Construction and Building Materials 43 (2013) 490496

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Construction and Building Materials

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Mix design for y ash based oil palm shell geopolymer lightweight
concrete
Ramin Hosseini Kupaei a, U. Johnson Alengaram a,, Mohd Zamin Bin Jumaat a, Hamid Nikraz b
a
b

Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Department of Civil Engineering, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley Campus, Perth, Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 5 March 2012
Received in revised form 14 January 2013
Accepted 26 February 2013
Available online 2 April 2013
Keywords:
Fly ash
Oil palm shell
Lightweight aggregate
Geopolymer concrete
Mix design

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the experimental results of an on-going research project to produce geopolymer
lightweight concrete using two locally available waste materials low calcium y ash (FA) and oil palm
shell (OPS) as the binder and lightweight coarse aggregate, respectively. A total of 32 mixes using different mixture proportions were prepared to get an appropriate mix design for y ash based oil palm
shell geopolymer lightweight concrete (OPSGPC). A mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate
in different molarities was used as an alkali activator. The variables used in this investigation include
the y ash content, molarity and condition of OPS. The proposed mix design differs widely from the procedure used for mix proportioning of concrete produced with conventional lightweight and normal
weight aggregates. The increase in FA content reduces the strength signicantly due to additional water
used for workability. The increase in molarity from 14 M to 16 M did not have desired effect on the compressive strength. However, the use of OPS with SSD condition produced higher strength than that of AD
condition. The OPSGPC with 14 M, FA content of 480 kg/m3 and water to FA ratio of 0.34 produced 28-day
compressive strength of about 32 MPa and is recommended for producing structural grade 30 OPSGPC.
The demoulded densities of OPSGPC were within the limit of 2000 kg/m3 for lightweight concrete.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The increasing demand for sustainable materials reinvigorated
many researchers to identify new materials for sustainable development. The use of waste materials in concrete such as recycled
concrete aggregates (RCAs), quarry dust (QD), articial aggregates
are some of the means of sustainable development. As is widely
acknowledged, the production of OPC has a huge environmental
impact due to the large amount of greenhouse gas released into
the atmosphere [1]. The production of 1 tonne of cement contributes 1 tonne of CO2 to the atmosphere, together with minor
amount of Methane, Nitrons oxides and Flourine. Thus, the CO2
emission due to the production of OPC has been reported to be
about 13,500 million tonne, which accounts for 7% of greenhouse
gases annually worldwide [2]. Moreover, other emitted gases, such
as SO3 and NOx from the manufacture of cement cause acid rain
and the greenhouse effect, which have a grave impact on our environment [3].
The production of 1 tonne of OPC normally requires about
1.5 tonnes of raw materials, such as limestone and sand; in addition, 1 tonne of OPC clinker consumes a huge amount of energy

Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 379677632; fax: +60 379675318.

E-mail address: ujohnrose@yahoo.com (U.J. Alengaram).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.02.071

in the order of 17001800 MJ [4]. Concrete made of OPC has a

durability problem, such as sulphate attack, steel corrosion, aggregate-alkali reaction and re resistance. The strength of ordinary
concrete starts to decrease at a temperature of around 400 C [5].
In Malaysia, the abundance of industrial waste, such as y ash
(FA), rice husk ash (RHA), quarry dust, palm oil fuel ash (POFA),
and oil palm shell (OPS), has driven research oriented projects to
utilise such waste into potential construction materials. The
Malaysian Government has also encouraged converting this waste
into wealth. Recently, there has been extensive research carried
concerning the use of other forms of cementitious materials that
have high silicon and aluminium content [6].
FA is an industrial waste material from thermal power plants
and is available in abundance in Malaysia. It is produced from
the burning of powdered coal in the coal-red furnaces. Approximately, 1 billion tonnes of FA is produced annually in coal-red
steam power plants around the world. FA has a huge environmental impact as it is dumped by the power plants. Hence, the reuse of
FA is a positive step to reduce pollution [710]. At present, about
28% of electricity in Malaysia is generated by pulverized coal ring,
which consumes approximately 8 million tonnes of coal annually
and 65% is generated by natural gas. In order to reduce the dependency on natural gas as a main fuel for electricity generation, the
Government of Malaysia decided in 2010 to raise the share of coal
in the fuel mix by about 40% [11]. The use of FA by the construction

