Tratamento de fibras de bambu com polipropileno para utilização em concreto estrutural

Abstract

In this work the properties of the reinforced structural concrete with polypropylene treated bamboo fibers were studied and they were compared with the properties of the structural concrete without addition of fibers and with the addition of steel fibers. Much has been studied regarding reinforced concrete with different fibers. Among the natural fibers, bamboo fibers are among those that present a good mechanical performance and can be compared to steel. One of the factors that prevent its indication for its use in the construction industry is due to the fiber's water absorption capacity, which results in the loss of the mechanical properties of the fiber and, consequently, of the concrete. In order to decrease the water absorption by the fibers, they were treated with polypropylene (PP) in solution, to waterproof the fiber and to guarantee the resistance to the requested stresses of the structural concrete. Three types of structural concrete were obtained: structural concrete without fiber addition, structural concrete with 8 % by volume addition of bamboo fibers, and structural concrete with 8 % by volume addition of steel fibers. The different types of concrete were characterized by mechanical, morphological and microstructural tests. The partial results showed that the different types of concrete can be classified as excellent and that the concrete containing steel fibers is more resistant although the reinforcement matrix interaction was higher for the concrete obtained with bamboo fibers coated with PP.