FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE APPLICATION OF COCONUT FIBERS IN MORTARS

Abstract

Civil construction is one of the sectors responsible for high consumption of materials from natural resources and high generation of waste. One of the major challenges is the implementation of actions focused on the sustainable development of the sector, by reducing the use of non-renewable materials and the reuse of waste. The present study aims to evaluate the viability of the use of the agroindustrial residue coconut fiber as discrete reinforcement in Portland cement mortars. This residue is highly available and has a low cost. However, this material usually does not have an adequate destination, becoming an environmental problem. Therefore, the study focused on the understanding of the generation process and characterization of the residue, followed by the development of the process of obtaining the fibers from the green coconut and, finally, the production and evaluation of the final product. The mortars were reinforced with fibers with 25 mm long and were used at dosages of 0.3, 0.6 and 1% by volume in the mortars. The technical feasibility was evaluated by tests in the fresh state (consistency test) and hardened, by mechanical evaluation from compression and bending tests. The results show that the use of coconut fibers as reinforcement in mortars is technically possible.