Investigation of the Effect of Sisal Fibers on Rheological Properties of Cement Paste
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 12
Abstract
Sisal fibers (SF) are able to enhance the mechanical properties of cementitious materials. However, the rheology of fiber-reinforced cementitious materials is a complex subject due to the significant flow perturbations caused by the fibers in the cement matrix. The effect of SF on the flowability and rheological properties of the cement paste were evaluated in this study. SF of three lengths (3, 6, and 12 mm) were added to the cement paste at different dosages. The results showed that the flowability of the cement paste containing SF decreased with the fiber length and dosage. The rheological curves agreed well with the Bingham model. With the presence of the same dosage of longer SF, the yield stress increased by about 20 times compared to the reference sample. With increase in SF dosage, the plastic viscosity also increased; however, the influence of SF length on the plastic viscosity has less influence than that of yield stress. The results of this study could provide a technological reference for the design and deployment of SF-reinforced cementitious materials in practice.
Practical Applications
The rheology of fiber-reinforced cementitious materials is known to be a complex subject. The introduction of sisal fibers (SF) can significantly affect the workability of cementitious materials. This study focuses on the effect of different dosages of SF of three lengths (3, 6, and 12 mm) on the flowability and rheological properties of cement paste. The results show that the flowability of the cement paste decreases with increasing SF length and dosage. The introduction of SF still shows a shear thinning behavior and the rheological profile is found to be consistent with the Bingham model. The yield stress is more sensitive to the length of SF. The SF dosage plays a major role in the evolution of viscosity. To obtain insights that will be beneficial for practical applications, relationships between variable parameters and rheological properties were determined. This paper attempts to refine the qualitative control of cost-effective cementitious materials with respect to the dispersion of SF in the cement matrix to enable life-cycle evaluation. In addition, examining the rheological properties of cementitious materials enables the design of building materials on demand, including fiber-reinforced cement-based materials.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22268017 and 52268041) and the Hainan Province Science and Technology Special Fund (ZDYF2021GXJS024).
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 12 • December 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 8, 2022
Accepted: May 15, 2023
Published online: Sep 28, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2024
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