Physical properties of foamed concrete incorporating coconut fibre

Nowadays,the high cost of conventional construction material becomes the dominating factor which affecting the housing system in our country. as an alternative method to overcome this disadvantage which is decreasing the strength of the building,it is important to do research on any alternating materials which will decrease the cost and increase the strength of concrete. this conventional construction material likewise made some problems to nature. but coconut fiber,which is natural fiber,makes no impact on environment furthermore increases the strength of concrete compares to other fiber. this paper focuses on the investigation and experimental analysis on the physical characteristics of lightweight foamed concrete (lfc) incorporating coconut fibers composites with different volume percentage of fibers 0.2 and 0.4. lfc is produced by cement paste or mortar in which airvoids are entrapped in the mortar by the suitable foaming agent. two densities of lfc,850 and 1200 kg/m3,were cast and tested. approximately 0.75% of cement percentage of super plasticizer was used to enhance workability of the fresh mix. the results of the test showed that the both of physical properties of the concrete increases with curing age and quantity of coconut fiber. © 2016 penerbit utm press. all rights reserved.