Structural Performance of Concrete Reinforced with Banana and Orange Peel Fibers -A Review

In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in developing novel materials for sustainable building construction made from renewable resources. The use of natural fibers in concrete reinforcement, as opposed to agricultural waste, has significant environmental benefits in terms of reducing the environmental repercussions of the continuous dumping and landfilling of massive amounts of agricultural waste in overburdened landfill sites. Banana peel fiber (BPF) and orange peel fiber (OPF) are common agro-wastes with a long history of use in concrete as an additive or a cement substitute. However, their efficiency and performance in terms of reinforcement must be assessed. The characteristics, fresh and hardened state structural performance of BPF and OPF as composite materials in sustainable concrete manufacturing are reviewed in this study based on recent findings. For quality concrete reinforcing, it was discovered that OPF and BPF have good surface areas and low specific gravity. For quality concrete reinforcing, it was discovered that OPF and BPF have good surface areas and low specific gravity. BPF and OPF, on the other hand, have significant pozzolanic binding properties of up to 97.3 %. This allows them to act as binders and supplement the high strength yielding in concrete. Furthermore, the use of BPF in concrete enhanced workability, consistency, compressive and tensile strengths, and setting times by 21.1 %, 48.64 %, 46 % and 52.5 %, and 47.37 %, respectively, whereas the use of OPF raised concrete density by 5.34 %. This indicated that both BPF and OPF had a lot of potential for producing high-quality concrete. The use of BPF and OPF to reinforce concrete and composites against flexural deflection, heat transmission, and modulus of elasticity resulted in a significant increase in concrete strength in terms of cracking, deflection, creep, and shrinkage. The inclusion of orange and banana peels in concrete was found to significantly improve the structural qualities of the concrete; thus, they can be employed as supplementary materials in the manufacturing of concrete. Finally, this study identifies new approaches for achieving the much-anticipated biodegradability and sustainability of natural fiber-reinforced composites for usage in a variety of concrete reinforcing applications.