Hemp as eco-friendly substitute of glass fibres for gypsum reinforcement: Impact and flexural behaviour

Gypsum board walls and ceilings are nowadays widely used in the buildings, due to a number of outstanding advantages, such as lightness, fire resistance, sound insulation, economy, durability and ease of installation. The above constructive elements have no structural function, however in case of collapse or damage they constitute a danger for the safety of people and an economic loss in terms of restoration costs, downtime and damage to the assets contained in the building. Therefore, more and more often, gypsum panels with an enhanced toughness and strength are requested, to offer greater resistance to the impact loads, to vandalism and from seismic events. For this purpose, glass fibre reinforced gypsum (GFRG) is widely used. However, considering the current environmental awareness and the increasing interest in the use of eco-friendly materials, in this paper the effectiveness of bio-degummed hemp fibres, as substitutes of glass fibres, has been highlighted. Both static and dynamic mechanical tests demonstrated that the use of hemp fibres lead to gypsum-based composites with features comparable with those of GFRG.