Effect of Bamboo Fiber Incorporation in Compressive and Tensile Strength for Fly‐Ash Based Concrete

ABSTRACT Fly ash waste obtained from the coal industry has been studied multiple times as a potential cementitious replacement in concrete construction. Multiple previous studies described higher fly ash replacement (above 20%) in concrete show a decrease in mechanical properties in comparison to normal ordinary Portland cement (OPC) based concrete. Although fly ash based concrete is sustainable in comparison to OPC based concrete. The applications of this material are limited in the construction industry due to higher brittleness at a larger replacement percentage. In this study, specimens were prepared by replacing OPC with fly ash by 30%. This study investigates the compressive and tensile strength variation in fly ash‐based concrete due to the addition of different percentages of sustainable bamboo fiber. The tests were conducted in various curing intervals i.e. 14, 28, 45, 60, 75, and 90 days. The bamboo fiber was used from 1% upto 10% weight of cement. The incorporation of bamboo fiber up to 4% increases the compressive strength by 15.1%, and similarly bamboo fiber up to 5% increases split tensile strength by 10.88%. Addition of bamboo fiber in fly‐ash concrete provides better load distribution due to interconnections between different sections of the concrete specimen even after crack formations during compressive strength and tensile strength testing, resulting in better results. Reduction in both mechanical properties of concrete above optimum fiber percentage was observed, due to reduced workability, unequal fiber distribution, and increased porosity, which impaired the development of strength.