# Mechanical Properties and Flexural Behavior of Sustainable Bamboo Fiber-Reinforced Mortar  
[PERSON]  
1 Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS), Singapore 138602, Singapore 138602, Singapore 138602, Singapore 138602, Singapore 13 School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8 LT, UK; [PERSON]ESS]  
[PERSON]  
2 Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH-Centre, Singapore 138602, Singapore 138602, Singapore 138602, Singapore 13 School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8 LT, UK; [PERSON]ESS]  
[PERSON]  
2 Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH-Centre, Singapore 138602, Singapore  
in many developing countries has led to an increased demand for reinforced concrete for housing and infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, the majority of developing countries lack the resources to produce their own cement and steel for the production of reinforced concrete elements which forces them to import the majority of their needs from highly industrialized countries, and as a result of the import surge, trade deficits, economic slow-downs, and loss of jobs are prominent in those countries. Besides the economic challenges from the cement and steel import, environmental issues also need to be addressed. The construction industry is facing an urgent need for the use of sustainable materials incorporating locally available renewable resources as well as industrial by-products with lower environmental impacts. One potential material is fly ash, a by-product of the combustion of coal, oil and biomass. Fly ash contains Silicon dioxide (SiO\({}_{2}\)) and Aluminum oxide (Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)) as major components that can contribute to the hydration of cement. Furthermore, low-cost and renewable materials such as bamboo and wood can be found in abundant supply in many developing countries, where the bamboo and wood industry produce a large number of waste products. Replacement of cement with by-products such as fly ash or bamboo and wood waste can enable the reduction of the carbon footprint associated with the cement industry and improve the mechanical and thermal properties of the developed formulations. Other performance aspects such as the ductility of these mixes could be further enhanced via the use of other renewable materials such as natural fibers to avoid the brittle failure that is characteristic of plain concrete. Previous studies [5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11] revealed improvements in the mechanical properties and durability of concrete mixtures, in which PC was partially replaced with wood ash or fly ash. Substituting aggregates with wood process waste such as wood chips, flax or hemp was also shown to enhance the mechanical or thermal properties of concrete mixtures [11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18]. Further research on fiber-reinforced concrete reported that the addition of synthetic fibers--such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)--or steel fibers could increase the fire resistance, ductility, tensile strength, impact resistance and toughness of concrete mixtures [19; 20; 21; 22]. However, synthetic fibers, which are mainly derived from petroleum-based sources, and steel fibers require energy-intensive and expensive production processes. In contrast, natural fibers, such as those obtained from wood and bamboo industry by-products, can provide a low-cost and sustainable alternative for the construction industry. Challenges of resource scarcity and the negative environmental impacts of synthetic fiber production have led many researchers to search for alternative, green, sources of fibers for the production of fiber-reinforced concrete. Natural fibers represent a sustainable source of raw materials from renewable resources and can help to alleviate the need for synthetic fibers. While there is growing interest in the use of wood fibers to enhance the mechanical behavior and fracture toughness of concrete [23; 24; 25], there has so far been relatively little investigation of the use of bamboo fibers for this purpose.