ABSTRACT
This is the second part of a two-part paper providing an experimental and analytical evaluation of the influence of natural fibres on the axial compressive behaviour of cement mortar matrices. This paper presents an analytical relationship to predict the stress-strain curve of the fibre reinforced mortar and other key properties, such as compressive strength and elastic modulus, in terms of the fibre reinforcing parameters and the properties of the matrix. A compressive constitutive relationship between elastic modulus and compressive strength is proposed for the natural fibre reinforced mortar composites. The accuracy of the analytical equation used to predict the stress-strain curves of the natural fibre reinforced mortar composites was verified comparing the experimental stress-strain curves with those predicted by the model. Values of the composite elastic modulus obtained using the proposed compressive constitutive relationship were compared with the experimental values. The results indicated that the analytical expression and the compressive constitutive relationship presented a good correlation with the experimental observations.
Key words:
composite materials; sisal fibres; coconut fibres; mortar; analytical stress-strain curves; compressive constitutive relationship