SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF COCONUT SHELL

Use of Coconut Shell as Coarse Aggregate In Concrete. Using 1:2:4 proportions, it is

found that the density and strength characteristics of concrete produced by volume
replacement of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 100% replacement of crushed granite
with coconut shells were investigated. It was concluded that
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

Increase in percentage replacements by coconut shells reduced the strength

and density of concrete.
With the exception of complete replacement, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%
replacement of crushed granite by coconut shells can be used in producing
lightweight concrete.
18.5% replacement of crushed granite with coconut shells can be used to
produce structural concrete per the requirements.
Coconut shells can be used as partial replacement of crushed granite or other
conventional aggregates in reinforced concrete construction.
Coconut shell can be used as partial replacement of coarse aggregate in
concrete.

At M-25 mix design it was reported development of the mix design of

lightweight aggregate concrete using Coconut shell aggregate (CSA) as coarse
aggregate together with cement and river sand. The compressive strength after 28
days was found to be in the ranges between 4.9 N/mm2 - 23.5 N/mm2 under water
curing. The test results shows that concrete using coconut shell aggregate has
resulted in acceptable strength required for structural lightweight concrete. It is
concluded that the lightweight concrete developed from CSA aggregate can be used
for both structural and non-structural applications. This study was carried out to
determine the possibilities of using coconut shell as aggregate in concrete. They
concluded water absorption of the coconut shell aggregate was high about 24 % but
the crushing value and impact value was comparable to that of other lightweight
aggregates. The average fresh concrete density and 28-day cube compressive
strength of the concrete using coconut shell aggregate were 1975 kg/m3 and 19.1
N/mm2 respectively. ` At the different proportions, the compressive strength of
concrete cubes produced with gravel and coconut shells, for seven (7) days curing,
the average compressive strength for concrete cubes produced with coconut shell of
mix ratio 1:2:4, 1:1:3, 1:3:6 were 8.6, 8.9, 6.4 N/mm2 respectively and 15.1, 16.5,
11N/mm2 respectively for 28 days. The 7 days cured concrete cubes produced with
gravel have an average compressive strength of 19.6, 18.5, and 9.6 N/mm2 and
28.1, 30.0 and 15.6 N/mm2 at 28days with mix ratios of 1:2:4, 1:11/2:3, 1:3:6. From

the research, mix ratio 1:1 :3 of coconut shell with strength 16.5N/mm2 at 28
days can be used as plain concrete.

CONCLUSIONS
There are several conclusions from above study:
(1) Coconut shell can be used in concrete to solve environmental and economical
problem.
(2) Coconut shell can be as coarse aggregate in concrete and it give enough
strength to concrete as its crushing value and impact value is better than
coarse aggregate. It can be grouped as light weight aggregate and used at
different proportion as per required strength.
(3) Coconut shell ash can e used as the partial replacement of cement in
concrete and proportion depends upon the strength required and quality of
coconut shell ( property of coconut shell).
(4) Coconut shell powder with epoxy resin/matrixes can be used in concrete

OIL PALM COCONUT SHELL

Concrete made using agricultural wastes has shown better thermal properties in
research, which can result in sustainability points in the energy and atmosphere
category of the LEED rating system, among them: Optimize Energy Performance
credit. Hence, agricultural waste used as aggregate in concrete production can
contribute in making the material and, consequently, the structure more
environmentally friendly.
Agricultural solid waste in concrete
Oil palm shell
The oil palm industry is one of the most important agro-industries in certain
countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Nigeria. Malaysia and
Indonesia are, respectively, the worlds largest and next largest palm oil producing
countries. Malaysia alone produces more than 7 million tons of crude palm oil, each
year
Properties of oil palm shell (OPS)
The color of oil palm shell (OPS) ranges from dark grey to black color, depending on
the breaking pattern of the nut and the shape of the shells differs in a range from
angular to polygonal. The OPS is approximately 60% lighter than conventional
coarse aggregates. The density of OPS is within the range of most typical
lightweight aggregates. One of the attractive characteristics of oil palm shells is its
significant low Los Angeles abrasion value, which is approximately 80% lower than
conventional coarse aggregates. This characteristic shows that OPS aggregates
have good resistance to wear. In addition, because of the much lower impact and
crushing values of OPS aggregates, these aggregates have good absorbance to
shock. The surfaces of the shells for both concave and convex faces are fairly
smooth, while the broken edge is rough and spiky.
Oil palm shell lightweight concrete
The use of OPS as a lightweight aggregate for producing lightweight concrete has
been explored over a decade and has been shown that the compressive strength of
OPS lightweight concrete, with and without cementitious materials, is within the
typical compressive strength for structural lightweight concrete (2035 MPa) with a

density of about 2025% lower than normal weight concrete (NWC) [17, 18, 2124].
However, recent studies have shown the possibility of producing high strength OPS
lightweight concrete of up to about 53 and 56 MPa for 28 and 56 days compressive
strength. Promoting the compressive strength of concrete and the ability to produce
high strength concrete with aggregate, such as OPS, is very important because the
compressive strength of concrete plays a fundamental role in the design and
construction of concrete structures, and, also, such potential application of a waste
material will encourage the construction industry to use this type of environmentally
friendly concrete in actual projects. The techniques for producing high strength OPS
concrete have been explained in various published papers.

