Study of Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Concrete Panel with Water Hyacinth Fiber

Abstract

This research aims to study  mechanical properties and thermal protection ability of reinforced concrete panel with water hyacinth fiber at maximum strength. The optimum proportion is determined by varying the amounts of fiber, i.e.,   0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 % with respect to concrete weight. Moreover, the lengths of fiber are 1.5 and 2.5 cm. The compressive strength in this experiment is 180 kg/cm² for the incubation period of 28 days.  From the results, it is found that the compressive and flexural strengths of concrete reach the maximum value (i.e., 111.2 and 42.33 kg/cm²) when we use fiber of length 2.5 cm at 0.3% with respect to weight of concrete.   The concrete panel is reinforced by fiber according to the suggested proportion (i.e., 0.3% with respect to concrete weight and length of 2.5 cm).  After that the panel is conducted to find the thermal conductivity (k value).  The concrete panel with fiber reinforcement shows the higher value of thermal conductivity when compared to those of without fiber reinforcement.  This indicates that the panel can be further developed to a heat protection panel.