# Enhanced Performance of Concrete Dispersedly Reinforced with Sisal Fibers
## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Materials  
The main characteristics of the raw materials used for the manufacture of concrete mixtures in this study are presented in Table 1.  
Sisal fiber (Fujian Dehua Baihe Arts Co. Ltd., Quanzhou, Fujian, China) was used as the fiber. The fiber was delivered in a ready-to-use form and did not require additional processing. The fibers were cut with a length of 30 \(\pm\) 2 mm. The fiber was stored in a dry, ventilated room at an air temperature of +25 \({}^{\circ}\)C and a humidity of 65% for at least 48 h  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Raw Materials’ Characteristics** & **Real Value** \\ \hline Portland cement grade “PC 500 D0” (Novorossement, Novorossiysk, Russia) \\ \hline Specific surface, m\({}^{2}\)/kg & 330 \\ \hline Normal density cement paste gotten after & 25 \\ adding water, \% & 95.7 \\ \hline Fineness of grinding, passage through a sieve & 95.7 \\ No. 008, \% & \\ \hline Setting time, min & \\ - start & 165 \\ - end & 230 \\ \hline Tensile strength in bending, MPa: & \\ - 2 days & 4.6 \\ - 28 days & 7.6 \\ \hline Compressive strength, MPa: & \\ - 2 days & 24.5 \\ - 28 days & 55.2 \\ \hline C\({}_{3}\)S, \% & 67 \\ \hline C\({}_{2}\)S, \% & 15 \\ \hline C\({}_{3}\)A, \% & 7 \\ \hline C\({}_{4}\)AF, \% & 11 \\ \hline Quartz sand (Arkhipovsky quarry, Arkhipovskoe, Russia) \\ \hline Size modulus & 1.73 \\ \hline Bulk density, kg/m\({}^{3}\) & 1578 \\ \hline True density, kg/m\({}^{3}\) & 2675 \\ \hline Content of dust and clay particles, \% & 1.1 \\ \hline Clay content in lumps, \% & 0.15 \\ \hline Content of organic and contaminants & absent \\ \hline Granite crushed stone (Pavlovsknerud, Pavlovsk, Russia) according to GOST 8269.0, \\ “Mountainous rock road-metal and gravel, industrial waste products for construction works & methods of physical and mechanical tests” \\ \hline Fraction size, mm & 5-10 \\ \hline Bulk density, kg/m\({}^{3}\) & 1487 \\ \hline True density, g/cm\({}^{3}\) & 2.65 \\ \hline Crushability, \% by weight & 11.6 \\ \hline The content of grains of lamellar (flaky) and & 9.1 \\ \(\mathrm{acicular\ forms}\), \% by weight & 44 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Characteristics of raw materials.  
before use. The characteristics of the sisal fiber used in the study are presented in Table 2, and the appearance is in Figure 2.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \hline
**Indicator** & **Real Value** \\ \hline Fiber diameter (\(\upmu\)m) & \(20\pm 1.2\) \\ \hline Fiber titer (Tex, g/km) & \(21\pm 1.2\) \\ \hline Fiber length (mm) & \(30\pm 2\) \\ \hline Fiber length to diameter ratio & \(200\)–\(400\) \\ \hline Fiber density (g/cm\({}^{3}\)) & \(1.5\) \\ \hline Porosity after cutting (\%) & \(12\)–\(14\) \\ \hline Cellulose content (\%) & \(66\)–\(78\) \\ \hline Lignin content (\%) & \(8\)–\(11\) \\ \hline Crystallinity (\%) & \(68\)–\(70\) \\ \hline Tensile strength (MPa) & \(381\pm 23.6\) \\ \hline Ultimate strain at break (\%) & \(2.45\pm 0.1\) \\ \hline Modulus of elasticity (GPa) & \(28.5\pm 1.8\) \\ \hline Relative fiber strength (cN/Tex) & \(17.7\pm 0.9\) \\ \hline Orientation angle (\({}^{\circ}\)) & \(10\)–\(25\) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Characteristics of sisal fiber.  
Figure 2: Appearance of the sisal fiber used: (**a**) in the package; (**b**) after cutting; (**c**) dry mix.