Compressive Strength of Bio-Fibrous Concrete

Concrete is enormously produced due to its usage in construction as it is cheap and its constituents are readily available. Over the year, agricultural wastes have been applied to improve concrete properties and reduce environmental pollution. The use of fibre has gained the attention of researchers. This study investigates the compressive strength of bio-fibrous concrete. The bacteria applied as calcium-producing is Bacillus subtilis, while the fibre is Kenaf fibre. The concrete specimens were prepared with three different w/c ratios (0.45, 0.5, and 0.6) and three (3) different fibre contents (1, 2, and 3%). In addition, a control concrete sample without bacteria and without fibre, and another concrete sample with only bacteria were produced. The casted concrete samples were 100 × 100 × 100 mm, water cured and tested after 28 days of casting. The results showed that the compressive strength increased by as much as 27% when bacteria was added to the concrete samples. However, the compressive strength decreased with increasing w/c ratio and/or increasing the fibre content.