PROJECT

On
USE 0F LOW COST POLYPROPYLENE IN ORDER TO
STRENGTHEN AND MINIMIZE THE CHANCES OF
DEVELOPING FINE CRACKS IN THIN MORTAR
STRUCTURE

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE
OF
BACHELOR IN TECHNOLOGY
IN
CIVIL ENGINEERING
BY
Ayan Mukherjee
REGISTRATION NO: 161420110259 OF YEAR 2016 - 2020
ROLL NO: 14201316128

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Aveek Roy

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
NAZIRABAD, KOLKATA-700150
 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NAZIRABAD, KOLKATA-700150

FORWORD

I hereby forward this Project Paper entitled “Use of low cost Polypropylene
(PP) in order to strengthen and minimize the chances of developing fine
cracks in thin mortar structure”, presented by Ayan Mukherjee
under my guidance and supervision in partial fulfilment of the requirement for
the award of the degree of “Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering” at
Civil Engineering Department of MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY, Nazirabad, Kolkata - 700150.

---------------------------------------------------
(AVEEK ROY)
Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering Department
MSIT, Nazirabad, Kolkata - 700150

Counter Signed by:

---------------------------------------------------
(Prof. Sheak Hasim)
Prof. & Head of the Department
Department of Civil Engineering
MSIT, Nazirabad, Kolkata – 700150

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 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
NAZIRABAD, KOLKATA-700150

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my profound gratitude and respect to my project guide,

AVEEK ROY, of Civil Engineering Department, Meghnad Saha Institute of
Technology, Nazirabad, Kolkata for his experienced and resourceful guidance,
suggestions, immense help and valuable advice without which it was not
possible to complete this Project.
I would also beg to take this opportunity to express my grateful thanks to all the
Faculty members of the Civil Engineering Department including Prof. Sheak
Hasim along with my beloved friends, who directly & indirectly helped me in
preparing this Project.
Lastly I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to my Father, Mother for their
continuous inspiration and constant encouragement.

-----------------------------
Date :
Name of student
Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology Registration No:161420110259
Nazirabad, Kolkata – 700150 Roll No.: 14201316128

ii
 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
MEGHNAD SAHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
NAZIRABAD, KOLKATA-700150

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This PROJECT is hereby approved as a creditable presentation on a

Study of Engineering subject titled : “Use of low cost Polypropylene
(PP) in order to strengthen and minimize the chances of
developing fine cracks in thin mortar structure”, carried out and
presented satisfactorily to warrant its acceptance as a pre-requisite to
the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering of this
College.
It is understood that, by this approval, the undersigned do not
necessarily endorse or approved any statement expressed and
conclusion drawn there in but approve the Project only for the
purpose for which it is submitted.

Board of Examiners:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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 ABSTRACT

We investigate engineering applications of recycled nylon fibres

obtained from waste fishing nets, focusing our attention on the use of
recycled nylon fibres as tensile reinforcement of cementitious mortars.
We begin by characterizing the tensile behaviour of both
unconditioned and alkali-cured recycled nylon fibres obtained through
manual cutting of waste fishing net filaments, with the aim of assessing
the resistance of such materials to chemical attacks. Special attention is
also given to evaluating the workability of fresh mortar and the possible
impacts of contaminants released by waste fishing nets into the
environment. Next, we deal with compression and bending tests on
cementitious mortars reinforced with recycled nylon fibres, and
establish comparisons with the experimental behaviour of the
unreinforced material and with results given in existing literature. In
our analysis of different weight fractions and aspect ratios of the
reinforcing fibres, we observe marked increases in the tensile strength
and toughness of the nylon reinforced mortar, as compared with the
unreinforced material. The presented results emphasize the high
environmental and mechanical potential of recycled nylon fibres for the
reinforcement of sustainable cement mortars.

