Comparative Study of Gypsum Composite Materials Reinforced with Date Palm and Polyester Fibres

Abstract

Gypsum is a polyvalent building material, whose composition gives it interesting properties for the construction industry, but its major disadvantage is its fragility.We proposed to study the feasibility of obtaining gypsum-based composite materials using plant fibres derived from date palm waste (DPF: date palm fibres), in order to exploit a local resource, and using synthetic polyester fibres (PF: polyester fibres) for comparison.We have developed gypsum-based composites with three types of reinforcement with mass percentages of the order of (0.5% DPF), (0.5% PF) and (0.25% DPF+0.25%PF).It was found that the addition of (0.5% DPF) can increase the flexural strength by up to 29.25% and that mixing gypsum with (0.25% DPF+0.25%PF) can slightly reduce its thermal conductivity by around 13.09% and increase its flexural strength by around 45.07%.However, a decrease in the transverse compressive strength of gypsum reinforced with date palm fibres was observed for the two mixtures of (0.25% DPF+0.5% PF) and (0.5% DPF) of approximately 12.56% and 24.32% respectively.These poor results of compression are due to the poor adhesion between the date palm fibres and the gypsum matrix, as well as to the porous structure of the date palm fibres observed under the microscope.Gypsum composites incorporated by DPF can be used for thermal insulation to reduce energy consumption and as decorative materials to line a wall, create a partition or a false ceiling.