The Use of Local Pozzolan in Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Abstract

Concrete is the most commonly used construction materials and have been used for a long time.An important ingredient in the conventional concrete is cement. The cement production is an energy intensiveprocess and causes environmental problem. The one solution to reduce these problems is utilization ofpozzolan to replace cement in concrete. The use of pozzolans not only reduce cement consumption but alsocan improve some concrete properties such as increase workability, reduce heat of hydration in freshconcrete, improve long term strength and durability of concrete. Pozzolans in Thailand are namely fly ash, ricehusk ash, rice husk-bark ash and palm oil fuel ash.Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) can be simply defined as concrete made primarily of hydraulic cements,aggregates, and discrete reinforced fibers. The main purpose of using fibers in concrete is to enhance tensileand flexural properties. The characteristics of fiber reinforced concrete depend upon types, volumeproportion, geometrics and distribution of fiber. The basic fiber categories are steel fiber, glass fiber, syntheticfiber, and natural fiber.Although the utilization of pozzolan in concrete enhances some concrete properties, reduces materialscosts, and environmental friendly. The addition of fiber in concrete mixture has been shown to increase thetensile strength, flexural strength, and ductility of concrete. Many researchers found that pozzolan can beused in fiber concrete. However, the research on using local pozzolan is limited. In addition, there arenumerous types with different properties of pozzolan and fiber materials. Therefore, reinforcing fibers withlocal pozzolan in concrete needs more study.