Conductivity of wall materials based on natural fiber

In this dissertation, coconut fiber once added to the mixture with cement, has been examined to test its thermal conductivity and its resistance under compression test. In fact, substituting synthetic fiber by natural fiber could decrease the cost of construction as well as decreasing global warming. This research was based on gathering information regarding synthetic fibers and natural fibers in general, however focusing on coconut fibers. This dissertation has researched about composite materials mixed with cement and its properties according to research performed in the past. Experiments that occurred in this dissertation were mainly focused on sample behavior under high temperature and the samples heating conductivity, the same samples will also be used to examine its failure point under compression test and its stress values. The experiments consist of seven samples where three samples have different weight values of treated fiber starting with 1%, 2% and 3% of the sample weight, three samples have the same weight of treated fiber and the final sample has 0% fiber, with an optimum length of between 1 to 3 cm. The results indicate that there is no relation between increasing coconut fiber weight with increasing its thermal conductivity. This dissertation indicates that untreated fiber has higher thermal conductivity compared to treated fiber with the same percentage of fiber. In fact, a sample with 2% treated fiber has higher thermal conductivity than 3% samples. However, this dissertation found that samples with 0% fiber have the same results in compression test as it does in 1% & 3% untreated fiber. Benefits of adding coconut fiber in reinforced concrete have been highlighted in the conclusion