The effect of limestone powder, silica fume and fibre content on flexural behaviour of cement composite reinforced by waste Kraft pulp

Abstract The need for sustainable, environmental friendly, energy efficient construction materials could justify the interest on fibre cement board produced from recycled waste cardboard. Waste cardboard has a low production cost and could show an appropriate compatibility with hydrated cement particles. This research was carried out in three phases. In the first phase of the research, the flexural behaviour of different amounts of fibre content (1–14%) in cement boards reinforced by waste cardboard was investigated. In the second phase, the optimum fibre content of 8% to achieve the highest flexural strength was determined. In the third phase, the effect of nanosilica fume and limestone powder on specimens reinforced by 8% fibre content was studied. The microstructure of specimens using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was also carried out. The results show that flexural strength of cement composite board can be improved by adding 10% limestone powder and 3% nanosilica fume.