Effect of pressed palm oil fruit fibre on mechanical properties of sandcrete masonry blocks using Taguchi-grey relational analysis optimization technique

Abstract

The effect of the incorporation of treated waste pressed palm oil fruit fibre (PPOFF) as additives on the mechanical properties of sandcrete masonry blocks (SMBs) was investigated in this study. Taguchi-grey relational analysis (T-GRA) optimization technique was employed to optimize the applied process parameters that involved treated PPOFF, water to cement (W/C) ratio and mould volume (MV). The percentages of PPOFF added were 0.00%, 0.25 %, 0.50 %, 0.75 % and 1.00 % of the cement mass. The treated PPOFF was assigned four levels, while W/C ratio and MV were assigned two levels each in the L8 (4^1x2^2) Taguchi mixed level orthogonal array chosen for the design of experiment. The results obtained with the T-GRA optimization technique showed that the peak response values of the evaluated properties of the produced SMBs, which included compressive strength (CS), bulk density (BD) and water absorption capacity (WAC), were 4.58 N/mm2, 2066 kg/m3 and 4.12 % respectively. The optimal parameter level combination that gave the peak response values in the evaluated properties was found at A1B2C1. This represents 0.25 % treated PPOFF, 0.65 W/C ratio and 0.0101 m3 MV. These values indicate that the produced SMBs are of high quality and can be used as load bearing walls in building industries. The scanning electron microscope images of the produced SMB samples revealed that there was tight PPOFF-cement matrix bonding quality. These imply that the inclusion of the treated PPOFF in the production of SMBs greatly improved its properties. Lastly, the predictive models developed and assessed statistically for the evaluated properties were found to be good and reliable for predicting the properties of such blocks within the range of data considered in this study.