Date Palm Rachis as a Local and Renewable Structural Material for Rural Communities in Egypt

Date Palm Rachis has been widely used in sheathing of houses in the rural communities in Egypt and the Middle East, as a local and cheap material that naturally resists direct solar radiation and humidity. Lately, researchers around the world began to build complete structures using Date Palm Rachis to take advantage of its abundance and natural resistance. However, due to the lack of the required mechanical properties for structural analytical modeling, mock ups are used to assess the structural properties of Date Palm Rachis. This tool of assessment is insufficient in the consideration of wind or temporary and unforeseen loads. This paper introduces the closest estimations of the complicated mechanical properties required for structural analytical modeling, according to the available equipment and the variable nature of Date Palm Rachis. The results showed that Date Palm Rachis is a promising structural material with structural properties that are competitive to that of imported timbers in Egypt. This paper invites researches and builders to exploit the potentials of Palm Rachis as a structural material for rural communities.