DefinePK

Abstract

Natural fibre cement/cementitious (NFC) composites has been gaining popularity worldwide due to its potential applications in low cost construction activities. Though there is wide range of opening for NFC Composite, their long term performance (i.e. durability) under various exposure conditions is still a question with unsound answer. Many of the researchers have been working since several decades to overcome this particular issue by providing a right technology for making NFC composites, a really potential product under various applications. This critical review shows a torch on various mechanism of degradability of natural fibres (NF) and NFC composites under different exposure conditions, evaluation of durability of natural fibres and NFC composites, techniques adopted for enhancing durability of NF and NFC composites. The durability improvement is found to be superior with the composites containing cementitious material than in the plain fibre cement composites. Moreover, incorporation/use of modified fibres in the modified matrix shows better performance under durability testing. However, many more studies need to be progressed to confirm the present developments on durability of NFC composites.