Title: Mechanical characterisation and flexural performance of eco-friendly concrete produced with fly ash as cement replacement and coconut shell coarse aggregate

Authors: R. Prakash; R. Thenmozhi; S.N. Raman

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 013, Tamil Nadu, India ' Centre for Innovative Architecture and Built Environment (SErAMBI), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of adding fly ash, an industrial by-product and coconut shell, an agricultural waste on the mechanical and flexural characteristics of eco-concrete. The study focuses on density, compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural behaviour of the coconut shell eco-concrete. Two different mixes are developed, one with coconut shell and the other with conventional aggregate and coconut shell as coarse aggregate. The cement content is replaced with class F fly ash at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% by weight. The test result shows that the coconut shell concrete produced with 10% fly ash has recorded higher compressive, tensile strength than other proportions. Fly ash inclusion further reduces the density of coconut shell concrete. The higher deflection of coconut shell concrete before failure shows that it has failed in a ductile manner. The flexural behaviour is comparable with other lightweight concretes. It is suggested that an eco-friendly, cost effective structural lightweight concrete can be produced by using coconut shell and fly ash.

Keywords: coconut shell aggregate; fly ash; eco-concrete; compressive strength; split tensile strength; flexural behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2019.099491

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2019 Vol.18 No.2, pp.131 - 148

Received: 22 Feb 2018
Accepted: 15 Apr 2018
Published online: 07 May 2019 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article