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 CONTENTS
PAGES

FOROWARD ……………………………………………………………………. I

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………ii

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVA……………………………………. Iii

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………iv

CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………………v – vii

Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION …………………………………… 1

Chapter 2 : HISTORY AND RESEARCHES ………………… 2

Chapter 3 : OBJECTIVE OF THE PRESENT STUDY ………… 3

Chapter 4 : MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY ………… 4 - 8

4.1 : MATERIAL PROPERTIES …………………………… 4

4.1.1 :EXPERIENTAL METHODOLOGY……………… 6

4.1.2 :CURING OF MORTAR……………………………..… 7

4.1.3 : TESTING OF PLASTERING MORTAR………………. 8

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Chapter 5: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS…………. 9

5.1. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH ANALYSIS…………. ... .... 9 -10

Chapter 6: CONCLUSION ……………………….......... … .. .. 11

6.1 ADVANTAGES OF FIBER’S MIXD MORTAR ………… 12

6.2 FACTORS AFFECTINGS PROPERTISE OF LYLON

REINFORCEDMORTAR ….…. …. …. …. … … …. … … … 13- 14

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………. 15

vi
 Chapter - i

INTRODUCTION

It is well known that the presence of short randomly dispersed fibres in a

cementitious matrix can result in an appreciable improvement in the
mechanical behaviour of the produced composite. This improvement is clearly
manifested by the significant superiority of the composite’s toughness in
comparison with that of the plain matrix. The increase in toughness, due to the
incorporation of fibres, can be attributed, largely, to the fibber bridging
mechanism, whereby the fibres take an active part in supporting tensile
loading, in controlling matrix micro cracking and in reducing the rate of crack
propagation. The fibber reinforced concrete will, therefore, exhibit a pseudo
ductile behaviour, maintaining considerable load carrying capacity after
cracking of the matrix.

Different types of fibres, both metallic and non-metallic, have been used as
reinforced elements in cementitious matrices. More specifically, a number of
investigations were conducted using randomly dispersed short steel fibres,
polymeric fibres and hybrid combinations of both. One could verify that the
presence of fibres in, for example, high strength concrete resulted in
enhancing both its flexural strength and toughness. This was attributed to
energy absorbing mechanism and to delay in micro crack formation.

Environmental awareness and an increasing concern with greenhouse effect

have stimulated several industries to look for sustainable substitutes that can
replace conventional synthetic fibres. In this respect, natural fibres seem to be
a good alternative to steel and polymeric fibres since they are readily available
in fibrous form and can be easily extracted from their proper plants at very low
cost. Further, their adoption as reinforcing elements is also associated with
overall reduction in CO2 emissions as well as reduced amounts of energy
needs.

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 Chapter -ii

HISTORY AND RESEARCHES

o The use of fibers goes back at least 4000 years when straw used to
reinforced sun baked brick in Mesopotamia.


o Horsehair was used in mortar and straw in mud bricks

o Asbestos fibers were used in concrete in early 1900

o In 1950 the concept of composite material come into pictures

o Steel, glass, synthetic fibres has been used to improve the

properties of mortar for passed 30-40 years

o Research into new fibre reinforced mortar continues everyday

o By the 1960s, steel, glass (GFRC), and synthetic (such as
polypropylene) fibers were used in concrete

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 Chapter – III

OBJECTIVE OF THE PRESENT STUDY

More recently there has been a great attention towards converting

waste materials by- products into useful materials as aggregate in
concrete industry.It is thus aimed in this study to investigate the
possibility of using polypropylene as suitable materials and
alternative to the natural aggregate in the production of lightweight
mortar.
The essential objective of this work is to study the mechanical
properties of lightweight mortar containing different percentages of
polypropylene fiber . The effective polypropylene fiber of this
admixture on the properties of mortars is also investigated.
Compressive strength tests were conducted on reference and
polypropylene fiber reinforced mortar specimens at age of curing
7days.

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 CHAPTER –
IV

MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

MATERIAL PROPERTIES
MATERIAL USED

• Cement

• Fine aggregate

• Nylon fiber

• Water

• Cement
Locally available Ordinary portland cement (OPC) of 53grade has
been used physical properties are mentioned table in below.

