. Chandar SP, Balaji CJ. Experimental study on the mechanical properties of concrete mixed with jute fiber and steel fiber. Int Res J Eng Technol. 2015;2(2):77–82.
9. Williams GI, Wool RP. Composites from natural fibers and soy oil resins. Appl Compos Mater. 2000;7(5–6):421–432.
10. Pruthviraj KN, Mahalingasharma SJ, Patil S. Experimental study on strength behaviour of concrete reinforced with natural fibers. Mater Today Proc. 2023;80(2):659–667.