Suitability of Periwinkle Shell Mixed with Palm Kernel Shell Wastes as Replacement for Coarse Aggregate in Concrete Production

Abstract

This paper investigates the suitability of Palm Kernel Shell (PKS)

mixed with Periwinkle Shell (PWS) as full replacement for coarse

aggregate in concrete production. Since aggregates make up over

65% of the volume and mass of concrete, replacing these large

quantities traditional and expensive coarse aggregates with cheap

and abundant PKS and PWS would have significant impact on the

environment and cost of concrete production. Aggregate impact

value (AIV) test and compression test were carried for various

mixtures of PWS and PKS. Compressive test and the AIV test results

were compared with concrete made with 100% coarse aggregates -

granite in this case. A design nominal mix of 1: 1.2: 2.6 was used in

this study and a total of 72 concrete cubes were cast. Results show

that replacing coarse aggregates with a mixture of 75%PWS and

25%PKS (75%PWS/25% PKS) performed better than other PKS and

PWS mixtures when used as full replacement for coarse aggregates.

It is observed that strengths of concrete produced with this mixture

of PWS and PKS are half of those produced with concrete made of

coarse aggregate. However, the use of potential waste products and

the elimination of expensive granite (coarse aggregates) in concrete

production offers some economic and environmental benefits. The

impact of PWS and PKS on shrinkage, thermal cracking and other

elastic properties of concrete were not investigated in this work but

will form the basis of future studies.