TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILPPINES

938 AURORA BLVD. CUBAO, QUEZON CITY

STUDY OF NATURAL FIBERS

AS AN ADMIXTURE FOR
CONCRETE MIX DESIGN

RAPATALO, KATHLEEN M.
ORIT JOHN FHILIP A.
MANZANO, JEFFREY M.
DE, VERA, AIVY M.

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of

Science in Civil Engineering

MARCH 2010

We declare that this thesis entitled Use of Natural Fibers as an

Admixture for Concrete Mix Design is the result of our own
research except as cited in the references.
This thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not
concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

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Rapatalo, Kathleen M

Orit, John Fhilip A.

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De Vera, Aivy M.

Manzano, Jeffrey M.

March 2010

iii

An education isnt how much

you have committed to
memory, or even how much
you know. Its being able to
differentiate what you do know
and what you dont. Its
knowing where to go to find
out what you need to know;
and its knowing how to use
the information you get.
-William Feather

dedicated to our beloved family

and friends

iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

First and foremost, gratitude and praise goes to our GOD Almighty, in whom we
have put our faith and trust in during the entire course of this study, our faith has been
tested countless times and with the help of the Almighty, we have been able to go pass the
obstacles that stood our way.
We also would like to take this opportunity to express profound gratitude to our
class adviser, Dra. Leizl Fallarna for her noble guidance and valuable advice all
throughout the period of our study. Her patience, time, and understanding are highly
appreciated. A word of thanks also goes to the staff of the Bureau of Research and
Standards for accommodating and providing us assistance in many ways, especially Sir
Nitoy who supervised us during our stay in BRS and also for his advice and guidance
to us.
To our professors, Engr. Edison Dizon, Engr. Rhonnie Estores, Engr. Hadji
Aranda and Engr. Allan Benogsudan for giving us advice.
To our fellow classmates, to the group of Mark Lorence Magbata and Christian
Ablong that should be recognized for their undoubtful support and help in our group.

Last but not the least; we would like to say our deepest thanks to our loving
family whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their prayers, encouragement, immeasurable
support and guidance all throughout the whole duration of our study.

ABSTRACT
Technology in concrete has been developing in many ways to enhance the quality
and properties of concrete. One of the technological advances in improving the quality of
concrete is by using admixtures. Admixture is a substance added during or before mixing
the concrete, typically so as to improve its properties.
This study is conducted to evaluate the possibility of incorporating different
natural fibers which is abundant in our country as an admixture for concrete mix design.
This study will evaluate the compressive strength of the concrete containing coconut coir,
sugarcane bagasse, pineapple, and abaca fibers. The behavior of fresh and hardened
concrete was investigated with various amounts of natural fibers. The average
compressive strength of concrete cylinder samples with the dimension of 150mm in
diameter and 300mm in height were taken for strength comparison. The mixes were
prepared with fiber-cement ratio of 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.25% and 0.75%. Water-cement ratio
of 0.68 was chosen for this mix design with the design compressive load of 20.7Mpa. The
constituents were calculated based on the ACI Design Standards.
Compressive test was done on hardened concrete with the Universal Testing
Machine at a loading rate of 5kN/sec to determine the compressive load of each
specimen. The result of the experiment showed that the addition of natural fibers will
increase the compressive strength of the concrete, but the increase in strength is up to
certain amount of fiber. Among the concrete cylinder which contains natural fiber,

0.15%sugarcane has the highest compressive load of 26.4MPa. The lowest compressive
load is 10.56MPa which is the 0.75% sugarcane bagasse content.

vi

CONTENTS
Chapter

Subject
Title page
Approval sheet
Authors declaration
Dedication
Acknowledgment
Abstract
Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures

i
ii
iii
iv
v
vi
vii
ix
x

The Problem and its background

1.1 introduction
1.2 background of the study
1.3 theoretical framework
1.4 conceptual framework
1.5 statement of the problem
1.6 scope and delimitations
1.7 significance of the study
1.8 definition of terms

Page

1
2
3
4
5
5
6
7

Review of related literature

2.1 foreign studies
2.2 foreign literatures

10
14

Research Methodology
3.1 Research method
3.2 project Design and development
3.3 quality test for fine and coarse aggregates
3.4 ACI mix design method
3.5 collection and preparation of materials
3.6 distributions of test specimens
3.7 test on fresh concrete
3.8 curing of the concrete cylinders
3.9 test on hardened concrete

19
20
21
21
26
28
29
29
30

vii
4

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

4.1 results of quality test for fine and coarse aggregates
4.2 design parameters
4.3 design mix
4.4 result of slump test for first trial
4.5 result of slump test for second trial
4.6 result of compressive strength test for first trial
4.7 result of compressive strength test for second trial
4.8 comparison of compressive strength
4.9 effect of percent fiber

31
32
32
33
35
41
43
45
45

Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

5.1 general observations
5.2 conclusions
5.3 recommendations

49
51
53

References

54

Appendices
A. laboratory testing procedures
Absorption and specific gravity of fine aggregates
Absorption and specific gravity of coarse aggregates
Fineness modulus of fine aggregates
Loose unit weight of fine and coarse aggregates
Rodded unit weight of fine and coarse aggregates

56
57
58
58
59

B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Abrasion
Moisture content

59
60

Apparatus and equipments

Procedures of slump test
Process and procedures
Computations of design mix
Result of tests

62
64
66
68
70

Photo gallery
Curriculum Vitae
viii

LIST OF TABLES
Table no.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6

Title
Properties of coconut coir
Properties of sugarcane bagasse
Properties of pineapple fibers
Properties of abaca fibers
Choice of slump
Mixing water and air content selection
Water-cement ratio
Coarse aggregate content
First estimate mass of fresh concrete
Chemical composition of cement
Distribution of specimens for first trial
Distribution of specimens for second trial
Result of quality test
Summary of design mix
Result of slump test for first trial
Result of slump test for second trial
Result of compressive test for first trial
Result of Compressive test for second trial

Page
15
16
17
18
21
23
24
24
25
26
28
28
31
32
33
35
41
43

ix

List of Figures
Figure no.
1.1
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Title
Research Paradigm
Project design and development
sieving of coarse aggregates
natural fibers
curing of cylinders
result of slump test for first trial
result of slump test for second trial
compressive strength test results for first trial
compressive strength test results for second trial
average compressive strength vs. fiber percentage

Page
4
20
27
27
29
34
36
42
44
45