SIZES, SHAPES AND TEXTURE

In summary, these techniques include the use of old OPS, crushed OPS and OPS
with smaller maximum coarse aggregate. Old OPS does not have any fibre on their
surface, which results in a better bond between the cement matrix and the OPS,
and, consequently, higher compressive strength. Another technique is based on
crushing large old OPS and reducing the maximum size of coarse OPS aggregate.
Crushed OPS is hard and has a strong physical bond with hydrated cement paste.
This stronger bond is due to a reduction in the total smooth surface of OPS and the
increased total surface of the broken edges because of the crushing of large sizes of
OPS aggregate.
In addition, the use of a smaller size of OPS aggregate causes an increase in
the bond between the aggregate and the paste, which results in a higher
compressive strength. Table below shows some selected mix proportions of OPS
concrete with normal and high strength concrete.
Selected mix proportion and properties of oil palm shell lightweight concrete
Mix Mix proportion (kg/m3
Fresh
28-Day cube
Reference
no. Cement Silica Fly Super
Water to Oil
Conventional
Fine
Property
compressive
fume ash plasticizer cement
palm
coarse
aggregat (slump, mm)
strength
(%)
ratio
shell
aggregate (granite)
(MPa)

1
29
2
28
3
34
4

480
0
0
1
Mannan and Ganapathy
510
0
0
1.4
Teo et al
360
0
0
1.8
Shafigh et al
480
48 24 1

Density
(kg/m3)

0.41

370

820

1900a

0.38

310

850

60

1960b

0.45

380

210

830

33

1910a

0.35

380

580

105

1890

37
Alengaram et al
5
480
0
0
1.5
47
Shafigh et al
6
550
0
0
1.1
53
Shafigh et al

0.38

300

0.31

330

180

1050
710

50
205

1990c
1980a

For all the OPS lightweight concrete mixtures with normal strength, the maximum
size of OPS (as coarse aggregate) is 9.5 mm or more while for making high strength
OPS concrete this maximum size reduces to 8 mm.
From the test results of previous studies it was concluded that the mechanical
properties of OPS concrete, such as splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and
modulus of elasticity at the same compressive strength, are lower than other types
of lightweight aggregate concretes made from artificial or natural lightweight
aggregates. However, a recently published study has shown that incorporating steel
fibre into OPS concrete improves the compressive strength, and, furthermore, the
splitting tensile and flexural strength improve significantly. The splitting
tensile/compressive strength ratio of steel fibre OPS concrete is in the range of
normal weight concrete and the flexural strength of such concrete is comparable to
artificial lightweight aggregate concrete.
MODULUS ELASTICITY
In respect of the modulus of elasticity of OPS concrete, although it has been
reported that this property of OPS concrete is significantly lower than normal weight
concrete, similar to many other types of lightweight aggregate concrete, recent
studies have shown that by following certain methods the modulus of elasticity of
OPS concrete significantly improves to the range of normal weight concrete. These
methods, which significantly promote the compressive strength of OPS concrete, are
based on the use of old OPS and old crushed OPS. Fig. below shows a cross section
of a lightweight concrete specimen containing OPS grains.

They reported that the durability properties of this concrete were comparable to
that of other conventional lightweight concretes. The research concluded that
proper curing is required for OPS concrete to achieve better durability. They
recommended that the minimum duration of moist curing should be carried out
continuously for at least 7 days.
A comparative study of the bond properties of OPS concrete with normal weight
concrete revealed that although the bond stress of the OPS concrete was about 86%
of the corresponding normal weight concrete, the ultimate bond stress of OPS
concrete was 2.5 times higher than the theoretical values calculated based on BS
8110.
In addition, the flexural and shear behavior of reinforced and un-reinforced
concrete beams made with oil palm shell structural lightweight concrete was
experimentally investigated. Teo et al. [33] reported that reinforced concrete beams
made of oil palm shell lightweight concrete with low reinforcement ratio gave
satisfactory performance in all the serviceability requirements of the BS 8110 [32]
code. They reported that OPS reinforced concrete beams with reinforcement ratios
up to 3.14% showed 435% ultimate moments compared to the predicted moments.
However, for a beam with higher reinforcement ratio (i.e. 3.90%), BS 8110
underestimates the ultimate moment capacity by about 6%.
Therefore, they recommended larger depths for OPS concrete beams when the
reinforcement ratio is greater than 3.14%. There is another reported that the
flexural behavior of beams made of oil palm shell shows very close agreement with
the theoretical results.
Furthermore, the satisfactory shear behaviour of oil palm shell concrete beams has
also been reported that the overall flexural behaviour of reinforced OPS concrete
beams closely resembled that of equivalent beams made with normal weight
concrete.
REFERENCE
Payam Shafigh , Hilmi Bin Mahmuda, Mohd Zamin Jumaat , Majid Zargar
Agricultural wastes as aggregate in concrete mixtures A review
Construction and Building Materials