Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156

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Construction and Building Materials

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Performance of coconut shell as coarse aggregate in concrete

Apeksha Kanojia, Sarvesh K. Jain ⇑
Madhav Institute of Technology & Science, Gwalior 474005, India

h i g h l i g h t s

 We prepared coconut shell modified-concrete.

 Coconut shell was utilized as coarse aggregate as partial replacement of conventional coarse aggregates.
 Its utilization is a sustainable approach to consume the non-biodegradable coconut shell waste.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A large amount of waste coconut shell is generated in India from temples and industries of coconut pro-
Received 7 July 2016 duct and its disposal need to be addressed. Researchers have proposed to utilize it as ingredient of con-
Received in revised form 11 January 2017 crete. This experimental investigation was aimed to quantify the effects of replacing partially the
Accepted 14 February 2017
conventional coarse aggregate by coconut shell to produce concrete. The research work was divided into
two parts. First part was aimed to observe the effect of such replacement on compressive strength and
density of concrete. In the second part, the aim was to find out the additional quantity of cement required
Keywords:
to compensate for reduction in strength of concrete resulted due to this replacement. It was found that
Concrete
Aggregates
with increasing proportion of coconut shells, there is decrement in compressive strength. Results
Sustainability revealed that with 40% replacement of conventional coarse aggregate by coconut shell, 7 days compres-
Coconut shell sive strength of concrete decreased by 62.6%; whereas decrease in 28 days compressive strength was only
Compressive strength 21.5%. 40% replacement makes the concrete lighter by 7.47%. Further, it was revealed that for mix design
Waste disposal of concrete of 20 N/mm2 characteristic strength, no additional cement is required for 5% replacement and
only 3.6% additional cement was required for 10% replacement. The results confirm that although there is
an increase in cost due to additional cement requirement, the advantages being many, including efficient
utilization of waste coconut shell, reduction in natural source depletion etc, the use of coconut shell in
concrete seems to be a feasible option. Such study will help to arrive at final decision regarding quantity
of coconut shell for replacing conventional aggregates in concrete production.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction has considerable impact on various characteristics and properties

In the present scenario, no construction activity can be imag-
ined without concrete. It is one of the most commonly used mate-
rial in construction industry and is the 2nd most consumed
substance in the world after water [23]. More than 10 billion tons
of concrete is produced every year. Annual production represents
approximately 1.5 ton for every person on the planet. Aggregates
are the largest constituent in the concrete. About 70–80% of the
volume of structural concrete is occupied by aggregates, in which
25–30% is occupied by fine aggregate and 40–50% is occupied by
coarse aggregate [27]. Quantity and properties of coarse aggregate
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sarvkjain@gmail.com (S.K. Jain).
of concrete. Conventionally, crushed rocks are used as coarse
aggregate and river sand as fine aggregate. Both are naturally avail-
able material. Due to rapid growth of construction activities, con-
ventional aggregate sources are depleting very fast resulted in
scarcity of resources. For sustainable development, these materials
should be used wisely and at the same time alternative materials
need to be searched to replace conventional aggregate. Besides,
these crushed aggregates may contain a percentage of irrespirable
crystalline silica or free silica which releases during the production
and handling and could pose health problems or skin irritation
[25].
Further, with increased population and modern living habits,
production of waste material is increasing at fast pace and its
disposal has become a genuine problem. To resolve the problem,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.02.066
0950-0618/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156 151

