Behavior of Concrete Reinforced with Date Palm Fibers

Fadi Althoey; Ibrahim Y Hakeem; Md Akter Hosen; Shaker Qaidi; Haytham F Isleem; Haitham Hadidi; Kiran Shahapurkar; Jawad Ahmad; Elias Ali

doi:10.3390/ma15227923

Behavior of Concrete Reinforced with Date Palm Fibers

Materials (Basel). 2022 Nov 9;15(22):7923. doi: 10.3390/ma15227923.

Authors

Fadi Althoey¹, Ibrahim Y Hakeem¹, Md Akter Hosen², Shaker Qaidi^{3

4}, Haytham F Isleem⁵, Haitham Hadidi⁶, Kiran Shahapurkar⁷, Jawad Ahmad⁸, Elias Ali⁹

Affiliations

¹ Civil Engineering Department, Najran University, Najran P.O. Box 1988, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah P.O. Box 2509, Oman.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Duhok, Duhok 42001, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Nawroz University, Duhok 42001, Iraq.
⁵ Civil Engineering Department, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan P.O. Box 114, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama 1888, Ethiopia.
⁸ Department of Civil Engineering, Military College of Engineering (NUST), Resulpur 24080, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

Abstract

In recent decades, researchers have begun to investigate innovative sustainable construction materials for the development of greener and more environmentally friendly infrastructures. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the possibility of employing date palm tree waste as a natural fiber alternative for conventional steel and polypropylene fibers (PPFs) in concrete. Date palm fibers are a common agricultural waste in Middle Eastern nations, particularly Saudi Arabia. As a result, this research examined the engineering properties of high-strength concrete using date palm fibers, as well as the performance of traditional steel and PPF concrete. The concrete samples were made using 0.0%, 0.20%, 0.60%, and 1.0% by volume of date palm, steel, and polypropylene fibers. Ten concrete mixtures were made in total. Compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, density, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), water absorption capability, and water permeability tests were performed on the fibrous-reinforced high-strength concrete. With a 1% proportion of date palm, steel, and polypropylene fibers, the splitting tensile strength improved by 17%, 43%, and 16%, respectively. By adding 1% fiber, flexural strength was increased by 60% to 85%, 67% to 165%, and 61% to 79%. In addition, date palm fibers outperformed steel and PPFs in terms of density, UPV, and water permeability. As a result, date palm fibers might potentially be employed in the present construction sector to improve the serviceability of structural elements.

Keywords: date palm fibers; engineering characteristics; high-strength concrete; sustainability.

Grants and funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Deputyship for Research and Innovation—Ministry of Education, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for this research through a grant (NU/IFC/ENT/01/016) under the institutional Funding Committee at Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.