Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate /conbui ldmat

Render reinforced with textile threads

Jorge Pinto a,b, Artur Peixoto a, José Vieira a, Lisete Fernandes c, José Morais a,Vítor M.C.F. Cunha a,d, Humberto Varum e,⇑a Engineering Department, School of Science and Technology, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugalb I3N, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugalc Microscopy Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugald ISISE, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugale Civil Engineering Department, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

h i g h l i g h t s

" Proposal of a new reinforcing system for mortars." Performance improvement of coating mortars with fibers." Recycling and reuse of a textile waste." Development of a sustainable building solution." Innovative sustainable solution for application of mortars.

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 12 April 2012Received in revised form 17 September 2012Accepted 25 September 2012Available online 4 December 2012

Keywords:Textile wasteFiberRenderReinforcementSustainability

0950-0618/$ - see front matter � 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Ahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.09.099

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 91 9369393.E-mail address: hvarum@ua.pt (H. Varum).

a b s t r a c t

From a sustainable technical building perspective, this research work aims to investigate the potential ofusing waste products of the textile industry in building applications. In particular, textile threads as analternative fiber reinforcement solution for cement based render. Unfortunately, undesirable and unex-pected shrinkage cracking render is still a relevant concern in the building industry. Taking into accountthat this building pathology has a huge disproportionate depreciative impact on the overall value of aproperty, it is important to find building solutions that may contribute to mitigate this technical problem.Meanwhile, finding applications for the waste derived from the textile industry may also result in attrac-tive economical and sustainable solutions. Pieces of fabrics or pieces of textile threads are the most com-mon types of waste resulting from this industry. A 30% wool and 70% acrylic composition thread was thetextile waste considered as a reinforcement fiber in this paper. A preliminary characterization of thiscomposite material was experimentally performed. A parametric study including different fiber sizes,fiber contents and ages of the reinforced render was carried out. The applicability, the durability andthe mechanical behavior of the proposed reinforced render were the main material properties studiedin this research work. The obtained experimental results indicate that the studied composite materialmay be interesting from technological, sustainable and economical points of views.

� 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Reducing energy consumption, water consumption and CO2

emission to the atmosphere, without compromising the overallquality of a product, must be a goal to achieve in a production man-agement system. Affordability is another extremely importantparameter to take into account. Reusing, opting for green buildingmaterials (which must be renewable, local and abundant),

ll rights reserved.

retrofitting, choosing low technology production methods and tech-niques are some practices that have given good results within thiscontext.

In the building industry context, it is extremely important toachieve such practices. Therefore, recent different research workshave been done in order to find alternative sustainable buildingsolutions. Using different agricultural product wastes [1–6] andother types of residues such as newspaper [7,8] or micro-cellulosefibers resulting from the recycling of cardboard of resinous origin[9] are some practical examples in which a waste product is usedas a raw material in a production process of a building product.Textile waste has also been researched for this purpose [10,11].

J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32 27

From both sustainable and affordable construction points of view,the use of natural fibers to reinforce cement based materials mayalso be a feasible alternative to decrease the brittleness of mortars.Plant fibers have been used such as eucalyptus pulp, coir or euca-lyptus [12], sisal [13] and kenaf (i.e. Hibiscus cannabinus) [14].

In this research work, the building scenario of using waste ofthe textile industry as a fiber for reinforcing cement based renderis put into perspective. Taking into account the expressive variabil-ity of this kind of waste types, a 30% wool and 70% acrylic compo-sition thread was the textile waste selected and adopted asreinforcing fiber in this work. In general, the textile industry wastemay be pieces of fabrics or pieces of textile threads. In both cases,the size, the composition (e.g. cotton, wool, acrylic, silk, linen,among other possible materials and mixtures) and the textureare some aspects that contribute to the above mentioned materialvariability. The complexity of studying this type of waste as a pos-sible raw material in a production management system is propor-tional to this high material variability expectancy.

