Short-term durability of hemp fibers -

Abstract

Despite the recent research on the durability of natural fibers, the durability performance of natural-fiber strengthened structures is not yet widely investigated. In this research, short-term durability tests on hemp-fiber confined concrete cylinders made up of one layer of hemp-fiber bundles were conducted to study their behavior. Compressive testing was performed after wetting and drying cycles in both water and seawater. Moreover, tensile testing on hemp-fiber bundles was conducted to study the effect of extended W-D cycles and prolonged exposure to moisture (1,800 hours). Hemp-fiber confined concrete cylinders showed promising results where there was no significant change in both compressive strength and ductility in comparison to control wrapped cylinders. Regarding tensile testing, after prolonged exposure to water, hemp-fiber bundles were completely destroyed. On the other hand, epoxy coating offered a suitable protected configuration to hemp-fiber bundles. Resistance to seawater was highly apparent in the conservation of tensile stresses. Therefore, natural fibers could be used as alternative to synthetic fibers when taking their drawbacks into account.