Samenvatting

For this research the main objective is to understand the effect fire would have on biocrete, as well as optimizing the amount of Miscanthus fibres into the mixture to make biocrete that is still strong enough for internal walls, as well as sub-research objectives that will be researched and accomplished through the multiple tests that will be run. These objectives helped compile and answer the main research question that is going to be researched and tested.
Main Research Question:
What impact does fire have on biocrete when considering the percentage of Miscanthus fibres within the mixture?
Sub-questions:
How much cement is attached during pre-treatment?
Is plasticizer needed?
Can the workability of the mixture be kept at its optimum state?
Does the biocrete keep its strength to be used structurally?
What fire test would best test the mixtures?
How does the fire effect the test cubes physically appearance?
Does fire have an effect on the strength of the concrete?
How does biocrete differ from conventional concrete when it comes to heat transfer during a fire?
Conclusion:
To conclude through out all experiments the outcomes were better than expected and that can also be seen in the tables and graphs for each of the tests as well as in the muti criteria analysis (MCA). From the MCA it was determined that mixture B3p, which had the most percentage of natural fibres present with in the mixture (20%). Although it is not the wanted percentage of fibres (27%), the results have shown that there is still the possibility for more fibres to be added. The results conclude that biocrete with long Miscanthus fibres is a viable and valid option for inner walls of a construction, because of its availability as a material and the fact that using elephant grass in the concrete mixture increases the total volume gained. It also decreases the weight making it easer to move once hardened for precast units and the fact that the concrete with fibres becomes carbon neutral which will help decrease pollutions entering the atmosphere. Miscanthus fibres are a viable replacement for the conventional aggregates that are becoming increasingly harder to find and more expensive.