Contribution of plant fibers in improving the behavior and capacity of reinforced concrete for structural applications

Plant fibers (especially, wheat straw) are available surplus to requirements in sub-tropical regions. Many researchers have studied these fibers for non-structural applications. However, for civil engineering structural applications, in depth behavior of wheat straw reinforced concrete (WSRC) with steel rebars is not known. For this purpose, WSRC needs to be explored in detail for load bearing structures. This paper presents the contribution of plant fibers (i.e. wheat straw) in improving the behavior and capacity of reinforced concrete for structural applications. Reinforced concrete beam-lets with varying flexure and shear rebars, without and with inclusion of wheat straw, are experimentally investigated for studying the altered behavior due to fibers. In addition, to start with the practical implications, concrete pavements are considered. The study is concluded with an increase in flexural strength (up to 7.5%), energy absorption (up to 30.4%), and toughness indices (up to 11.1%) along with better crack arresting mechanism by incorporation of wheat straw in reinforced concrete. Also, concrete pavement containing wheat straw has comparable design with likely more durable and sustainable structure.