solution is either (i) to minimize the waste at production level or
(ii) to utilize the waste materials for some positive activity. In view
of these issues, reuse of various types of waste materials for con-
crete production has been investigated and reported such as fly
ash [26]; industrial slag [20]; waste plastic [14]; over burnt bricks
[2]; coconut shell [1]; oil palm shell [24]; waste rubber tyres [4];
Waste glass [22]; recycled coarse aggregate [16]; papercrete etc.
[19]. Ismail and Jaeel [15] reported an extensive study on use of
Giant reed to replace aggregate in concrete. From such studies, it
may be believed that innovation in the construction industry will
mainly focus on use of industrial and agro wastes or by-products
that are suitable for partial replacement of conventional ingredi-
ents of concrete. Waste coconut shell has potential of being used
as coarse aggregate in concrete [17]. The present study focuses
on use of waste coconut shell (CS) as partial replacement of con-
ventional coarse aggregate (CA) for concrete production.
2. Application of coconut shell as coarse aggregate
done as prescribed by Indian standards [7,8]. A total of 138 con-
crete cubes were tested in this experimental investigation. Tests,
as prescribed by Indian Standards, were performed to determine
the properties of the ingredients. The study was carried out in
two phases. In the first part, mix design of M20 grade of control
concrete (i.e. concrete with no coconut shell) was carried out for
maximum permissible w/c ratio of 0.55. Then, CA was replaced
by CS in the proportions (i) 10%, (ii) 20%, (iii) 30% and (iv) 40% by
volume respectively, keeping w/c ratio and quantity of other ingre-
dients constant. 7 days and 28 days compressive strength and den-
sity of concrete was obtained for these concrete mixes.
In the second part, the mix design for obtaining M20 concrete
was carried out for varying proportion of CA & CS. Six ratios of
CA and CS considered were (100:0); (95:5); (90:10); (85:15);
(80:20) and (75:25). Proportioning of ingredients was carried out
at three different w/c ratios (0.55; 0.50; 0.45) and the w/c ratio,
which resulted into desired target strength, was arrived at from
compressive strength versus w/c ratio curves.

Coconut is grown in more than 86 countries. India occupies the
premier position in the world with an annual production of 13 bil-
lion nuts [21]. The coconut industry in India accounts for about one
sixth of the world’s total coconut oil output and is set to grow fur-
ther with the global increase in demand. Table 1 shows the world’s
top five countries by coconut production [5].
However, it is also the contributor to the nation’s pollution
problem as a solid waste in the form of waste coconut shells. In
view of huge demand, naturally available conventional aggregates
are depleting fast and becoming scarce. Waste coconut shell may
also be considered as one of the replacement alternative.
Properties of coconut shell which may make it suitable coarse
aggregate for concrete are (i) its high strength and modulus prop-
erties; (ii) its high lignin content that makes the composites more
weather resistant; (iii) its low cellulose content due to which it
absorbs less moisture as compared to other agricultural waste;
(iv) its shells are non-biodegradable; (v) they can be used readily
in concrete which may fulfill almost all the qualities of the original
form of concrete; (vi) sugar in the coconut shell is not in a free
sugar form, and therefore does not affect the setting and strength
of concrete; (vii) its surface texture is fairly smooth on concave
and rough on convex faces [3]. Kulkarni et al. [18] in their experi-
mental study observed that there is no need to treat the coconut
shell before use as an aggregate except for water absorption. They
found that there was adequate bonding between the coconut shell
aggregate concrete and the steel bars. Ganiron [6] used coconut
shells and fiber as substitute for aggregates in developing concrete
hollow block. The study was carried out for various percentage of
coconut shell content as partial replacement of conventional
aggregate. They observed that replacement of appropriate coconut
shell content produces workable concrete with satisfactory
strength.
3.1. Material used
In this study, the materials used were Ordinary Portland
Cement, Potable Water, Natural Sand, and Crushed Coarse Aggre-
gates. Waste coconut shell was used as a partial replacement of
conventional crushed coarse aggregate. Details of materials used
are provided in following section.
3.1.1. Cement
Ordinary Portland cement of 53 grade was used in this study.
Tests for cement were carried out according to standards [9] and
the results are presented in Table 2.
3.1.2. Fine aggregate
Natural sand conforming to Zone I was used as fine aggregate in
this work. Various tests were conducted on natural sand as per
standards [10,11] to find the properties of natural sand. Sieve anal-
ysis for the fine aggregate is presented in Table 3 and the test
results for its properties are presented in Table 5.
3.1.3. Crushed coarse aggregates
Crushed coarse aggregate (CA) of two types with respect to par-
ticle sizes were used for the experimental work. Two were mixed
in proportion of (2:3) to satisfy the grading requirement of
20 mm size nominal aggregate. The aggregates were tested in
accordance with standards [10,11] to know their properties. Its
sieve analysis is presented in Table 4 and the test results for its
properties are presented in Table 5.
Table 2
Test results of cement.

