Effect of Water Cement Ratios on Compressive Strength of Palm Kernel Shell Concrete

Abstract

This study examined the effect of varying water cement ratio on the compressive strength of concrete produced using palm kernel shell (PKS) as coarse aggregate at different replacement levels. The replacement levels of coarse aggregate with palm kernel shells (PKS) were 0%, 25%, 50%, and 100% respectively. PKS concrete cubes (144 specimens) of sizes 150mm x 150mm x 150mm were cast and cured in water for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days respectively. A mix ratio of 1:2:4 was adopted with water-cement ratio of 0.45, 0.5, and 0.6 respectively while the batching was done by weight. Slump test was conducted on fresh concrete while compressive strength test was carried out on the hardened concrete cubes using a compression testing machine of 2000kN capacity. The result of tests on fresh concrete shows that the slump height of 0.45 water cement ratio (w/c) increases with an increase in PKS%. This trend was similar to 0.50 and 0.60 w/c. However, the compressive strength of concrete cube decreases with an increase in w/c (from 0.45 to 0.60) but increases with respect to curing age and also decreases with increase in PKS%. Concrete with 0.45 water-cement ratio possess the highest compressive strength. It was observed that PKS is not a good substitute for coarse aggregate in mix ratio 1:2:4 for concrete productions. Hence, the study suggest the use of chemical admixture such as superplasticizer or calcium chloride in order to improve the strength of palm kernel shells-concrete.