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Published:
Dec 27, 2015DOI:
10.4314/njt.v35i1.6Keywords:
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Main Article Content
EFFECTS OF POLYTHENE FIBRES ON SELECTED PROPERTIES OF SANDCRETE BLOCKS
Abstract
The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of using polythene fibres to increase the strength of sandcrete blocks without increasing the weight and cost of production. It is a comparative study of the properties and performance of polythene reinforced and plain sandcrete blocks. The graded soil sample has a specific gravity of 2.64. Polythene fibres were got from shredded sachet water bags. The fibres were mixed at 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% by mass of the block with sand and cement to produce the reinforced sandcrete at water – cement ratio of 0.4. Compressive strength, water absorption, split tensile strength tests were carried out on the various samples. The results show that the addition of polythene fibre to sandcrete blocks has very little effect on the compressive strength, although at 0.5% fibre content, the tensile strength increased. Heating the blocks at 100oC for 24 hours, the compressive strength of the heated blocks are higher than the non - heated blocks. The results reveal that at an optimum fibre content of 0.5%, fibres are good in reinforcing sandcrete blocks if heated. Addition of polythene fibres to sandcrete blocks will increase the tensile strength and can limit the propagation of cracks.
