A study on mechanical properties of mortar with sugarcane bagasse fiber and bagasse ash

The sugarcane residues from mills or boilers, such as bagasse and bagasse ash, may be a way to make both the civil engineering industry and the sugar/alcohol industry more sustainable. In this research, the sugarcane residues were classified into three different categories: bagasse fiber, bagasse sand and bagasse ash. Therefore, these residues were utilized to prepare the specimens and, subsequently, strength tests were applied to investigate the mechanical properties of mortars of different mixtures. This study revealed that mortar added with 2% of bagasse fiber showed a higher percentage of water retention when compared to the mortar specimens without fiber due to the high amount of bagasse fiber. Consequently, the drying shrinkage strain could be reduced to a smaller level of the PVA fiber specimens. Finally, in all cases in which the fiber was added, the ductility of the mortar was increased when compared to a mortar specimen without fibers.