Search Results (4)

Natural fibres have garnered substantial attention because of their eco-friendly attributes and versatility, offering a sustainable alternative to synthetic ones. This review surveys plant fibres, including flax, hemp, jute, banana, and pineapple, emphasizing their diverse properties and applications in nonwoven materials. This research also examines the use of synthetic polymer composites blended with natural fibres to create high-performance nonwoven materials. Furthermore, this review outlines the primary applications of nonwovens manufactured with plant fibres through needle-punching. These applications span geotextiles, automotive interiors, construction materials, and more. The advantages, challenges, and sustainability aspects of incorporating natural fibres in needle-punched nonwovens are discussed. The focus is on mechanical and thermal properties and their adaptability for specific applications. This research provides valuable insights for researchers and industry professionals aiming to leverage the benefits of plant fibres in needle-punched nonwovens across various sectors. Full article

This project aimed to develop a novel composite non-woven geotextile composed of banana fiber and viscose fiber to address landslide-controlling challenges using techniques such as needle-punching or weaving. The seeds will be inserted in the geotextile material to support the vegetation growth. The results of this study have the possibility to subsidize sustainable slope protection solutions, reducing reliance on synthetic materials and promoting the use of eco-friendly alternatives. A laboratory test would be conducted to optimize the ratio of the two fibers and evaluate the slope protection effectiveness. Full article

Geopolymer, a sustainable alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC), offers reduced embodied energy, lower carbon emissions, enhanced durability, eco-compatibility, and waste valorization potential. In confining structural members, geopolymer still has limitations with respect to its brittleness and other properties. Enhancing the properties of geopolymer by adding banana fibers (BF) and fly ash (FA) to form banana geotextile-reinforced geopolymer mortar (BGT-RGM) as confining material, is investigated in this experimental study. BGT-RGM is a textile-reinforced mortar with varying thickness of BF-reinforced geopolymer mortar (BFRGM) through NaOH-treated 10 mm BFs and 2 mm banana geotextile (BGT) having varied grid spacings. To develop BGT-RGM, the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the BFs were determined, while BFRGMs were evaluated for compressive and dog-bone tensile strengths, workability, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The BGT-RGM-confined and unconfined concrete were evaluated, and the strength variations were imparted by the confinement as reflected on the stress-strain curves. The local crack formation mode of failure was also determined through crack patterns during an axial load test. The BGT-RGM with 20 mm thickness of BFRGM with 15 mm and 20 mm geotextile grid spacings, exhibited 33.3% and 33.1% increases in strength, respectively. Future investigations towards the development and application of BGT-RGM are also discussed. Full article

Textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) is an effective method for confining concrete elements to elevate the axial load resistance and upgrade the overall performance of concrete. TRM is a promising alternative to carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) which are commonly used to strengthen concrete and are known to be expensive since they require a huge amount of energy in processing these materials. Green technologies can be applied in this process, following the same TRM principles of confinement, replacing conventional cement or epoxy-based mortars and synthetic textiles towards sustainable concrete strengthening technology. This is through the utilization of a geopolymer mortar reinforced with short banana fibers (BF) and long BFs as textiles. Geopolymer mortar presented in this paper is composed of fly ash and silica fume as the binder, sand as the filler, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na₂SiO₃) as the activator and BFs as the reinforcement and textile. Geopolymerization generates significantly less carbon dioxide (CO₂) while BFs are known for having attractive mechanical properties, are cost effective and abundant in nature, and thus the use of this fiber will significantly minimize the huge waste produced from banana plantations after a one-time fruit harvest. The geotextile or geogrid used to wrap the concrete cylinder samples is made up of 2 mm-long BF yarns with weights ranging from 150 to 450 grams per square meter that varies with grid sizes from 10 mm, 15 mm to 25 mm for both orthogonal directions considering the lightweight characteristic of BFs. Twelve TRM designs were used to strengthen the concrete cylinders with three samples each. TRM design parameters vary in the thicknesses of the geopolymer mortar covering and the size of the geotextile grids. Eighteen of the geotextiles used were coated with a polymer to protect the fibers while the other eighteen geotextiles remained uncoated. A total of thirty-nine concrete cylinders with 150 mm base diameter and 300 mm height cured within 28 days were prepared, for which 36 cylinders were confined with green TRM with different parameters while three of the plain concrete cylinders served as the control specimens. This is to maximize the investigation on the potential of green TRM in confining concrete and to determine the variations in compressive strengths and mode of failures of confined and unconfined concrete specimens. Results highlighted notable enhancement in the mechanical properties of the modified plain concrete after 28 days of TRM curing using a universal testing machine (UTM). Likewise, a confinement theory of the optimum TRM design was modeled mathematically to evaluate the effects of concrete confinement and overall load carrying capacity enhancement gained from additional strength transferred by the TRM to the concrete element. Full article