Prior to the study of the behavior of cement fiber reinforcedcomposite, the textile thread characterization was performed. Themicrostructure of the fiber was characterized and then its tensilestrength was assessed. Several reinforced render samples were pro-cessed in order to include two different lengths of fiber (e.g. 2 cmand 4 cm) and five different fiber contents (e.g. 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and4%). The traditional render corresponds to the unreinforced render(i.e. 0% fiber content) and it works as a reference render. In order tofigure out the applicability of these proposed reinforced renders, anexperimental expedite procedure was done, which consisted onapplying each solution on an external brick masonry wall. This pre-liminary experimental procedure was extremely valuable becauseit enabled the confirmation that each solution can be applied onmasonry walls. This fact was justified by the acceptable adhesionand the adequate fiber scattering showed by all the samples. Thisexperimental procedure also allowed the monitoring of the mate-rial behavior of those samples under real extreme climate condi-tions during six consecutive months (from July 2011 to February2012). In parallel, the mechanical properties of the reinforced ren-der are also assessed by means of bending and compressive tests.

This paper is structured as follows; firstly, the problematic ofshrinkage cracking pathology of cement based renders is brieflyput into context; secondly, the proposed textile thread fiber isexperimentally characterized. Its microstructure is identified andits tensile strength is also evaluated; thirdly, a description of thesample preparation is delivered; fourthly, the experimental resultsare presented, analyzed and discussed; finally, the main conclu-sions are drawn.

2. Context

Shrinkage and cracking of cement based renders due to temper-ature amplitude is still a common building pathology, which tendsto reduce the value of the real estate. Bad quality of materials (e.g.binders, aggregates and water), inadequate material proportions(e.g. poor amount of cement or high water content), inadmissibletechnical errors (e.g. high layer thickness or insufficient curingtime), bad weather conditions during application (e.g. extremedry or freezing conditions) and lack of information in the designare some causes of this type of building pathology. Usually, the re-lated repairing procedures are complex and slow and, therefore,costly. One solution to mitigate this building problem, in particularthe shrinkage cracking of renders, consists on reinforcing the ren-ders. Different and well established reinforcement solutions havealready been tested and made available in the building industry.Glass fiber net and metal net are some examples of these solutions.Meanwhile, alternative sustainable render reinforcement solutions

have been proposed by the research community. For instance, ac-rylic fiber [15], recycled plastic fiber [16] and sisal fiber [13,17]are among these possibilities. This paper intends precisely to givea contribution in this matter by proposing textile thread fiber aspossible reinforcement.

As stated above, the problematic of shrinkage cracking of ce-ment based renders deeply concerns the building industry agents.This flaw results in a disproportionate depreciative impact on abuilding. In spite of not putting the overall stability of a construc-tion at risk, it is easily noticed because it affects the façades and itmay also contribute for a progressive occurrence of other buildingpathologies such as water infiltration and premature material deg-radation. Therefore, repairing building techniques are required tosolve this problem. In general, apart from the repairing of the ren-der itself, it is also necessary to fix the finishing of the façade. Theserepairing procedures end up being complex and costly. Thus, all theefforts to avoid the occurrence of this pathology must be pursued,which include rigorous control of the materials’ quality, specializedtechnicians, detailed design, among other constrains. Additionally,building scenarios in which the likelihood of the appearance of thisdefect is higher, may require additional preventive measures suchas applying a reinforcement of the render. An example of this build-ing pathology and a traditional reinforcement based on using a me-tal net are presented in Fig. 1a and b, respectively.

3. Characterization of the thread

A 30% wool and 70% acrylic composition thread is consideredhere as the textile fiber reinforcing solution of render to face upshrinkage cracking, as well as a sustainable and an economicalalternative building solution. This thread is a textile industrywaste. For instance, this type of fiber is intended as a substituteof the metal net of the traditional reinforcement solution pre-sented in Fig. 1b. The considered thread and its microstructureare shown in Fig. 2a and b. It is possible to realize that the threadis formed by a set of microthreads, Fig. 2b. The thread has a diam-eter equal to 1 mm, approximately. Meanwhile, the average diam-eter of the microthreads is 17.75 lm, Fig. 2c.

In order to evaluate the tensile strength of the thread, 10 threadsamples were tested in terms of uniaxial tension. Each sample had10 cm length. An Instron 5848 MicroTester machine was used toperform the tensile tests. These tests were carried out with a dis-placement ratio of 10 mm/min. Fig. 3 depicts the experimental ten-sile stress–strain curves. The average tensile strength was7.44 MPa with a coefficient of variation of 6.8%. A 24.40 MPa mod-ulus of elasticity was obtained. The material shows a linear elasticbehavior up to the peak followed by a sudden rupture.