S. No. Particulars Test Requirements of

3. Experimental investigation results standards [9]
1. Standard consistency (%) 32 –
The present study was carried out for M20 grade concrete, the 2 Setting time (minutes)
mix which has characteristic strength of 20 MPa. Mix design was a. Initial 58 30 (minimum)
b. Final 278 600 (maximum)
Table 1 3. Soundness (mm)
Availability of coconut shell [5]. Le-chatelier expansion 1.0 10.0 (maximum)
4. Compressive strength (MPa)
S. No. Country Coconut production (in 2012) Percent of world total a. 72 ± 1h (3 days) 30.5 27
1 Indonesia 18,000,000 t 30.0% b. 168 ± 1h (7 days) 41.3 37
2 Philippines 15,862,386 t 26.4% c. 672 ± 1h (28 days) 54.7 53
3 India 10,560,000 t 17.0% 5 Fineness
4 Brazil 2,888,532 t 4.8% a. By sieve of 90 m (%) 5 10 (maximum)
5 Sri Lanka 2,000,000 t 3.3% b. Blain apparatus (m2/kg) 287.5 225 (minimum)
152 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156

Table 3 sented in Table 4. Engineering properties of coconut shell used in

Sieve analysis of fine aggregate (Sand). the study are presented in Table 5.
IS sieve Cumulative Cumulative Recommendation of IS From Table 4, it could be seen that coarse aggregate and coco-
size percentage percentage 383:1970 [11] for Zone I nut shell aggregate are lying between minimum and maximum
retained passing range of particle size prescribed by Indian Standards [11].
10 mm 0 100 100
4.75 mm 8.9 91.1 90–100
3.2. Mix design of M20 grade concrete
2.36 mm 22.9 77.1 60–95
1.18 mm 52.2 47.8 30–70
600 m 83.7 16.3 15–34 M20 mix design was carried out for control mix (i.e. without
300 m 94.7 5.3 5–20 coconut shell) according to Indian standards [7]. Detailed proce-
150 m 99.4 0.6 0–10
dure of mix design is provided in Annexure A. The concrete mix
was designed for slump of 60 mm. Using same mix design, coconut
shell concrete was prepared by replacement of conventional
3.1.4. Waste coconut shell (CS) crushed coarse aggregate (CA) with waste coconut shell (CS). Coco-
Waste coconut shells were collected from premises of various nut shell replaced conventional aggregate by 10%, 20%, 30% and
temples of Gwalior where coconut is used to worship God. The 40% respectively (by volume) and the effect on compressive
outer part i.e. the coconut shells were sun dried for 30 days before strength and density of concrete was observed. Table 6 shows
being crushed manually. Shells were broken by hammer into smal- quantities of different ingredients of concrete, obtained by its
ler size. The crushed materials were than washed and allowed to mix design.
dry under ambient temperature for another 30 days. The range of Further, the mix design for M20 grade concrete was done for
particle sizes of the coconut shell was kept between 5 to 20 mm varying percentage of replacement (by volume) of CA by CS. Six
for use in concrete (Photo 1). It was submerged in water for 24 h ratios of CA and CS were considered viz. (100:0); (95:5); (90:10);
before using it as aggregate. The surface texture of the shell was (85:15); (80:20) and (75:25). It was observed that w/c ratio need
fairly smooth on concave and rough on convex faces. Sieve analysis to be reduced to get the desired target strength for increasing
of coconut shell was carried out (Photo 2) and the results are pre- quantity of coconut shell. Water/cement ratio which resulted into

Table 4
Particle size distributions for coarse aggregates.

