EFFECT OF SHEEP WOOL FIBER ON FRESH

AND HARDENED PROPERTIES OF FIBER

REINFORCED CONCRETE
ABSTRACT
Fiber reinforced cementitious composites are gaining attention in construction
industry because of the high strength, ductility and energy absorption capacity.
Concrete production is still under consideration to improve the sustainability and
environmentally safety. Therefore, natural fiber reinforced concrete is the good
alternative. Although sheep wools are producing a huge amount of waste, which can be
utilized as building material in concrete if properly recycled. The addition of sheep wool
in concrete mix was not very new, it has been used for insulation purposes. In this
research the mechanical properties of sheep wool fiber reinforced concrete (SWFRC)
were investigated. Total sixty cylindrical specimens and prisms were tested in this
experiment to assess the fresh and hardened properties of SWFRC. The aim study was
fulfilled by the results obtained from the split tensile test and flexural test. The weak
tensile strength of concrete was enhanced by the addition of high tensile sheep wool and
the cracks bridging effect of smooth and elastic fibers were worked to enhance the
ductility and flexural capacity of concrete. Meanwhile, the compressive strength
reduction due to addition of sheep wool in concrete can be minimized by proper
treatment, which must need to investigate correspondingly.
Keywords: Sheep Wool Fiber; Concrete; Workability; Compressive Strength; Flexural
and Splitting Tensile Strength;
1. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the most widely used construction material, which is weak in tension and flexural
capacity. In modern construction industry, concrete are being manufactured and used with very
high compressive strength. But the brittleness of concrete increases with increase in
compressive strength of it [1]. To enhance the ductility, energy absorption capacity and strain
control capacity different types of fibers are being used in concrete. Yet, fiber reinforced
concrete (FRC) is one of the sustainable concretes comprised fibrous materials that used to
enhance its structural integrity and serviceability performance. Fibers with end anchorage and
high aspect ratio were found to have improved effectiveness on the properties and applications
of FRC as reported by different researchers [2]. There are many types of fibers can be used in
cementitious matrix to improve the tensile strength, ductility, impact resistance, toughness,
control drying shrinkage and cracking resistance of it; such as steel fibers, glass fibers; synthetic
carbon, basalt fibers, aramid, polyester, polypropylene, polypropylene, nylon fibers; natural
fibers as like bamboo, hemp, banana, human hair, animal wool fiber [1–5]. Today the main
purpose of construction industries are to make concrete economically sustainable and
ecofriendly with certain amount of desired strength. The challenge of reducing the
environmental impact and energy consumptions by the concrete structures from the
construction to demolition are now the point of attention by researchers; therefore new materials
and technologies are being proposed by researchers [6, 7]. Production of artificial fibers causes
a huge carbon emission and cause hazard to environment
[8]. Additionally the CO2 emission and energy consumptions by concrete can reduce when
strength and toughness of it increase [2]. Therefore, the natural fibers from different waste
sources are being recycled now-a-days in an eco-friendly way and gaining attention of the
research community. Natural fibers can be classified as lignocellulosic, mineral and protein
fibers; where the uses of protein fibers such as hair or wool derived from animal are very limited
as reinforcement in cement-based matrix [9–11]. In average, sheep generally produces 2.3-3.6
kg of raw wool annually, which needed to trim off for their health care [12, 13]. This waste
needed special sterilization treatment before disposed openly. Meanwhile, it is a good way to
recycle the sheep wool fibers (SWF) as engineering materials, because after some treatment it
provide significant mechanical properties as other generally practiced fibers. Wools are
possessing high elastic modulus as reported around 1-4 GPa, which is comparable to any plastic
fibers generally used in cementitious mixture [2]. Generally sheep wool contains around 80%
keratinous proteins, in which the content of sulfur is around 3%. The presence of high sulfur
resulting high strength of the SWF because of high di-sulfide bond strength [14]. As reported
in the study of Cardinale et al. [12], the uses of SWF in cement mortar panel significantly
increases the thermal insulation. Authors used 2%, 5% and 7% SWF in that panel and suggested
2% SWF content of dry raw materials as optimum content in terms of workability, mechanical
property and thermal insulation. The report also reveals that mortar containing high SWF
content requires more water to bring workability, therefore the reduction in mechanical strength
takes place. Fiore et al. [9] conducted research on the performance of cement mortar with
varying SWF length and pretreatment process. The authors reported that the SWF having length
1 mm and less just act as filler in mortar; and the SWF with 6 mm length reinforcing the mortar
and causes an improved compressive strength. The SWF having high length causes
agglomeration in mortar and having poor adhesion with
 Effect of Sheep Wool Fiber on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
cement paste the mortar strength greatly reduced. Additionally proper pretreatment improved
the fiber characteristics and helpful to improve the mortar strength. As observed from the study
of Fantilli et al. [2], the replacement of 1% cement by wool fiber resulted an 18% and 23%
increase in flexural capacity of mortar when the fibers were non-treated and treated with
atmospheric plasma respectively. In both cases the authors reported a 300% increased fracture
toughness of mortar. Therefore addition of SWF in cementitious mixture can improve its
ductility. Another advantage of SWF is being flexible in nature it fills the void spaces between
particles within concrete, where the stiff fibers create voids by pushing particles away to take
space for itself [3]. After investigation on concrete road made by human hair reinforced
concrete it was reported [15, 23] that the total 3% cost saving can be possible per lane per km
of concrete road when 0.8% human hair was used in that concrete. The report also reveals
around 12% increased compressive strength of that human hair reinforced concrete. Providing
the advantages of SWF in concrete technology as a FRC would generate value to the product,
with effective cost and socio-economic impacts to the local communities where sheep wool is
produced. In this study, it is aimed to use sheep’s wool as a fiber reinforcing material in concrete
to investigate the influence of SWF on the fresh and hardened properties of FRC. Expecting
that the addition of SWF in concrete will make a contribution to the performance of concrete
by crack bridging; and to environment by reducing a huge amount of waste. The effect of
different fibers on the properties of self-compacting concrete, results reported that the Fibers
have a negative effect on fresh properties of the FR-SCC mix. The reduction varies with the
increasing of the fiber content and with the type. Basalt fiber decreased significantly the fresh
properties of developed concrete, basalt fiber can absorb some water of mixing, and hence
decreased the capability of concrete mix to flow more [24]. A recent study presented on the use
of different CRMs and steel fibers on SCC, the finding was found to substantially enhance the
splitting tensile strength for all the SFR-SCC samples, and provides higher compressive
strength of up to 19% at 28 days, furthermore, reported higher flexural strength by up to 13%
around the 28 days improve durability of SFR‒SCC [25].

2. METHODOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL WORKS

2.1. Material selection and specimen preparation
The concrete specimens were prepared using ordinary Portland cement, natural sand and
crushed stone chips. The ratio of the content were kept constatnt for all member which was 1:
2.1: 3.85 respectively with the water-cement ratio 0.5. Cement used in this study fulfils the
requirements as per ASTM C150 [16]. However, the fine aggregates having fineness modulus,
bulk density, water absorption, and specific gravity with values as of 3.35, 1531 kg/m3, 1.12%
and 2.60 respectively. Crushed stone of maximum size 20 mm was used in specimen
preparation with the bulk density, water absortion and specific garvity as of 1367 kg/m3, 2.41%
and 2.53 respectively. Normal tap water used to prepare all specimens.
The properties of SWF used in this study are as presented in Table 1. Sheep wool fiber
reinforced concrete (SWFRC) specimens were prepared with addition of 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%,
2%, 3%, 4% and 6% SWF by weight of cement in the mix of concrete. The specimen ID with
different SWF content is shown in Table 2.
2.1. Experimental tests
Workability of the concrete mixture examined in accordance with the standard of ASTM C 143
[17] to find the slump value of all concrete mixes. Cylindrical specimens of 150 mm diameter
and 300 mm height were prepared for compressive strength test and the test was performed
after curing the specimens for 7, 14 and 28 days following the standards of ASTM C 39 [18].
Meanwhile, flexural strength test of prism beam specimens of 150 mm × 150 mm
× 700 mm was performed for all types of concrete in accordance with ASTM C78 [19]. In order
to measure the split tensile strength, test was conducted on cylindrical specimens of 150 mm
diameter and 300 mm height following ASTM C 496 [20].
Effect of Sheep Wool Fiber on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Workability
The slump value observed after testing all the specimens are represented in Fig. 3. The slump
value of the SWFRC concrete were too small compred to the normal concrete. Addition of SWF
causes a huge demand of water for making the concrete mixture workable. It was generally
happened due to the high specific surface area and fineness of SWF, it absorbed more amonut
of water to come in a flow with the normal concrete paste. Therefore, the workability of concrete
decreased. Worakbility in SWFRC decrases with the increasing amonut of SWF in the mix. As
observed from the study and the Fig. 3, the addition of SWF beyond 2% was made concrete
not-workable. This negative phenomenon can be minimized by the addition of superplasticizer
of required amount.

