Study on the Properties of an Ecotype Mortar with Rice Husks and Sisal Fibers

Adding plant fibers such as rice husks or sisals to the mortar is one of the main methods to reuse the agricultural wastes and reduce the energy consumption of building industry. However, recent research showed some limitation of the mortar mixed with plant fibers. In this paper, sisal fibers and rice husks were added together into cement mortar to investigate its mechanical properties and the optimum mixture ratio of sisal fiber and rice husk by mix ratio test and orthogonal test. The microstructure of the sisal fiber was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand how the properties of the mortar were affected. Results showed that adding sisal fiber and rice husk into cement mortar significantly improved the mechanic property, anticrack performance, and impermeability of the mortar. The highest compressive strength and flexural strength can reach 17.1 MPa and 3.3 MPa. The area of early cracks was reduced by 100%, and the maximum seepage pressure was 0.36 MPa. The microstructure analysis also indicated that adding rice husk and sisal fiber have a positive effect on the mortar. These results support that adding 0.1% volume admixture of 16 mm length sisal fiber with 35% rice husk into mortar is helpful for engineering application.

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