STUDY ON STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF

COCONUT SHELL CONCRETE

TOPICS TO BE DEALT
INTRODUCTION

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

MIX DESIGN

RESULTS

CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
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 ,essentially consisting of a mixture of
cement, aggregates, water and admixture(s).

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
 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.

Thus, the main aim of this work is to provide more data on the strengths of concrete
shell when it is replaced with the aggregates to a percentage. Furthermore, the
cement is also been replaced with fly ash and the results were plotted to find a
comparative study .
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

1. Cement

Ordinary Portland cement of C53 grade conforming to both the requirements of IS:
12269 and ASTM C 642-82 type-I was used. Finally M30 Grade concrete is designed.

2. Coarse Aggregate

Normal aggregate of maximum size 20 mm was used as coarse aggregate.

3. Fine Aggregate
Well graded river sand passing through 4.75 mm was used as fine aggregate. The sand was air-dried
and sieved to remove any foreign particles prior to mixing.

4. Fly Ash
Fly ash closely resembles volcanic ashes used in production of the earliest known hydraulic cements
about 2,300 years ago. Those cements were made near the small Italian town of Pozzuoli which later
gave its name to the term pozzolan. A pozzolan is siliceous/aluminous material that, when mixed with
lime and water, forms a cementitious compound. Fly ash is the best known, and one of the most
commonly used, pozzolans in the world.
5. COCONUT SHELLS
Coconut shells which were already broken into two pieces were collected ; air
dried for five days approximately at the temperature of 25 to 30 C; removed
fiber and husk on dried shells; further broken the shells into small chips manually
using hammer and sieved through 12.5mm sieve. The material passed through
12.5mm sieve was used to replace coarse aggregate with coconut shells. The
material retained on 12.5mm sieve was discarded. Water absorption of the
coconut shells was 8% and specific gravity at saturated surface dry condition of
the material was found as 1.33.
6. WATER
Water used should be reasonably away from oil, acid, alkali or any deleterious
material which ultimately leads to the corrosion of steel and detrimental effects on
concrete.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
RESULTS

Normal consistency of cement 31%

Setting Times of cement 28 min
Initial Final 9 hr 57 min
Specific Gravity of cement 3.15
Fineness of cement 2%
Specific Gravity of aggregates
Coarse aggregates 2.65 Fine aggregates 2.63
Water absorption capacity
Coarse aggregates 0.495 Fine aggregates 0.96
Specific gravity of coconut shells 1.33
Specific gravity of fly ash 2.06
Water absorption capacity of coconut shells 4.5%
MIX DESIGN
Mix design is the process of selecting an optimum proportion of cement,
fine and coarse aggregates and water to produce a concrete with specified
properties of workability, strength, and durability.

In order to investigate properties of coconut shells concretes, five mixes

were employed. Control mix (M1) that is, without coconut shells was
made. Coarse aggregate was then replaced with coconut shells in 10
(M2), 20 (M3), percentages to study effect of CS replacement.