ANALYSIS OF THE WATER AND THERMAL BEHAVIOR OF COUCH GRASS FIBERS

Abstract

Wrongly considered a "weed", Couchgrass is a tenacious grass whose rhizome (underground stems) contains many compounds with diuretic, draining and purifying properties. This fiber is traditionally used to improve the characteristics of the soil for earth constructions. This study is intended to physically characterize couchgrass fibers (ELYTRIGIA REPENS). The fibers, collected in AGOE DALIKO in Togo, cut into pieces of dimensions of approximately 3 to 5 cm, underwent identification tests, physical and water characterizations. Couchgrass fibers have an apparent density of 0.49 and an absolute density of 1.6. They become saturated with water after an imbibition time of 2.5 h and lose their water after drying times of 128 h, 80 h and 3 h at exposure temperatures of 29°C, 32°C and 140°C. After 2 h to 3 h, couch grass fibres completely lose their properties. This study has highlighted the sensitivity of couch grass fibres to water and heat, allowing provisions to be made regarding their use as reinforcing fibres for earth constructions.