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industry has had a very signicant effect. Concrete with a high volume of FA of up to 60% replacement has been produced [12]. The
use of FA in the manufacture of cement and concrete is an example
of sustainable development.
The discovery of the geopolymer chemistry by Davidovits [6]
enabled many companies in different parts of the world to produce
geopolymer concrete and related products commercially. FA has
been used in the production of geopolymer concrete due to its high
content of silicon (Si) and aluminium (Al). Alkali activators have
been used to activate the aluminosilica materials; thus the activated material could change vitreous structures into compact
cementations skeletons. Recently, researchers have shown that alkali activated-thermal cured FA based concrete could be produced
with a compressive strength of about 60 MPa [1319]. In the geopolymer concrete, the coarse aggregates used were conventional
crushed granite aggregate. However, the use of organic lightweight
aggregates (LWAs) in geopolymer concrete is not common. There
are different types of LWA, such as foamed slag, Lytag, Aglite, Leca,
and Pumice.
In Southeast Asia and some African countries the abundance of
industrial waste material, oil palm shells (OPSs) also known as
palm kernel shells (PKSs) led to research on utilising OPS as
LWA. OPS are a waste product from the extraction of oil from the
oil palm tree. The oil palm tree, being in the same genera as the
coconut palm tree, shares many of its features. Its scientic name
is Elaeis guineensis and it is found mainly in East Africa. OPS are
the hard endocarp that surrounds the palm kernel. OPS are light
and are available in varying sizes between 2.36 and 14 mm, and,
thus, are suitable for substituting as coarse aggregates in lightweight concrete. OPKS is also used as a granular lter material
for water treatment, oor roong and road based material. The
thermal conductivity of 0.19 km/W (kelvin-metres per watt) for
OPKS is much lower than the value of 1.4 km/W for conventional
stone aggregate [20]. Okafor reported that the highest compressive
strength of concrete produced using OPS or PKS aggregate was
about 2530 MPa [21].
The mix design for OPS concrete (OPSC) has resulted in concrete
with sufcient strength, as specied for structural lightweight concrete and has given satisfactory workability with superplasticisers.
OPSC can also be utilised in lightweight concrete applications that
require low to moderate strength, such as pavements and inll
panels for ooring and walls. OPSC could be used in country areas
and nearby areas where the palm oil factories are located, for
houses, road-kerbs, drain blocks, etc., which might reduce the cost
of concrete [2225]. Further, the aggregate interlock property of
OPS enabled higher shear strength of OPSC than the conventional
concrete made with crushed granite aggregate [26]. The compressive strength and slump values of OPSC containing cementitious
materials, such as FA and silica fume, were found to range from
26 to 36 MPa and 0 to 160 mm, respectively [2729]. Basri et al.
found that the compressive strength of OPSC was approximately
50% less than the conventional normal weight concrete [30]. The
water absorption of OPS is about 20%. To improve the quality of
OPS, Mannan et al. used six different chemicals and found that
polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) had a positive effect. The water absorption
of OPS treated with 20% of PVA was reduced to 4.25% from 23%.
Further, they reported an increase in the compressive strength of
about 41% compared to OPSC with untreated OPS [31]. The recent
development in OPSC was the use of crushed OPS to develop high
strength LWC with a compressive strength of about 3453 MPa by
Shagh et al. [32] and [35].
Malaysia is the second largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia and in that process produces a large amount of OPS. More than
4 million tonnes of OPS are being produced in Malaysia annually
[33]; this trend is set to grow further with the global increase in
demand for vegetable oil. The use of OPS in geopolymer concrete

would pave way for reduction in the consumption of conventional

aggregates and lead to sustainable construction; this would also
help in reducing the excessive use of virgin raw materials.
FA has been used in the development of OPSC and it was found
to have a negative effect on compressive strength [34]. However,
no research work has been carried out on the utilisation of OPS
in the development of FA based geopolymer concrete. This investigation focuses on proposing an appropriate mix design to produce
structural grade geopolymer LWC using class F-FA as binder, OPS
as coarse aggregate and suitable activators. The variables investigated in this research include the y ash content, molarity of alkali
activator and condition of OPS. The y ash based geopolymer concrete developed in this investigation is hereafter referred as oil
palm shell geopolymer lightweight concrete (OPSGPC).

2. Experiment programme
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Fly ash
The FA is used as the main binder replacing OPC and was obtained from Lafarge
Malayan Cement Bhd, Malaysia. The chemical composition of the FA used, expressed in percentages by mass of the constituent oxides as determined by X-ray
Fluorescence (XRF) analysis, are given in Table 1.
It can be seen from Table 1, that the FA contained a very low percentage of carbon as indicated by the low loss on ignition (LOI) values. The molar Si-to-Al ratio
was about 2, and the calcium oxide content was very low. The iron oxide (Fe2O3)
content of FA is slightly higher than that of OPC and hence it had darker colour than
OPC.

