Ductility Performance of Lightweight Concrete Beam Made from Oil Palm Shell and Clinker

During the recent decades, the deployment of agricultural wastes obtained from palm oil industry, including oil palm shell (OPS) and palm oil clinker (POC), has been observed progressively to develop lightweight concrete (LWC).Concrete comprising exclusively POC demonstrates reduced ductility and increased compressive strength, in contrast to concrete comprising solely OPS, which displays enhanced ductility.It appears that the combination of OPS and POC can increase the ductility and compressive strength of concrete.The feasibility of substituting conventional aggregate with OPS and POC aggregates is examined in this study.Based on such aggregate mixture, experiments are performed to determine the ideal mix ratio.Additionally, the ductility and strain characteristics of palm shell and clinker concrete (PSCC) as well as the PSCC beams are investigated.Seven formulations of PSCC are assessed.The range of OPS to POC ratios observed in the concrete mixtures is 30% to 70%.The PSCC beams are fabricated utilizing the ideal concrete mixture design.Eight PSCC beams measuring 150 mm x 250 mm are manufactured, each with a unique reinforcement ratio ranging from 0.50 to 2.11 percent.The specimens are subjected to four-point bending until failure.The findings of this research ascertain that the ideal concrete mixture possesses an approximate ductility index of 3.56 and a compressive strength of 46 MPa.By offering sufficient forewarning prior to failure, the PSCC beams demonstrate ductile failure and expose typical flexural behavior.At its maximum force, the PSCC demonstrates strain values ranging from 0.0028 to 0.0040, which indicates a high degree of satisfaction.The PSCC samples exhibited a remarkable level of ductility.The ductility index exhibits a negative correlation with the percentage of porous POC aggregate incorporated into the concrete formulations.The steel and concrete of the PSCC beam experience maximal strains of 4268 x 10 -6 and 4299 x 10 -6 , respectively, at the site of failure.These results support the claim that a PSCC beam is capable of achieving complete strain when subjected to flexural force.The PSCC beams comprising reinforcement levels of up to 1.09% exhibit a ductility index ranging from 3.16 to 4.67, which signifies reasonable accomplishment.