Properties of Palm Nut Fiber–Reinforced Cement Composite Containing Pulverized Kernel Shell as Supplementary Material

Abstract

The results of an experimental program to evaluate the properties of a novel building material—oil palm waste-cement composite (OPWCC) are presented in this paper. Cement paste samples containing 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80% pulverized palm kernel shell (PKS) as a replacement for cement, and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% volume fractions of palm nut fiber (PNF) were evaluated for flexural strength, impact strength, sound absorption coefficient, thermal diffusion coefficient, and percentage water absorption. The results show that the impact strength, acoustic absorption, and thermal diffusivity performances of the composite were improved with the addition of PKS and PNF. On the other hand, the flexural strength and the water absorption characteristics of the composite deteriorated with the addition of PKS and PNF. However, for some of the investigated composites, these later-mentioned characteristics were within values specified by ASTM for sheathing board.