• Fine Aggregate
Sand was collected from nearby river is used as affine aggregate is
passed through the sieve of 4.75mm. IS 383 (1970) is followed for fine
aggregate. The various properties of sand are tabulated in table.

•Nylon Fiber
Nylon is generic name that identifies a family of polymers. Nylon fibers
are imparted by the base polymer type, addition of different levels of
additive, manufacturing condition and fiber dimensions. currently only
 4

two types of nylon fiber are marketed for concrete . Nylon is heat
stable, hydrophilic, relatively inert and resistance to a wide variety of
materials. Nylon is particularly effective imparting impact resistance
and flexural toughness and sustaining and increasing the load
carrying capacity of concrete following first crack.

FIGURE 1. NYLON FIBER

Nylon is generic name that identifies a family of polymers. Nylon fibers

are imparted by the base polymer type, addition of different levels of
additive, manufacturing condition and fiber dimensions. currently only
two types of nylon fiber are marketed for concrete . Nylon is heat
stable, hydrophilic, relatively inert and resistance to a wide variety of
materials. Nylon is particularly effective imparting impact resistance
and flexural toughness and sustaining and increasing the load
carrying capacity of concrete following first crack.

•WATER
Water cement ratio (w/c) of 0.48 was used in the preparing of concrete
and for this purpose portable water used for mixing and curing
purpose.
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EXPERIENTAL METHODOLOGY
The concrete mix design was done in accordance IS: 10262 (1982). In
this project are used the mix ratio is 1:3. By using this proportion
value the volume of cement , and fine aggregate are calculated. The
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC 53 GRADE), Natural sand was used as
fine aggregate. For this study cubes (70.6mm X 70.6mm) were casted
by Nylon fiber (1%,3%,5%) .Then further tested are conducted such
as workability then it will be casted.

FIGURE 2. MIXING
DESCRIPTION WEIGHT
Cement : sand 1:3

Wt. Of cement 200gm

Wt. Of sand (36/4)+ 3 of (800)

= 96gm

Amount of water

1 % lylon of cement 2gm

3% lylon of cement
6gm

5% lylon of cement 10gm

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CURING OF MORTAR

Curing is the maintaining of an adequate moisture content and

temperature in mortar at early ages so that it can develop properties the
mixture was designed to achieve. Curing begins immediately after
placement and finishing so that the mortar may develop the desired
strength and durability. Casting of concrete after the completion of 24
hours mould will be removed then cured by using portable water. The
specimen is fully immersed in portable water for specific age 7,14, 28,
days. After the completion of curing it will be tested. We already got the
value of 7 days.

FIGURE 3.CURING OF MORTAR

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TESTING OF PLASTERING MORTAR

Compressive strength test.

Compressive strength is the maximum compressive stress that, under a

gradually applied load, a given solid material can sustain without
fracture. Compressive strength is calculated by dividing the maximum
load by the original cross-sectional area of a specimen in a compression
test. Some materials fracture at their compressive strength limit; others
deform irreversibly. Compressive strength is a key value for designing
structures. The compressive strength of concrete is the most common
performance measurement used by engineers when designing buildings
and other structures.
Compressive strength test, mechanical test measuring the maximum
amount of compressive load a material can bear before fracturing.
The test piece, usually in the form of a cube, prism, or cylinder, is
compressed between the platens of a compression-testing machine by a
gradually applied load.

FIGURE 4 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST

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 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

The compressive strength is determined by dividing the maximum of

failure load of the specimen during the test by the cross sectional area of
the specimen. The normal concrete and the percentage of replacements
in special concrete are crushed at different days (7days) are show in table
& graph details.
Compressive strength = P/A (N/mm²)

Table Compressive strength test

SL NO MIX AVG STRENGTH

COMPRESSIVE
7 DAYS (N/MM2)

1 0% 44.84

2 2% 48.54

3 6% 63.63

4 10% 81.58

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 Fig 5. Picture of mortar cube

