## 4 Conclusions  
This study systematically implements microindentation experiments to elucidate the influence of wollastonite fiber incorporation on the creep response of hardened cement paste. The fiber content in the specimens ranged from 0% to 15%. Each sample was cured for 28 days in a humid environment. The results establish the effectiveness of the wollastonite fibers in improving the creep behavior of hardened cement paste. The following conclusions are drawn from this experimental study:  
1. The compressive strength of the hardened cement paste increases with the introduction of wollastonite fibers into the matrix. The mixture containing 10% wollastonite fibers as mass-based cement replacement was found to be optimal in terms of compressive strength. 2. Enhancement in the indentation modulus and hardness was observed with up to 10% wollastonite fiber content. While the average elastic modulus increased from 24 GPa to 26 GPa with 10% wollastonite fiber incorporation with respect to control-hardened cement paste, the average indentation hardness increased from 0.6 GPa to 0.68 GPa for the same dosage of wollastonite fibers. 3. The creep modulus showed significant improvement with increasing wollastonite content up to 10%. This can be explained by two facts. First, there are chemical similarities between the wollastonite fiber and the C-S-H in cement paste. Because of this chemical similarity, wollastonite fibers naturally have better compatibility and bonding with the cement paste as explored and established elsewhere [62; 63; 64; 65]. A better bond between the fiber and the matrix likely translates into better creep performance. Second, the micro-reinforcing effect [39] of the wollastonite fibers arrests creep-induced microcracking in the hardened cement paste thereby improving the creep-tolerance  
Figure 6: Variation in creep modulus with varying: (**a**) Young’s modulus, (**b**) Indentation hardness; variation in Time characteristics with varying: (**c**) Young’s modulus, (**d**) Indentation hardness. of the composite. Overall, the significantly higher creep modulus observed in the wollastonite fiber reinforced samples compared to the control samples suggests that the incorporation of fibers has effectively reinforced the material, enabling it to better withstand sustained loading and resist excessive deformation. Besides, the practical applications of wollastonite in terms of significant cement replacement also reduce cement consumption, which causes 5% of global dioxide emissions. 4. The fact that no significant difference in the time characteristic (i.e., the shape of the creep curve) is observed between the control and fiber reinforced samples suggests that the fibers have not significantly affected the time-dependent behavior of the material. This means that the material still likely undergoes the same three stages of deformation (primary, secondary, and tertiary creep) over time under sustained loading, but with a higher resistance to deformation. Overall, the improved creep modulus in the wollastonite fiber reinforced samples indicates that the addition of wollastonite fibers has improved the material's ability to withstand sustained loading with significantly higher resistance to deformation over time, which can be beneficial for applications where long-term structural stability is important. Conceptualization, S.D. ([PERSON]); methodology, S.D. ([PERSON]) and S.D. ([PERSON]). ; software, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; validation, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; formal analysis, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; investigation, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; resources, S.D. ([PERSON]); data curation, S.D. ([PERSON]); writing--original draft preparation, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; writing--review and editing, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; visualization, S.D. ([PERSON]) and J.T.V. ; supervision, S.D. ([PERSON]); project administration, S.D. ([PERSON]); All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. Not applicable.