Sieve size Percent passing Percent passing Percent passing of CA (Type I & II Percent Prescribed
of CA (Type I) of CA (Type II) in ratio of 2:3) passing of CS range (11)
20 mm 92.9 100 96.8 95.2 95–100
16 mm 56.3 100 82.5 70.8 –
12.5 mm 9.9 100 64 53.8 –
10 mm 1.0 86 52.0 40.5 25–55
4.75 mm 0.5 5.0 3.2 9.0 0–10

CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell.

Table 5
Properties of aggregates.

Description CA Type I CA Type II Sand Coconut shell (CS)

Specific gravity 2.66 2.66 2.55 1.16
Water absorption (%) 0.50 0.50 1.03 13.79
Bulk density (loose) in kg/l 1.386 1.353 1.432 0.721
Bulk density (rodded) in kg/litre 1.469 1.423 1.558 0.782
Percentage void (loose) 47.49 49.14 43.85 37.87
Percentage void (rodded) 44.77 46.50 38.88 32.58
Surface texture Rough Rough – Smooth inner surface & rough outer surface
Shape Angular Angular – Flaky

(a) (b)
Photo 1. (a) Breaking coconut shell into small pieces, (b) Waste coconut shell of different size.
 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156 153

(a) (b) (c)

Photo 2. Sieve analysis of (a) Conventional coarse aggregate; (b) Fine aggregate; (c) Coconut shell.

Table 6
Quantities of ingredients per m3 of concrete.

Ingredients % of CS in total coarse aggregate (by volume)

0% (control mix) 10% 20% 30% 40%
Water (kg) 202 202 202 202 202
W/C ratio 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55
Cement (kg) 367.27 367.27 367.27 367.27 367.27
Natural sand (kg) 712.0 712.0 712.0 712.0 712.0
Conventional coarse aggregate (kg) 1068.76 961.88 855.01 748.10 641.26
Waste coconut shell (kg) NIL 46.61 93.22 139.80 186.43

desired target mean strength of concrete and corresponding quan-
tity of ingredients in per cubic metre of concrete is given in Table 7.
3.3. Testing of concrete
7 days and 28 days compressive strength of concrete was
obtained by compression testing machine (Photo 3). Compressive
load was increased till the specimens were broken. 150 mm cubes
were used for finding out the compressive strength of various con-
crete mixes. The compression test was carried on concrete mixes
according to standards [13]. Weight of the specimens was taken
before compression testing to find the density.
4. Results and discussion
Mix design was carried out for M20 grade control concrete (i.e.
without coconut shell). Cubes of control concrete were prepared
according to this mix design. In order to investigate the effect of
replacing partially the conventional aggregate (CA) by coconut
shell (CS), 150 mm cubes of coconut shell concrete were also
casted. Same proportion of ingredients was maintained for coconut
shell concrete also except replacing partially (by volume) the CA
with CS. Total coarse aggregate comprised of respectively five dif-
ferent ratios of CA and CS viz (100:0); (90:10); (80:20); (70:30) and
(60:40). Further, for increasing replacement of CA by CS, in steps of
5%, proportioning of ingredients was carried out for M20 grade
concrete (i.e. concrete of 20 N/mm2 characteristic strength). The
effect of quantity of coconut shell was observed in respect of
parameters like density; 7 & 28 days compressive strength; and
cement requirement. The results are produced and discussed in
following sections.
4.1. Effect of coconut shell on compressive strength of concrete
Table 8 presents 7 days and 28 days compressive strength of
150 mm cube for different ratios of CA and CS; taking quantity of
ingredients (except coarse aggregate) corresponding to M20 grade
of control concrete as given in Table 6. Compressive strength of
coconut shell concrete is decreasing gradually with increase in
quantity of coconut shell. Gain in strength after 7 days is signifi-
cantly higher for coconut shell concrete than that for control
concrete.
Table 9 shows the decrement in compressive strength due to
increasing percentage of coconut shell. It can be observed that
the decrement in the 28 days compressive strength of coconut
shell concrete is lesser than the decrement in compressive strength
at 7 days. Results also indicate that coconut shell concrete gain less
strength initially (7 days) but shows rapid strength gain at later
stage.

Table 7
Quantities of ingredients of M20 grade coconut shell concrete.

