Plant fibre reinforced cement components for roofing

Composites of blast furnace slag (BFS) based cement mortar reinforced with vegetable fibres are presented, Roofing components are produced with these composites through a simple and low-energy consuming method, including ordinary vibration and curing in a wet chamber, Composites reinforced with eucalyptus pulp, coir fibres and with a mixture of sisal fibre and eucalyptus pulp gave a suitable performance, with compressive strength higher than 20 MPa and modulus of rupture (MOR) higher than 3 MPa. The performance of tiles made with these composites is in accordance with international requirements, with maximum load higher than 450 N, in wet conditions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.