Selection of Best Natural Fibre for Retrofitting of Structure by Using AHP

Abstract

Ordinary concrete has certain characteristics such as; it is relatively strong in compression but weak in tension and tends to be brittle. To neutralize this weakness of concrete some natural reinforcement is provided to concrete and subsequent concrete is called fibre reinforced concrete. There are many types of natural fibres which are used in concrete as a reinforced material to increase the properties of concrete such as; Sisal, Coir, Hemp, Bamboo and Banana. To find a best fibre is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) can be one of the useful tools for determining the most suitable natural fibre for reinforcement of concrete. The properties of natural fibres involved are Tensile Strength, Specific Gravity, Water Absorption and Modulus of Elasticity. There are five fibres which are easily available and generally used in concrete as reinforce material is determined by considering main criteria and sub-criteria in the hierarchy model. A decision maker first gives linguistic pairwise comparisons, then obtains numerical pairwise comparisons by selecting certain numerical scale to quantify them. The final decision was carried out by performing different scenario, which further validates the result gained through AHP method.
Keywords: Concrete, fibre, reinforcement, MCDM (multi-criteria decision making), AHP, criteria