Manufacturing gypsum composite with short fiber of bagasse (sugarcane wastes)

Gypsum is one of the most inexpensive and widely used building materials. It is almost could be found in all buildings, in different shapes and forms. Despite having unique properties, low tensile and bending strength are the main weakness of the gypsum. This has limited the use of gypsum to the interior facades. Fibers, especially those obtained from agriculture wastes, are widely used for increasing gypsum strength. Long fibers have better performance on increasing the gypsum strength which is almost uncommon in short fibers. Unfortunately, providing long fibers from wastes is always harder and has more limitations than short fibers. In this research, short fiber gypsum composite with different lengths and weights percent were made. Then bending tests were performed for investigating the composites strength. The results show that in composites with shorter fibers and/or lower fiber percentage, the strength not only did not increase but rather decreased. It is noteworthy that regardless of fiber length, a composite with higher strength than pure gypsum is achievable. This would happen in composite with short fibers in higher fiber concentrations. In fact, fiber length and concentration both have the same impact on composite strength. Both can greatly reinforce each other and can make up for each other's shortcomings.