Investigative Study of Chicken Feather and Synthetic Hair Fibre on Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Interlocking Concrete Block

Efforts have been made to improve the quality and performance of concrete structures especially its permeability and durability properties. Concrete is a heterogeneous material containing several components (sand, aggregate, cement, etc.) which vary in size and geometry, and their positions in the concrete enclosure are randomly distributed, giving them defects even before experiencing any form of mechanical loading. In this study, the compositions of Chicken Feather Fibre (CFF) and Synthetic Hair Fibre (SHF) by weight were varied by 0%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5% and 5% for Samples A to E respectively. Physical and Mechanical properties such as water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS), compressive and split tensile strength were determined. Results showed that WA and TS property of the fibre reinforced concrete block decreased with decrease in percentage by weight of CFF and SHF and curing days with highest value being 10.01 to a lowest value of 0.14. Also, compressive strength (CS) for sample A increased with increase in curing days from 16.98MPa at 7 days to 20.66MPa at 28 days and sample B has its highest CS at 14 days with 9.98 MPa while other samples decreased progressively. Split Tensile Strength (STS) for sample A increases with increase in curing days from 9.84MPa to 13.64MPa while sample B decreases from 7 to 21 days of curing from 5.43MPa to 4.79MPa and increased at 28 days to 4.92MPa. Samples C, D and E follow same trend as sample B. The SEM study shows that the interlocking concrete block (ICB) containing 0% of chicken feather and synthetic hair fibre has brittle characteristics while other samples containing different percentage by weight of chicken feather and synthetic hair fibre shows ductile characteristics. CFF and SHF enhanced WA, TS, CS and STS of fibre reinforced concrete.