Behavior of cement mortar reinforced with Amazonian fibers subjected to compression

In recent years, there has been intense research worldwide for alternative materials to substitute asbestos fiber a component of asbestos cement, which has been found to be hazardous to human and animal health and has been banned in many countries. Since 1979 the Non-conventional Materials Research Group of PUC-Rio has carried out research on the application of vegetable fibers, available in abundance in Brazil, for the fabrication of construction components, aiming mainly at the fabrication of popular housing. The Curaua fiber has been studied, as it is already of popular use in the manufacture of ropes, baskets and carpets in the region, known as Baixo, Amazonas, in the state Of Para, Brazil, where the first plantations have been organized on a commercial scale. In this work, mechanical properties of the Curaua fiber as well as their application as a cementicious matrix reinforcement, have been studied. The performance of Curaua fiber and its composites was compared with other vegetable fibers, such as sisal and jute, as a substitute for asbestos fiber and its composites. The data on sisal fibres from previous works by the same research group at PUC-Rio was considered for comparison. The behavior of jute fiber, as well as cementicious composites, reinforced with jute and sisal fibers, has also been studied in this work. The results have shown that the Curaua fiber has appropriate physical and mechanical characteristics that make it suitable to be used as reinforcement of cementicious matrixes, with a high ductility and post-cracking resistance capacity.