Natural Fiber in Cement and Concrete Matrices - A Review

The natural fibres, abundantly available in nature and also generated as agricultural waste, can be used advantageously in improving certain physical properties of cement matrix and concrete, even though the durability of resultant mix is relatively poor. As compared to the fibres widely used in construction activities viz. steel, glass carbon synthetic etc., these are advantageous in the sense that they are renewable, non abrasive, cheaper, comparatively more flexible etc. Also, the health and safety concerns during their handling, processing and mixing are less. Several natural fibres have been used in experimental studies and construction activities to investigate and improve upon the mechanical properties of cement and concrete matrices which are brittle in nature. This paper presents a review of the effects of natural fiber inclusion on the mechanical properties of cement and concrete matrices in green and hardened state.