ABSTRACT

Concrete 1s considered to be chief construction material. It posses versatile properties but it is not independent of the weaknesses. Concrete is strong in compression but it is week in tension .In order to improve tensile strength of concrete various attempts are made. One of the options is to add the fibers in concrete. This study is paying attention on to investigate experimentally the effect of date palm fibers on workability and fundamental strength properties of concrete.
Date palm fibers of Yi" and I " length are added from 1% to 5% by weight of
cement in concrete of I :2:4 proportions with 0.5 w/c ratio is cast and tested. The effect of length and dosage of date palm fibers (D.P) is investigated in terms of workability (Slump value), compressive strength (cube crushing strength) and tensile strength (cylinder splitting test). These are compared with those of normal concrete without D.P fiber. Thus in all 6 batches with cube and cylinders of standard size is cost and tested evaluation of the compressive and tensile strength respectively. The workability of the concrete is evaluated by adopting slump cone test. The results reveal the effect of D.P fibers on the properties of concrete. Workability decreases with the increase in D.P fibers concrete where the compressive strength and tensile strength increases with the addition of D.P fibers but up to specific dosage. The extent of enhancement in tensile strength is more remarkable as compared to the compressive strength.