Improving the brittle behaviour of high-strength concrete using keratin and glass fibres

Khaled Abdelsamie, Ibrahim Saad Agwa, Bassam A. Tayeh and Radwa Defalla Abdel Hafez

Abstract

Keratin fibres are waste products of the poultry industry. Natural materials made from chicken feather fibres (CFFs) are used in concrete-reinforced composites in this study. Brittleness is a major problem of high-strength concrete (HSC) that leads to sudden failure at the ultimate capacity of concrete. Hence, this work aims to investigate effects of using CFFs on improving the brittle behaviour of HSC. Two scenarios are performed to analyse the effectiveness of using CFFs. HSC containing different ratios of CFF (0% as the control, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 3%) by volume are tested in the first scenario. Glass fibres (GF) are used to replace CFFs in the other scenario. Tests of fresh, hardened and morphological properties for concrete are performed. Results showed the enhanced brittle behaviour of HSC when using both types of fibres. The preferable ratio of both types of fibres is 1% by volume. Flexural and splitting tensile strengths increased by about 44.9 % and 42.65 % for mixes containing 0.1% GF, respectively. While they were increased by about 21.6 % and 21.16 % for mixes containing 0.1% CFF, respectively.

Key Words

chicken feather fibre; fresh and hardened properties; glass fibre; high-strength concrete; microstructure

Address

Khaled Abdelsamie: Faculty of Engineering, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt Ibrahim Saad Agwa: 2=Civil and Architectural Constructions Department, Faculty of Technology and Education, Suez University, Egypt; Department of Civil Engineering, El-Arish High Institute for Engineering and Technology, El-Arish, North Sinai, Egypt Bassam A. Tayeh: Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine Radwa Defalla Abdel Hafez: Civil and Architectural Constructions Department, Faculty of Technology and education, Sohag University, Egypt

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