Abstract: (10599 Views)
Worldwide, asbestos fibers utilized in fiber cement boards, have been recognized as harmful materials regarding the public
health and environmental pollutions. These concerns motivate the researchers to find the appropriate alternatives to substitute
the asbestos material towards the sustainability policies. In this paper, the applicability of asbestos replacement with three
types of agricultural waste fibers, including bagasse, wheat and eucalyptus fibers were experimentally investigated. To this
end, the flexural behaviour and microstructure of cement composite boards made by addition of 2 % and 4 % of waste
agricultural fibers in combination with and without 5 % replacement of silica fume by mass of cement were evaluated. The
results of this study attested the applicability of utilized waste agricultural fibers in production of cement composite boards by
improving the flexural and energy absorption characteristics, more or less, depending on the type of fibers. Moreover, it is
found that application of silica fume in production of cement composite boards led to an increase in flexural strength.