Design considerations for eco-friendly palm-strand reinforced concrete for low-cost housing

Abstract

Recent campaigns towards reducing the housing deficits and enhancing environmental sustainability in developing countries have led to increasing research efforts towards incorporating abundant natural materials into housing construction. One of such materials is oil palm broom fibres (OPBF) which began to attract research attention only recently for having the potential of being used as longitudinal reinforcement for concrete beams when combined as strands. This study provides some practical considerations and guidance for the design of OPBF-strand reinforced concrete using the flexural behaviour curves of 100 × 100 x 500 mm palm strand – reinforced prisms obtained from experimental investigation and parametric studies using finite element modelling. The study recommends the use of allowable stress design methodology for OPBF-strand reinforced concrete. A comparison of the carbon footprint between the OPBF- strand reinforced concrete beam and an equivalent steel reinforced concrete beam shows that the former could provide cheaper and eco-friendlier building material.