4. Reinforced render sample preparation

4.1. Mixture compositions

As it was mentioned earlier, a parametric study was conducted in order to as-sess the mechanical behavior improvement of a traditional render when textilethread fibers are incorporated. The fiber content to incorporate and the fiber lengthwere the selected parameters to be analyzed. At this stage, four fiber contents, FC,(1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) and two fiber lengths, FL, (2 cm and 4 cm) were the parametersconsidered. Therefore, five different reinforced render compositions were preparedbased on the typical volume ratio of 1:1:6 (i.e. Portland cement CEM II – 32.5 (C):NHL 5 natural hydraulic lime (L): crushed sand with a maximum aggregate sizeof 4.76 mm (S)) commonly adopted in traditional cement based renders. Each com-position was related to certain fiber content. For instance, the 1% fiber content com-position corresponds to the ratio of 0.02:1:1:6 (i.e. fiber (F):cement (C):lime(L):sand (S)). A 70% water (W)/binder (C and L) weight ratio was adopted in orderto guarantee an adequate workability of the reinforced render, in particular, forthe 4% fiber content case. It is worth to underline that the first composition is re-lated to the traditional one in which there is no fiber incorporated (i.e. 0% content).A detailed presentation of this information is displayed in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Examples of the pathology and of a reinforcement solution possibility.

500 µm

(a) The thread (b) Microstructure (c) Micro thread

100 µm

Fig. 2. The considered textile thread.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 400

2

4

6

8

10

Tens

ile s

tress

[MPa

]

Strain [%]

Specimen Average Curve

Fig. 3. Tensile stress–strain curves.

Table 1Reinforced render compositions.

Composition FC (%) FL (cm) F (g) C (g) L (g) S (g) W (g)

1 0 – 0.0 710 710 4260 9942 1 2 14.2 710 710 4260 9943 2 2 28.4 710 710 4260 9944 3 2 42.6 710 710 4260 9945 4 2 56.8 710 710 4260 9946 1 4 14.2 710 710 4260 9947 2 4 28.4 710 710 4260 9948 3 4 42.6 710 710 4260 9949 4 4 56.8 710 710 4260 994

28 J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32

4.2. Preliminary testing procedure

Before testing the proposed reinforcement solutions in terms of bending andcompression, a preliminary testing procedure was performed in order to evaluatethe practical feasibility of applying this composite material as a render. In otherwords, it was important to evaluate the practicability of the reinforcement solu-tions in an early stage of this research. In general, the technical aspects of adherenceto the support and the scattering are fundamental in the render applicability perfor-mance context. Therefore, an 11 cm thickness brick masonry model was built out-side in the north region of Portugal (Fig. 4a) and nine different render samples (e.g.Case 1: fiber content = 0%; Case 2: fiber length = 2 cm and fiber content = 1%; Case3: 2 cm and 2%; Case 4: 2 cm and 3%; Case 5: 2 cm and 4%; Case 6: 4 cm and 1%;Case 7: 4 cm and 2%; Case 8: 4 cm and 3%; Case 9: 4 cm and 4%) were applied onthe support (i.e. the brick masonry wall). These samples were approximately sized0.01 m � 0.8 m � 0.6 m (i.e. thickness �width � height), Fig. 4a. This task startedon 22nd of July of 2011. It was verified that all the tested render samples showedan adequate workability performance. However, it was also concluded that the

4% content of incorporated fiber reduces the water content of the mixture and,therefore, it slightly decreases its workability. Furthermore, the samples that had4 cm length fiber incorporated (Fig. 4b) required additional application care. Thisfact indicates, as expected, that the workability of the reinforced render tends to de-crease when the fiber length increases. On the other hand, this preliminary exper-imental procedure also made it possible to monitor the behavior of the reinforcedsolutions during six consecutive months (i.e. from 22nd of July of 2011 to 22ndof February of 2012). In this scenario, the samples were directly exposed to the nat-ural weather conditions, which included exposure to severe temperatures (e.g.40 �C in August of 2011 and �4 �C in February of 2012). During this period of time,all the samples showed an adequate material performance because there was novisible shrinkage cracking appearance, the material kept its integrity, and therewas no delamination from the masonry wall.