Mix proportion W/C ratio Quantity of materials per m3 of concrete in kg

Water Cement Sand Aggregate (CA) Coconut shell
20 mm 10 mm
CA:CS (100:0) 0.550 202 367.3 712.0 427.6 641.4 –
CA:CS (95:5) 0.550 202 367.3 712.0 406.1 609.2 23.3
CA:CS (90:10) 0.530 202 381.1 701.9 385.7 578.5 46.7
CA:CS (85:15) 0.492 202 410.6 677.9 363.7 545.5 69.9
CA:CS (80:20) 0.475 202 425.3 667.8 341.4 512.2 93.1
CA:CS (75:25) 0.450 202 448.9 651.4 318.8 478.3 115.4

CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell.

154 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156

(a) (b) (c)

Photo 3. (a) Filling concrete in mould, (b) Cube before compression test, (c) Broken cubes after compressive strength test.

Table 8 4.3. Effect of coconut shell on cement content

Compressive strength of concrete with different quantity of coconut shell.

S. No. Concrete mix Compressive strength Ratio Water/cement ratio variation for different coconut shell con-
(MPa) cretes, as estimated from trial mixes is shown in Table 7. As shown
7 days 28 days in the Table, increase in percentage of coconut shell contents
requires gradual reduction in water/cement ratio so as to maintain
1 CA:CS (100:0) 24.6 28.3 0.87
i.e. Control concrete the desired target mean compressive strength. It can be observed
2 CA:CS (90:10) 15.7 25.6 0.61 from Tables 7 and 11 that for M20 grade concrete, no additional
3 CA:CS (80:20) 14.2 25.3 0.56 cement was required for 5% replacement of CA by CS. In case of
4 CA:CS (70:30) 11.4 24.2 0.47 10% replacement, additional quantity of cement required was only
5 CA:CS (60:40) 9.2 22.2 0.42
3.6%. However, for 25% replacement, additional cement content of
CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell. 81.6 kg per m3 of concrete was required to save 271.9 kg of con-
ventional coarse aggregate per m3 of concrete and at the same time
getting added advantage of disposing 115.4 kg of waste coconut
shell.
Table 9
Effect of coconut shell quantity on compressive strength.

S. No. Concrete mix % decrease in

compressive strength
Table 11
w. r. t. control
Change in quantities of coarse aggregate, cement and CS per m3 concrete.
concrete
7 days 28 days S. Concrete % decrease in CA % increase in cement CS
No. mix (with respect to (with respect to disposed
1 CA:CS (100:0) i.e. control concrete – – control mix) control mix) (kg)
2 CA:CS (90:10) 36.2 9.5
3 CA:CS (80:20) 42.3 10.6 1 CA:CS 5.0 0.0 23.3
4 CA:CS (70:30) 53.7 14.5 (95:5)
5 CA:CS (60:40) 62.6 21.5 2 CA:CS 9.8 3.6 46.7
(90:10)
CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell. 3 CA:CS 14.9 11.8 69.9
(85:15)
4 CA:CS 20.1 15.8 93.1
Table 10 (80:20)
Effect of coconut shell quantity on density of concrete. 5 CA:CS 25.4 22.2 115.4
(75:25)
S. Concrete mix Demould density % decrease in density (w. r. t.
No. (kg/m3) control concrete) CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell.

1 CA:CS (100:0) 2558 –

i.e. control
concrete
2 CA:CS (90:10) 2529 1.14
600 1100
3 CA:CS (80:20) 2478 3.13
Coarse Aggregate Content (kg)

4 CA:CS (70:30) 2391 6.53

550 1050
5 CA:CS (60:40) 2367 7.47
Cement Content (kg)

