Lightweight construction materials: Mortar reinforced with date-palm mesh fibres

Nowadays, research on sustainable buildings is devoted to materials which offer advantages in terms of recyclability, low cost, environmentally-friendly features, no toxicity, biodegradability and good mechanical performance. The lightweight construction materials composed by a cement-based matrix reinforced with vegetal fibres are able to satisfy the above statements. In the present paper, the physical, mechanical and fracture properties of a cement-based mortar reinforced with date-palm mesh (DPM) fibres is experimentally analysed. The results obtained show that the positive effect of such fibres on the ductility/weight mortar performance increases by increasing the fibre content.