An ecofriendly approach to explore the physical and mechanical properties of cement mortar reinforced with Abutilon indicum fibres

Abstract Cement composites are inherently characterized by low tensile strength and limited fracture resistance. The fibres have the potential of improving the tensile properties and lessen cracking. In recent years, a substantial increase in the utilization of plant-based fibres over synthetic fibres was observed primarily because of their abundant availability, which is also found to enhance the mechanical characteristics of cement composites. This study aims to examine the performance of Abutilon indicum fibre reinforced cement mortar with varied fibre contents and fibre lengths based on physical, mechanical and microstructural properties. Three different fibre lengths, 5, 10 and 15 mm and varying fibre contents of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt% were considered. Experimental tests were carried out to find the physical and mechanical properties and the results revealed that the flexural and tensile strengths of mortar mixes were significantly improved by the addition of fibres with increased fibre lengths and contents. Conversely, the cement mortar experienced significant decrease in compressive strength as the dosage and length of fibres increased, attributed to a decrease in density, as well as the agglomeration and clustering of fibres within the mortar mixture. Multicriterial decision making method was employed to optimize and evaluate the overall technical performance of the fibre reinforced cement mortar. The mortar reinforced with 5 mm fibre length and 1% fibre addition was found to be potentially beneficial and considered as an optimum mix with respect to all mechanical properties. Microstructural analysis on the optimum mix revealed the existence of proper and sufficient interfacial bonding between the fibres and cement matrix and therefore it is recommended to use Abutilon indicum fibre in cement mortar for repair and other construction applications and the optimum mix proportion is reported.