5. Bending and compressive behavior

5.1. Preliminary considerations

Bending and compression tests were performed in order to eval-uate the mechanical benefit resulting from the incorporation of the30% wool and 70% acrylic thread fiber. Therefore, reinforced rendersamples sized 0.04 m � 0.04 m � 0.16 m (i.e. width � height �length) were processed according to [18,19], considering the com-

I

II

III

0,8 m

0,6 m

0,04 m

(a) A render sample (February 2012) (b) 4 cm fiber Key: I – reinforced render layer; II – render base layer; III – brick masonry wall

Fig. 4. A render sample application and the 4 cm fiber thread.

0 1 2 3 40.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0 plain render 2 cm fiber 4 cm fiber

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

[MPa

]

Fiber content [%]

Fig. 5. Flexural strength (rb14) at 14 days. 2 cm fiber vs. 4 cm fiber.

0 1 2 3 40.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0 plain render 2 cm fiber 4 cm fiber

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

[MPa

]

Fiber content [%]

Fig. 6. Flexural strength (rb28) at 28 days. 2 cm fiber vs. 4 cm fiber.

J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32 29

positions presented in Table 1. The evolution of the mechanicalproperties during the curing time was also another technical aspectanalyzed. Thus, the samples were tested at the ages of 14 days and28 days. In order to achieve all these objectives, it was necessaryto prepare 108 samples. Considering the procedure prescribed in[18], the curing process of the samples occurred as follows: Step 1– during the first 2 days the samples were kept under the controlledthermohygrometric conditions of the laboratory; Step 2 – during thesubsequent 5 days the samples were put in a climatic chamber un-der a constant temperature of 65 �C; Step 3 – the samples were keptin the laboratory under t similar curing conditions as in Step 1, anduntil the testing date. In general, the density is an important physicalproperty to assess in a characterization process of a material. In thisresearch, the density was evaluated when the samples were aged2 days, 14 days and 28 days, and in order to understand how thismeasure changed during the curing time. It was verified that thedensity tends to increase slightly as fiber content increases. Thelength of the incorporated fiber does not seem to affect the densitydirectly, no pattern was noticed. The evaluated densities also allowto state that there was an adequate material uniformity among theprocessed samples.

5.2. Bending test

A Seydner Mega 10/250/15D testing rig was used in the three-point bending test. The span was 100 mm. The 108 cement based

render samples related to the cases from 1 to 9 were tested atthe ages of 14 days and 28 days. The evaluated ultimate bendingstresses, rb14 and rb28, are presented in Figs. 5 and 6 for those ages.The experimental results obtained indicate that the bendingstrength of the reinforced render tends to increase with the in-crease of the fiber content. There is no clear evidence that it isadvantageous to use fibers with higher lengths. Taking the adoptedcuring conditions into account, the main bending strength capacitywas achieved before 14 days. From that age, there was only a resid-ual strength capacity improvement with time.

In order to complement this analysis, Table 2 summarizes theprior data and presents similar values obtained in other researchworks done on the same subject but concerning sisal [17] and ac-rylic [15] fibers. Apart from the differences in terms of fiber type,fiber length (FL) and nature of cement and aggregate used, all theresults match the above conclusions.

5.3. Compressive test

Similarly, a compressive test was also performed. In this con-text, the obtained experimental results converge to the same con-clusions identified in Section 5.2. The quantified averagecompression stress (rc), for each case and for the ages of 14 days(rc14) and 28 days (rc28), is presented in Table 3.

Meanwhile, Table 4 gives additional information related to thecompressive strength obtained in other reinforced cement based

Table 2rb28 of some cement based renders reinforced with different types of fibers.

Fiber content (%) rb28 (MPa)

Sisal [17] Acrylic [15] 70% wool and 30% acrylic threadFL = 25 mm FL = 35 mm FL = 20 mm FL = 40 mm

0 1.02 1.03 1.17 1.171 1.26 1.23 1.29 1.334 2.01 – 2.10 2.36

Table 3Results of the compression test.

Case rc14 (MPa) rc28 (MPa)

1 3.96 4.372 4.21 4.583 4.71 5.144 6.20 5.905 6.93 6.786 3.76 3.807 4.99 5.168 6.64 6.269 6.98 6.82

30 J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32

render contexts (e.g. sisal and acrylic fiber types). Regarding com-pressive strength, there is a high variability in terms of thismechanical property among the considered reinforced solutions.Taking into account the differences indicated in Section 5.2 andthe data of Table 4, a compressive strength decreasing for the sisal[17] and the acrylic [15] fiber solutions when the fiber content in-creases is featured. In contrast, in the 30% wool and 70% acrylicthread fiber solution an opposite behavior seems to occur. In thiscase, the compressive strength increases according to the increaseof the fiber content. The different water absorption ability of eachconsidered fiber type may justify this mechanical behaviordiscrepancy.

