Palm fruit bunch fiber impact on compressive strength of cement mortar with different fine aggregate types

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 39 - 51, 29.03.2025

Kenneth A. Tutu , Akua Boadiwaa Yeboah Michael Owusu Ampofo Tungteiyah Suad Mohammed Abdul-samed Aziz Nasara Hafiz Arif Chenti Sa-ad Alhassan

https://doi.org/10.47481/jscmt.1667444

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Depletion of high-quality natural sand deposits and sustainability concerns are popularizing
manufactured sand use in cementitious composites. Meanwhile, palm fruit bunch fiber (PFBF)
improves the properties of cementitious composites, but it is unclear how PFBF interacts with
different fine aggregates to affect mortar strength. This study investigated the impact of PFBF
on the compressive strength of cement mortars containing manufactured sand (granite quar-
ry dust) and natural sands (river and pit). The aggregates were used with Portland cement to
fabricate mortar cubes, which were tested after 28 days. The control mortars (0% PFBF) of
quarry dust, river sand, and pit sand recorded strength of 24.2 MPa, 21.5 MPa, and 10.4 MPa,
respectively. At the optimum fiber content, the strength of the quarry dust and pit sand mor-
tars increased marginally to 24.7 MPa and 12.2 MPa, respectively. However, river sand mortar
strength considerably increased to 26.1 MPa. Interestingly, the quarry dust and pit sand mortars
generally experienced strength loss before reaching their peak at 2.0% and 2.5% fiber content,
respectively. In comparison, river sand mortar consistently gained strength before peaking at
2.5% PFBF. Hence, pre-optimum fiber contents could enhance river sand mortar strength but
hinder quarry dust and pit sand mortar strengths. By standardizing the PFBF-reinforced mortar
strengths against the control strengths, PFBF enhanced pit sand mortar strength the most, fol-
lowed by river sand mortar, but it mainly reduced quarry dust mortar strength. Mortar design
must, therefore, optimize PFBF dosage considering the unique characteristics of each sand type.

Keywords

Cement mortar , compressive strength , fiber-reinforced mortar , fine aggregates , granite quarry dust , natural sand , manufactured sand , palm fruit bunch fiber

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