STUDY ON STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF COCONUT SHELL CONCRETE

Abstract

Concrete is the premier construction material around the world and is most widely used in all types of construction works, including infrastructure, low and high-rise buildings, and domestic developments. It is a man-made product, essentially consisting of a mixture of cement, aggregates, water and admixture(s). Inert granular materials such as sand, crushed stone or gravel form the major part of the aggregates. Traditionally aggregates have been readily available at economic prices and of qualities to suit all purposes. But, the continued extensive extraction use of aggregates from natural resources has been questioned because of the depletion of quality primary aggregates and greater awareness of environmental protection. In light of this, the non-availability of natural resources to future generations has also been realized. Different alternative waste materials and industrial by products such as fly ash, bottom ash, recycled aggregates, foundry sand, china clay sand, crumb rubber, glass were replaced with natural aggregate and investigated properties of the concretes. Apart from above mentioned waste materials and industrial by products, few studies identified that coconut shells, the agricultural by product can also be used as aggregate in concrete. According to a report, coconut is grown in more than 86 countries worldwide, with a total production of 54 billion nuts per annum. India occupies the premier position in the world with an annual production of 13 billion nuts, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines. Limited research has been conducted on mechanical properties of concrete with coconut shells as aggregate replacement. However, further research is needed for better understanding of the behavior of coconut shells as aggregate in concrete. Thus, the aim of this work is to provide more data on the strengths of coconut shell concretes at different coconut shells (CS) replacements and study the transport properties of concrete with coconut shells as coarse aggregate replacement. Furthermore, in this study, the effect of fly ash as cement replacement and aggregate replacement on properties of the coconut shells replaced concrete was also investigated. The concrete obtained using coconut shell aggregates satisfies the minimum requirements of concrete. Concrete using coconut shell aggregates resulted in acceptable strength required for structural concrete. coconut shell may offer itself as a coarse aggregate as well as a potential construction material in the field of construction industries and this would solve the environmental problem of reducing the generation of solid wastes simultaneously. The coconut shell cement composite is compatible and no pre-treatment is required. coconut shell concrete has better workability because of the smooth surface on one side of the shells. The impact resistance of coconut shell concrete is high when compared with conventional concrete. Moisture retaining and water absorbing capacity of coconut shell are more compared to conventional aggregate. The amount of cement content may be more when coconut shell are used as an aggregate in the production of concrete compared to conventional aggregate concrete. The presence of sugar in the coconut shells as long as it is not in a free sugar form, will not affect the setting and strength of concrete.