Impact Strength of Oil-Palm Shell on Lightweight Concrete Slabs Reinforced with a Geo-Grid

Abstract

This paper focuses on the biotechnology of concrete. Oil palm shells (OPSs) are a main solid pollutant of the environment and can be used as a replacement for the conventional aggregate in lightweight concrete. An experimental investigation on the impact resistance of OPS lightweight concrete with a geo-grid was performed. A mix design was determined through various trial mixes to ensure the OPS lightweight concrete could achieve the required structural performance. A self-fabricated drop-weight impact test rig was used to simulate a low-velocity projectile impact on the slab specimens. Three parameters were tested for impact resistance on specimens with and without geo-grid reinforcement, as follows: (1) OPS content, (2) geo-grid types, and (3) geo-grid layers. Inclusion of OPS reduces the impact resistance of concrete and a geo-grid layer improves the impact resistance, but the effect is more pronounced for ultimate crack resistance than the first crack resistance. A comparison between geo-grid types indicated that Geo-Grid 80/80 has an overall better performance in lightweight concrete for impact resistance.