A Study on Compressive Strength Attributes of Jute Fiber Reinforced Cement Concrete Composites

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effect of reinforcing raw jute fibers on the mechanical properties of cement concrete composites. The investigation helps to explore more on the variation of properties of concrete with jute fibers, its effective usage and to reduce the usage of polymer fibers which interns an environmental harm. In the present study, raw jute fibers cut to 10 mm were used with the proportionate mix of cement, coarse aggregate and sand with the water-cement ratio of 0.45. The mixed specimens are casted for different volume content of jute fibers (0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1%, 1.2%, 1.4%, 1.6% and 1.8%) and cured for 3, 7 and 28 days. It is observed that the compressive strength of casted concrete coupon is increased from 8.8 N/mm2 to a maximum of 44.44 N/mm2 due to the addition of jute fibers. The maximum compressive strength is obtained for a concrete coupon of fiber content 0.4%. As the fiber content increased from 0.4 % the compressive strength get reduced, causing poor workability of concrete.