CA: conventional coarse aggregate, CS: coconut shell. 500 1000

450 950
4.2. Effect of coconut shell on concrete density
400 900

Cubes of concrete prepared for control concrete and with differ- 350 850
ent percentages of CA replacement by CS were weighed just before
testing them for compressive strength. The density of concrete was 300 800
evaluated to investigate the effect of the replacement. The results
250 750
presented in Table 10 shows that density decreases with increase 0 5 10 15 20 25
in percentage of coconut shell. Decrease is about 7.5% for replace- Coconut Shell % (by Volume) in Total Coarse Aggregate
ment of 40%. The reason for decrease in density owes to relatively
low specific gravity of coconut shell. Fig. 1. Variation of cement; CA and CS content per m3 of M20 grade concrete.
 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156 155

Fig. 1 shows that as the percentage of CS increases, quantity of Minimum cement content: 300 kg/m3
cement increases gradually and quantity of CA decreases. From the Maximum water cement 0.55
figure it can be observed that decrease in quantity of conventional ratio (w/c):
coarse aggregate is more as compared to increase in the quantity of Workability: Medium (25–75 mm slump)
cement. Exposure condition: Mild
Maximum cement content: 450 kg/m3
5. Conclusions Degree of supervision: Good
Type of aggregate: Crushed angular aggregate
The present investigation was taken up in view of disposal Test data for materials
problem of non-decaying waste coconut shell and scarcity of con- Specific gravity of cement: 3.15
ventional coarse aggregate used for concrete. This experimental Specific gravity of coarse 2.66
study aimed to explore the feasibility and possibility of partial aggregate:
replacement of conventional coarse aggregate by waste coconut Specific gravity of fine 2.55
shell for concrete production. Based on the results of this experi- aggregate:
mental investigation, following conclusions could be drawn: Water absorption of coarse 0.5%
aggregate:
1. Large production of non-decaying waste coconut shell leads to Water absorption of fine 1.03%
disposal problem. Properties of coconut shell makes it suitable aggregate:
ingredient for concrete production and its use for concrete Free surface moisture of coarse Nil
may help in its disposals problem. aggregate:
2. Replacement of conventional aggregate by waste coconut shell Free surface moisture of fine Nil
(keeping quantity of other ingredients unchanged) results into aggregate:
decrease in compressive strength. 40% replacement resulted
in about 22% reduction in the 28 days strength. Addition of
coconut shell shows low strength development at early age Coconut shell is submerged in water for 24 h before using it as
but later it shows rapid strength development. The ratio of aggregate.
7 days to 28 days strength ranges from 0.87 (for concrete with-
out CS) to 0.42 (for concrete with 40% CS). (i) Target strength for mix proportioning
3. Replacement of conventional aggregate by waste coconut shell
makes the concrete lighter. Reduction in concrete density is f t ¼ f ck þ 1:65  S
about 7.5% for 40% replacement.
4. Strength obtained for conventional concrete can be maintained f t ¼ 20 þ 1:65  4 ¼ 26:6 MPa
for waste coconut shell concrete also by reducing the W/C ratio.
(ii) Selection of water cement ratio
The required reduction in W/C ratio for achieving same strength
Considering, water cement ratio as 0.45.
is more for increased waste coconut shell contents thereby
increasing the cement consumption.
(iii) Selection of water content
5. No additional cement is required for 5% replacement and only
3.6% additional cement is required for 10% replacement.
As prescribed by IS 10262-2009 [7], water content for 20 mm
6. Although there is an increase in cost due to additional cement
aggregate (for 25–50 mm slump) is 186 L per cubic metre of
requirement, the advantages being many, including efficient
concrete.
utilization of waste coconut shell, reduction in natural source
For desired slump i.e. 60 mm, water content after adjustment
depletion etc, the use of coconut shell in concrete seems to be
comes out to be 192 kg. Test for the workability shows that the
a feasible option.
slump value is still less. Therefore water content is increased to
202 kg per cubic metre of concrete which results into the concrete
of desired slump.
Annexure A
(iv) Calculation of cement content
Mix designs for M20 grade coconut shell concrete
Water cement ratio ¼ 0:45
The design of concrete mix is carried out as prescribed by Indian 202
Cement Content ¼ 0:45 ¼ 448:88 kg=m3
Standards [7,12]. The mix design for M20 grade concrete with vary-
ing quantity of coconut shell is carried out. Trial values of water/ 448:88 kg=m3 > 300 kg=m3 ; Hence O:K:
cement ratio of 0.45, 0.50, and 0.55 are considered to arrive at w/c (v) Proportion of volume of coarse and fine aggregate content
which results into desired target mean strength of 26.6 N/mm2. (vi) Computation of quantities of ingredients [CA (90%) + CS
(10%)]
Mix design with W/C = 0.45 As prescribed by IS 10262-2009 [7],

