Flexural Strength and Physical Properties of Cement Board Reinforced with Abaca Fiber

Cement panels are industrial products that are widely used as construction and insulation materials. In general, cement panels are reinforced with synthetic fibers. In this study, a cement panel reinforced by natural fibers, namely abaca fiber, was developed. Abaca fiber has advantages over other natural fibers in terms of availability, mechanical properties and physical properties. Cement panels were made in several levels of abaca fiber content (0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) to study the effect of fiber content on the flexural strength and physical properties of cement panel. The material and experiment were prepared and carried out according to Indonesia standard SNI 01-4449-2006. The result of the experiment showed that the fiber content significantly affected the flexural strength, density, moister content, water absorption and thickness development of abaca-cement panels. The maximum flexural strength was 71.88 MPa, produced by cement panel with 3% fiber content, and it was 2.15 time higher than cement panel without fiber. The result of the experiment indicated that the abaca fiber was potential inforcement for cement panel with respect to its flexural strngth and physical properties.