Experimental study of the addition of oil palm mesocarp fiber on the physical and mechanical properties of fiber cement mortar composites

Composite materials based on natural fibers are increasing in demand in various sectors of industry because of their interesting specific properties. This work is a contribution to the valorization, of plant fibers from agricultural plantations in Cameroon, in fiber cement mortar (FCM). This paper studies the influence of the addition of oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) on the physical (water absorption, density and compactness) and mechanical (compressive strength and flexural strength) properties of cement mortars. The fibers used in this paper are extracted from oil palm mesocarp (palm kernel pulp) by a mechanical and manual process. Cement mortar specimens were then made with different proportions of fibers: 0% (reference mortar), 1%, 2%, 3% and 3.5% fibers. Physical and mechanical tests are then carried out on our specimens. Regardless of the duration of immersion in water, the results show that the water absorption rate increases with a greater amount of fiber in the FCM specimens. On the other hand, an inverse effect is observed on density, which decreases from 2277.5 (samples with 0% fiber) to 942.1 kg/m3 (samples with 3.5% fiber) for apparent density and from 2641.2 to 1945.7 kg/m3 for absolute density. On the mechanical properties, there is a steady decrease in compressive strength from 42.47 (for the reference mortar at 0% fiber) to 31.1 MPa (for the sample at 3.5% fiber). In bending, there is first an increase and then a decrease in strength with the amount of fibers. The maximum flexural strength is obtained for a 2% fiber composition. The FCM has a better strength/density ratio. Finally, the addition of OPMF, in small proportion in the cement mortar, allows a lightening of the structure, but induces a small decrease in mechanical resistance. Our FCM can be used in the manufacture of cinderblocks or as internal wall roughcoating mortar.