Natural Fiber-Based Green Textile Reinforced Composites: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

In retrofitting, synthetic fibers are used as fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs). Despite their good mechanical and thermal properties, FRP systems have a few disadvantages relative to natural fibers, such as high percentage of carbon dioxide emissions during manufacturing, problems with waste management, and high costs. A promising alternative to FRP is Natural Fiber Textile Reinforced Mortar (NFTRM), which consists of natural fiber grids embedded in a mortar to overcome the disadvantages of the FRP system. In many studies, natural fibers replace synthetic fibers in a textile reinforced mortar (TRM). In addition to being low-cost, lightweight, and eco-friendly, natural fibers offer superior mechanical strength and stiffness. The problem with natural fibers is that it carries hydroxyl groups on their superficial region, which becomes root cause for them to absorb more moisture than synthetic fibers. Natural fibers seemed to be studied to improve their strength, overall durability, and composite properties through various methods. The latest studies have the point of coverage on using natural fiber fabric-reinforced cementitious mortar systems for structural upgradation. As a part, the chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties of natural fibers, the causes of their hydrophilicity, their treatment, the tensile strength of their strands, and the composition of the mortar used as a matrix have been discussed. In addition, it discusses the testing of TRM composite under tensile load, parameters influencing the strength of TRM composites, a gripping system used to test TRM coupons, also the performance of structural members retrofitted with natural fiber textile-reinforced mortar.