6. Applicability and material compactibility

As it was mentioned in Section 4.2, in an early stage of this re-search, a preliminary experimental procedure was done to verifythe applicability of the proposed reinforced solution. In order tocomplement this analysis the fiber dispersion, the material adher-ence and the fiber failure mode were additional technical aspectstaken into consideration. Thus, the bending specimens’ fracturesurfaces were carefully analyzed in order to find evidence relatedto these aspects. In Fig. 7, those surfaces are presented for the ce-ment based render samples reinforced with 2 cm fiber and for thedistinct fiber contents. Acceptable uniform fiber dispersion seemsto be achieved. A similar conclusion was obtained for the samplesreinforced with 4 cm fiber.

The fracture surfaces made it possible to obtain evidence aboutaspects related to material adherence and fiber failure mode. Thesetwo technical aspects are fundamental in a composite material. Inthis respect, amplified pictures of the render fracture surfaces were

Table 4rc28 of some cement based renders reinforced with different types of fibers.

Fiber content (%) rc28 (MPa)

Sisal [17] Acrylic [1FL = 25 mm FL = 35 m

0 7.57 5.691 7.03 5.444 5.41 –

specifically prepared in order to focus in the bond between fiberand render. These pictures are shown in Fig. 8 and for the differentfiber contents. On the other hand, these pictures also allow figuringout the fiber failure mode in the bending tests. This fiber failuremode is characterized by the cut of the fiber followed by an unroll-ing of the microthreads (III, Fig. 8). These observations may indi-cate that the adopted thread length (2 and 4 cm) is higher thanthe critical embedment length, favoring the fiber rupture occur-rence. However this failure mode is undesirable, since it will leadto less ductile behavior of the composite.

7. Final remarks

An alternative render reinforcement technique was proposedbased on the incorporation of textile threads. This building solutionmay be interesting from a sustainable point of view, because thethread may be a textile industry waste. Taking into account theexpressive material variability of that waste, a 30% wool and a70% acrylic composition thread was selected as the fiber consideredin this research. Therefore, it was necessary to perform a materialcharacterization of the fiber. As a result, it was concluded that thistype of fiber has an approximate 1 mm diameter and it is formed bya set of microthreads rolled to each other. It has an elastic behavior,and an approximate tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of7.44 MPa and 24.40 MPa, respectively. Fiber length and fiber con-tent were two technical aspects considered relevant and thus ana-lyzed in detail. Consequently, an exhaustive parametric study wasdone in which nine different compositions of reinforced renderwere defined. Meanwhile, a preliminary experimental procedureallowed the verification of the fact that the proposed building solu-tion has adequate workability and durability. Bending and com-pressive tests also led to the conclusion that the mechanicalbehavior of the render may increase according to the increase ofthe fiber content. In contrast, this tendency does not seem to occurwhen the fiber length increases. Additionally, high fiber lengthsmay reduce the workability of the mortar. Moreover, it was noticedthat it is possible to obtain adequate uniform fiber dispersion, andthat there is an adequate bond between the fiber and the render.These two technical aspects are relevant in a composite material(e.g. reinforced render), in particular, the material compatibility.In a practical building scenario, a mixture of different types ofthreads as a waste product resulting from the textile industry is ex-pected to occur. Therefore, further research is required to be doneon this subject. Furthermore, the experimental results obtainedmay give guidelines for other possible applications of textile thread

5] 30% wool and 70% acrylic threadm FL = 20 mm FL = 40 mm

4.37 4.374.58 3.806.78 6.82

Fig. 7. Bending fracture surfaces of samples reinforced with 2 cm fiber.

(a) 1% (b) 2%

(c) 3% (d) 4%

Fig. 8. Amplified pictures of the connection between fiber and render after failure.

J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32 31

32 J. Pinto et al. / Construction and Building Materials 40 (2013) 26–32

as a reinforcement fiber for other building elements with non-structural purposes.

Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to FCT, Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011, for the given financial support. A specialthanks to Textâmega, Supercorte and Profato companies.