Stipulations for proportioning Fraction of coarse aggregate = 0.61

Grade of concrete: M20 Fraction of fine aggregate = 0.39
Type of cement: OPC 53Grade conforming a. Volume of concrete = 1 m3
Mass of Cement 1
to IS 8112 b. Volume of Cement ¼ Specific gravity of cement
 1000 ¼ 0:143 m3
Maximum nominal size 20 mm Mass of Water
c. Volume of Water ¼ Specific 1
 1000 ¼ 0:202 m3
gravity of water
of aggregate: d. Volume of all in aggregate = 1 (0.143 + 0.202) = 0.655 m3.
156 A. Kanojia, S.K. Jain / Construction and Building Materials 140 (2017) 150–156

Table A1 References
Quantities of ingredients for 1 m3 of concrete [CA (90%) + CS (10%)] (w/c = 0.45).

Materials Cement Water Natural Coarse Coconut [1] A.F. Abubakar, M.S. Abubakar, Exploratory study of coconut shell as coarse
aggregate in concrete, J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 3 (2011) 61–66.
sand aggregate shell
[2] A.A. Aliabdo, M. Elmoaty Abd-, H.H. Hassan, Utilization of crushed clay brick in
Quantities (kg) 448.9 202 651 957 46.4 concrete industry, Alexandria Eng. J. 53 (2014) 151–168.
[3] R. Chinap, Study of Mechanical and Flexural Properties of Coconut Shell Ash
Reinforced Epoxy Composites, A Thesis Submitted at Department of
Mechanical Engineering National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, 2012.
[4] N.N. Eldin, A.B. Senouci, Rubber tyre particles as coarse aggregate, J. Mater.
Civil Eng. 5 (1993) 478–496.
[5] FAOSTAT Data, Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations. (Last
Compressive Strength(N/mm2)

29.5 Accessed by Top 5 of Anything: January 2014), 2014.

29
28.5
28
27.5
27
26.5
26
25.5
0.45 0.46 0.47 0.48 0.49 0.5
Water Cement Ratio
Fig. A1. 28 days compressive strength v/s w/c ratio (CA:CS = 90:10).
e. Total volume of coarse aggregate (0.61)
For 10% replacement of CA; the fraction of CA = 0.549 & frac-
tion of CS = 0.061.
f. Mass of coarse aggregate = 0.655  0.549  2.66  1000 =
956.5 kg/m3
g. Mass of waste coconut shell = 0.655  0.061  1.16 
1000 = 46. kg/m3
h. Mass of fine aggregate = 0.655  0.39  2.55  1000 =
651.4 kg/m3
Quantities of ingredients per cubic metre are summarized in
Table A1. Now concrete cubes with this quantity of ingredients
are casted and 7 days and 28 days compressive strength is found.
Similar steps were followed for w/c ratio of 0.50 and 0.55 for this
proportion of CA & CS. Plot between 28 days compressive strength
v/s water cement ratios was drawn to arrive at the value of
water/cement ratio which corresponds to target mean strength of
26.6 N/mm2. It was observed from Fig. A1 that target mean
strength may be achieved with w/c ratio of 0.53. Quantity of
ingredients was obtained for this w/c ratio as explained above
and then verified from compression test.
Similarly, mix designs were carried out using w/c ratio obtained
as above for five more proportions in coarse aggregate viz. (i) 100%
CA + 0% CS; (ii) 95% CA + 5% CS; (iii) 85% CA + 15% CS; (iv) 80% CA
+ 20% CS; and (v) 75% CA + 25% CS respectively.
[6] T.U. Ganiron Jr., Sustainable management of waste coconut shells as
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