35
30
25
Slump value, mm

20
15
10
5
0
N F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Speciemn ID

Figure 3 Slump value of different concrete specimens

3.2. Mechanical performance

3.2.1. Compressive strength
The result observed form compressive strength test is represent in Fig. 4. It was found 30.77
MPa compressive strength in the control concrete after 28 days curing. The results showed a
significant drop in compressive strength after addition of SWF in concrete; which is in
agreement with most of the researches conducted on SWF reinforced cementitious composites
[9, 10, 14]. Regardless the fiber content and other factors, the larger reduction in compressive
strength of SWFRC was observed for long curing period. It indicated that the strength gaining
capability of SWFRC with curing time is less than the ordinary concrete. Though for SWF
content more than 3% caused an opposite trend of reduction with curing time. Around 5.2%-
79.7% compressive strength reduction observed after 7 days curing of SWFRC with SWF
content 0.5%-6%. In addition the reduction found for 14 days and 28 days curing time were
14.95-77.3% and 22.0%-67.1% respectively for the SWF content 0.5%-6%. As observed in the
slump test results, the addition of SWF caused a significant reduction in slump value, which
found nearly unworkable when the SWF content around 4%. The available water content was
not sufficient to complete the full strength gaining reactions of cement during mixture and after
casting also. Therefore, the strength dropped unexpectedly. Another important cause behind
this phenomenon is the fiber adhesion and fiber length. The adhesion between SWF and cement
paste is very low; a several defects and voids were observed in the
SWFRC, which is generally increased with increase in content and size of SWF [9]. Meanwhile
another research [14] reported that the adhesion between the cement paste and SWF is sufficient
to add in mortar for construction purpose. However, SWF produced balling and agglomeration
when added in concrete beyond the optimum level of content and size of it. That causes a large
defect within interfacial zone of concrete matrix and consequently the strength drooped swiftly.
Considering the compressive strength test results the optimum value of SWF addition is 2% in
this case. Because after that further addition of SWF causing an undesirable strength dropping
which cannot be adoptable in construction.
35
7 Days 14 Days 28 Days
Compressive strength, MPa

30

25

20

15

10

0
N F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Speciemn ID

Figure 4 Compressive strength of sheep wool FRC

3.2.2. Splitting tensile strength
Generally, split tensile strength is greatly depending on compressive strength of concrete. In
this experiment addition of SWF caused a great variation in the trend of changes in compressive
strength and split tensile strength. A wide varieties of result obtained after slit tensile test. The
result is shown in Fig. 5. As observed initially the addition of SWF in concrete causes a
decreasing trend in tensile strength of concrete; the cause of reduction is the poor adhesion and
low bond strength between the fibers and cement paste. But beyond 1% when more fibers were
added to the concrete it becomes stronger in tension. It because the SWF started to concentrate
together and can take larger tensile load when concrete tends to split under compression. As
observed in this experiment, addition of 0.5% SWF was resulted a 12.7% reduced tensile
strength of SWFRC after 28 days cutting; where the reduction values showed a decreasing trend
with further addition of SWF, up to 9.2% reduction for 1.5% SWF content. Further the addition
of SWF was resulting an increased tensile strength; which was observed 4.4%-32.7% growth
of strength than the ordinary concrete (N0%) for addition of 2%-3% SWF. This increasing trend
echoes current researches outcomes on concrete with SWF [21]. This trend were also similar
for the 7 days and 14 days curing period as shown in Fig. 5; though the early tensile strength
development of SWFRC is observed much lower than the ordinary concrete. Beyond the
optimum level of addition of SWF, the agglomeration of fibers makes the loss in bonding
strength significantly and causes a loss in strength. In accordance with the tensile test results
the addition of SWF in concrete should between 2%-3% of cement content.
 Effect of Sheep Wool Fiber on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete

3.5
7 Days 14 Days 28 Days
3
Split tensile strength, MPa

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
N F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Speciemn ID