References

[1] Younquist J, English B, Spelter H, Chow P. Agricultural fibers in compositionpanels. In: Proceedings of the 27th international particleboard/compositematerials symposium, 1993 March 30, 31, Pullman, WA: Washington SateUniversity; 1993. p. 133-52.

[2] Paiva A, Pereira S, Sá A, Cruz D, Varum H, Pinto J. A contribution to the thermalinsulation performance characterization of corn cob particleboards. EnergyBuild 2012;45:274–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.11.019.

[3] Adesanya DA, Raheem AA. Development of corn cob ash blended cement.Const Build Mater 2009;23:347–52.

[4] Panthapulakkal S, Sain M. Agro-residue reinforced high-density polyethylenecomposites: fiber characterization and analysis of composite properties.Composites: Part A 2007;38. p. 1445–54.

[5] Pinto J, Cruz D, Paiva A, Pereira S, Tavares P, Fernandes L, et al. Corn cob as apossible raw building material. Constr Build Mater 2012;34:28–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.02.014.

[6] Pinto J, Vieira J, Pereira H, Jacinto C, Vilela P, Paiva A, et al. Corn cob lightweightconcrete for non-structural applications. Construct Build Mater2012;34:346–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.02.043.

[7] Soon-Ching N, Kaw-Sai L. Thermal conductivity of newspaper sandwichedaerated lightweight concrete panel. Energy Build 2010;42:2452–6.

[8] Lertsutthiwong P, Khunthon S, Siralertmukul K, Noomun K, Chandrkrachang S.New insulating particleboards prepared from mixture of solid wastes fromtissue paper manufacturing and corn peel. Bioresour Technol 2008;99:4841–5.

[9] Mohamed MAS, Ghorbel E, Wardeh G. Valorization of micro-cellulose fibers inself-compacting concrete. Const Build Mater 2010;24:2473–80.

[10] Marques P, Fangueiro R, Gonilho-Pereira C. Directionally oriented fibrousstructures for lightweight concrete elements reinforcement. In: Cruz et al.,editors. Structures and architecture; 2010. p. 1642–9.

[11] Paiva A, Varum H, Caldeira F, Sá A, Nascimento D, Teixeira N. Textile subwasteas a thermal insulation building material. In: Yang Dan (editors), 2011International conference on petroleum and sustainable development (ICPSD2011) – international proceedings of chemical, biological & environmentalengineering (IPCEEE), Dubai, UAE, December 2011, vol. 26. IACSIT Press,Singapore; 2011. p. 78–82. ISSN 2010-4618, ISBN 978-981-07-1054-5

[12] Savastano H, Agopyan V, Adrian U, Nolasco M, Pimentel L. Plant fibrereinforced cement components for roofing. Constr Build Mater1999;13:433–8.

[13] Silva FA, Toledo Filho RD, Melo-Filho JA, Fairbairn EMR. Physical andmechanical properties of durable sisal fiber–cement composites. ConstrBuild Mater 2010;24:777–85.

[14] Elsaid A, Dawood M, Seracino R, Bobko C. Mechanical properties of kenaf fiberreinforced concrete. Constr Build Mater 2011;25:1991–2001.

[15] Oliveira L, Alves P, Dias S. Desempenho de argamassas reforçadas com fibrasacrílicas (Performance of cement based mortar reinforced with acrylic fibers).In: Proceedings of the 2� Congresso Nacional de Argamassas de Construção.APFAC. Lisboa. Portugal; 2007 [in Portuguese].

[16] Oliveira L, Alves P, Dias S. Desempenho de argamassas de revestimento comincorporação de fibras de plásticos reciclados (Performance of cement basedrenders reinforced with recycled plastic fibers). In: Proceedings of the 3�Congresso Português de Argamassas de Construção. APFAC. Lisboa. Portugal;2010 [in Portuguese].

[17] Dias L, Paiva A, Vieira J. Reforço de rebocos com fibras de sisal (Cement basedrenders reinforced with sisal fibres). In: Proceedings of the 3� CongressoPortuguês de Argamassas de Construção. APFAC. Lisboa. Portugal; 2010 [inPortuguese].

[18] EN 1015-11 – Methods of test for mortar for masonry. Part 1: Determination offlexural and compressive strength of hardened mortar; 1999.

[19] EN 988-1 – Specifications for mortar for masonry. Part 1: Rendering andplastering mortar; April 2003.