Natural fibre reinforced earth and lime based mortars

Abstract

The present research work was developed with the main objective of enhancing the basic characteristics of earth and lime plastering mortars, in particular taking into account the shrinkage effect of clays in order to avoid cracking. For this purpose one has studied: a standard mortar made of earth and lime, without the addition of fibres; the incorporation of several types of fibres in the standard mortar. The addition of natural fibres (banana, coconut, sisal) was tested and, in order to compare its results, the incorporation of synthetic fibres (polypropylene) was also tested. Due to the large range of earth clay contents and types of clay, with distinct behaviours, one has performed expeditious tests in order to characterize the clays. To evaluate the performance of the incorporated fibres in the mortars one has developed laboratorial tests to achieve the most relevant properties: workability; mechanical behaviour; water behaviour; and susceptibility to cracking.