Figure 5 Split tensile strength of sheep wool FRC

3.2.3. Flexural strength
Flexural strength of different concrete specimens are shown in Fig. 6. The results showing that,
the flexural strength of concrete generally getting improve with addition of SWF in it, as well
the other fibers does [2, 8, 22]. Up to 20.8% increased flexural strength was observed for the
specimens with SWF content up to 2%. This increasing trend of flexural strength is prominent
for early stage of curing. When the amount of SWF in concrete exceed 2% the decreasing trend
in strength was started. As observed in the flexural test, the crack bridging capacity of fibers
are very helpful to enhance the deflection capacity without fracture, which means the
improvement in ductility occurs with addition of fibers. The increased content of fiber are also
capable to carry more tensile force along the soffit of the flexural test specimens and bridges
the cracks up to a reliable limit of load. This enhances the flexural strength with increasing
content of SWF in concrete. But when the SWF content exceed 3% in concrete, the reverse
results observed. A 6.3% and 35.4% strength reduction observed in the specimen with 4% and
6% SWF content respectively. Although the specimen with 0.5% showing a little drop in
ultimate load; this was happened because of poor no-uniform distribution of fibers within
concrete, which made concrete weak along any specific plane and capacity get reduced. Overall,
the flexural capacity of concrete increases with SWF content in it, the SWF addition level
should maintain below 3% to get the best result.
7
7 Days 14 Days 28 Days
6
Flexural strength, MPa

0
N F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Speciemn ID

Figure 6 Flexural strength of sheep wool FRC

3.3. Discussion on Failure characteristics
After observing the failure mode of the specimens under bending test, it was clearly concluded
that the brittle state of normal concrete under concentrated load can be transfer into ductile
failure mode by addition SWF in the concrete mix. The more amount of SWF causes more
ductility in specimens, because the SWF has crack bridging effect and high tensile strength,
which can transfer the concrete stress into a long path. Therefore, ultimately the beam
specimens can deflect more without cracking significantly. Again, the crack bridging effect of
SWF caused a great reduction in the width of cracks, which also helps to easy transmission of
tensile stresses along the axis of specimens up to a certain limit. Therefore, addition of SWF is
improving the ductility of concrete.

4. DISCUSSION TO IMPROVE THE HARDENED PROPERTIES

Concrete generally characterized by the compressive strength after 28 days curing. In this
experiment it was reveals that the addition of SWF in concrete worsen the compressive strength
of concrete, though it improved the split tensile and flexural capacity to some extent. Therefore,
the reason behind this reduction must be need to analyze and proper treatment should address
to enhance the performance of SWFRC concrete under compression. As observed form the
previous researches [2], any pretreatment can improve the characteristic of SWF extensively;
which can be helpful to enhance the mechanical performances. However, in this experiment the
addition of SWF causes a reduction in cement content per cubic meter of concrete mixture,
because no ingredient was replaced by the SWF. Therefore, the additional SWF takes some
spaces that occupied by the other content of the mixture. If a portion of fine sand can be replaced
by the SWF, it will not affect upon the content of cement. Therefore, binding action will remain
same as the ordinary concrete, that will reduce the amount of strength reduction caused by
addition of SWF and expecting some increment will also take place. Additionally some
admixtures can be used to improve workability of SWFRC instead of high water-cement ration,
because it causes reduction in strength [12, 21].

5. CONCLUSION
The presents study was carried out to investigate the performance of sheep wool fiber reinforced
concrete. After conducting the research and investigating the previous researches some
conclusion can be drawn as follows:
 Effect of Sheep Wool Fiber on Fresh and Hardened Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete

 Workability of concrete decreases with the content of sheep wool fibers in it. The reduction take
places due to high specific surface area of fibers and which consume a huge percent of water.
To enhance the workability authors recommend to use admixtures.

 Mechanical performance of the sheep wool fiber reinforced concrete is like most of the natural
fiber reinforced concrete as observed from literature reviews; therefore if the reduction in
compressive strength can be minimize to an optimum level, the uses of sheep wool in concrete
will be beneficial.

 Though a reduced compressive strength observed in concrete with sheep wool, the tensile
strength and flexural capacity increased to some extent by addition of sheep wool in concrete.
The optimum level of addition of sheep wool fiber in concrete can be declared as 2-3% of
cement content based on this experimental results. In this experiment, up to 32.7% split tensile
strength and 20.8% flexural strength enhancement was observed by the addition of SWF in
concrete.
The sheep wool is not a waste, it can be used as construction materials, because it contains
the similar properties of traditionally used natural fibers. Sheep wool can improve the thermal
insulation, and it can be used in mortar for plaster purpose also. Meanwhile, a small measure
can improve the performance of sheep wool fiber reinforced concrete greatly. Researches on
the SWF treatment and guidelines for uses in concrete is needed to enhance the effectiveness
of it as a construction material.

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