Fig 6. Picture of tested mortar cube

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CONCLUSION

The results showed a positive effect on the compressive strength of

cement based mortar by utilizing 2% nylon fiber. By using higher
quantity of nylon fiber, the compressive and tensile strength of cement
based mortar decreases. Adding more water and percentage of nylon
fiber in cement based mortar creates the development of higher
porosity between mortars thus causing cement based mortar
compressive strength to decrease. Utilizing nylon fiber in cement based
mortar can increase the load capacity, especially at the stage after the
failure occurred and also increase the plasticity of the mortar hence
delaying the process of cracking and improved on the flexural strength
of mortar. Overall, the addition of 2% of nylon fiber in the mortar mix
able to enhance the compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural
strength. Furthermore, the use of nylon fiber in the
mortar can create a sustainable cement mortar and provide a good
change to the environment by reusing the waste material thereby
reducing pollution.

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 

ADVANTAGES OF FIBRES MIX MORTAR


o Fibres reduced shrinkage cracks

o Rebound loss of the mortar has been reduced to 10%instead of
30% to 40% without fibres in the mortar

o No Dampness and leakage of plastered walls

o Better finish of wall surface

o Increased durability due to increased strength of mortar and thus
longer life of constructions.
o Savings due to economic mix designs and more durable plastered
surface.

o Compressive strength of plaster was increased by over 15%-20%.

o Increase in labour productivity by over 5%.

o Use of Synthetic Fibers in all construction applications should be
encouraged by the construction industry.
o Different types of fibers should be developed to address each
specific need of construction applications.
o Construction industry should encourage new technologies like
fibers reinforcement in construction to a larger extent for
improving the durability and serviceability of the building and
structures.

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FACTORS AFFECTING PROPERTIES OF NYLON
REINFORCED MORTAR

o Relative Fiber Matrix Stiffness

The modulus of elasticity of matrix must be much lower than that of
fiber for efficient stress transfer. Low modulus of fiber such as nylons
and polypropylene are, therefore, unlikely to give strength
improvement, but the help in the absorption of large energy and
therefore, impart greater degree of toughness and resistance to
impart. High modulus fibers such as steel, glass and carbon impart
strength and stiffness to the composite.

o Volume of Fibers
The strength of the composite largely depends on the quantity of
fibers used in it. Fig 1 and 2 show the effect of volume on the
toughness and strength. It can see from Fig 1 that the increase in the
volume of fibers, increase approximately linearly, the tensile strength
and toughness of the composite. Use of higher percentage of fiber is
likely to cause segregation and harshness of concrete and mortar.

o Aspect Ratio of the Fiber

Another important factor which influences the properties and
behaviour of the composite is the aspect ratio of the fiber. It has
been reported that up to aspect ratio of 75, increase on the aspect
ratio increases the ultimate concrete linearly. Beyond 75, relative
strength and toughness is reduced. Table-1 shows the effect of
aspect ratio on strength and toughness.

o Orientation of Fibers
One of the differences between conventional reinforcement and
fiber reinforcement is that in conventional reinforcement, bars are
oriented in the direction desired while fibers are randomly oriented.
To see the effect of randomness, mortar specimens reinforced with

13
0.5% volume of fibers were tested. In one set specimens, fibers were
aligned in the direction of the load, in another in the direction
perpendicular to that of the load, and in the third randomly
distributed.

o Workability and Compaction of Concrete

Incorporation of steel fiber decreases the workability considerably.
This situation adversely affects the consolidation of fresh mix. Even
prolonged external vibration fails to compact the concrete. The fiber
volume at which this situation is reached depends on the length and
diameter of the fiber.

o Mixing
Mixing of fiber reinforced concrete needs careful conditions to avoid
balling of fibers, segregation and in general the difficulty of mixing
the materials uniformly. Increase in the aspect ratio, volume
percentage and size and quantity of coarse aggregate intensify the
difficulties and balling tendency. Steel fiber content in excess of 2%
by volume and aspect ratio of more than 100 are difficult to mix.

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REFERENCES

o Concrete Technology by M.S. Shetty

o Fiber reinforced plastic reinforcement for concrete

structure – edited by ANTONIO NANNI

o www.Google.co.in

o International Research Journal of Engineering and

Technology (IRJET)

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