2.1.2. Aggregates
Local mining sand with a maximum size of 1.18 mm, neness modulus of 2.73,
specic gravity of 2.68 and water absorption of 0.96% was used as the ne aggregate. The OPS used in the research as a coarse aggregate was collected from a local
palm oil producing factory, Bukit Taolong oil palm mill, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia.
The OPS that was discarded in the vicinity of the palm oil factory contained no bres, as they were old. The bre content on the surface of OPS is one of the most
important aspects between the old and the fresh. Normally, most parts of the fresh
OPS have bres. The difference between OPS with and without bres is shown in
Fig. 1. These bres absorb the existing water in the paste and decrease the workability and also reduce the contact area between the OPS surface and the mortar, which
causes a weak interfacial transition zone [35]. Accordingly, to achieve better workability of fresh OPSGPC and the bond between OPS and mortar phase, the old OPS
were used.
The OPS were crushed to the required sizes and were sieved using sieves between 4.75 and 1.18 mm, following which they were washed to remove the oil
and dirt. Then these washed OPS were used in two different conditions, namely, saturated surface dry (SSD) and air-dry (AD). For the AD condition crushed OPS were
washed to remove the oil coating using detergent; then the OPS were dried in the
air to remove the surface moisture to simulate the use of OPS in practice. However,
SSD refers to the laboratory condition as the crushed and washed OPS were soaked

Table 1
Chemical composition of y ash used and Ordinary Portland cement (%).
Oxides

Fly ash

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
CaO
MgO
SO3
K2O
Na2O
MnO
TiO2
P2O5
Cr2O3
Sr
Zn
LOI

57.60
28.90
5.79
0.18
0.91
0.23
0.86
0.38
0.04
1.84
0.46
0.02
0.10
0.02
3.63

19.030
4.600
3.050
63.020
2.640
2.580
1.030
0.260
0.127
0.250
0.030
0.003
0.069
0.009
2.580

OPC

Total

100.96

99.730

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Table 4
The mass of NaOH solids per kg of the solution for
different concentrations [1].

Fig. 1. OPS aggregates with and without bres.

Table 2
Physical properties of OPS aggregate.
Physical property

OPS

Specic gravity (saturated surface dry)

Bulk density (compacted) (kg/m3)
Fineness modulus
Water absorption (24 h) (%)

1.18
596
5.53
21.78

Molarity

Mass of NaOH (g)

8M
10 M
12 M
14 M
16 M

262
314
361
404
444

other characteristics of the sodium silicate solution were specic gravity and viscosity at 20 C of 1.53 g/cc and 400 cP, respectively. The ratio of sodium silicate to
sodium hydroxide solutions remained at 2.5 for all samples. The molarity of NaOH
solution used in this research was in the range of 816 M, as shown in Table 4. The
ratio of activator solution-to-y ash (A/FA), by mass, was xed at 0.35 for all mixes.
Thus, the total water includes the water added in solution and the water added to
concrete. Therefore, the term water to FA (W/FA) ratio implies the total water in the
mixes. Sodium silicate and the sodium hydroxide solutions were kept at room temperature for at least 48 h before mixing it in the concrete.
2.1.4. Superplasticiser
The importance of using superplasticiser (SP) in y ash based geopolymer concrete was reported by Criado et al. [38]. Naphthalene sulphonated SP was used in
this investigation to improve the workability of the concrete mix. It was used at different percentages of FA weight.
2.1.5. Water
The water used in all mixes was potable tap water from the pipeline in the lab.

Table 3
Grading of OPS aggregates.
Sieve size (mm)

Percentage passing (%)

4.75
3.54
2.36
1.18

10.2
33.5
37.2
19.1

Total

100

in water for 48 h and dried using clean cotton to get rid of extra water from the OPS
aggregate. The physical properties of OPS are shown in Table 2. The grading of
crushed OPS of different sizes is shown in Table 3.

2.1.3. Alkali activator

Davidovits [36] proposed that an alkali liquid could be used to react with the
silicon (Si) and the aluminium (Al) in materials, such as FA and rice husk ash to produce binders. The role of alkali activator is based on the fact that FA would not react
in the presence of water. The hydroxyl ions (OH) from the alkali activator are
known to increase the hydration rate by enhancing the dissolution of aluminate
and silicate in the FA. The use of strong alkalis, such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH),
potassium hydroxide (KOH), and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), produce hydrolytic ions.
Alkalis may also be produced using chemicals, such as calcium sulphate and sodium
hydroxide, which produces a reaction between the sodium sulphate and calcium
hydroxide.
The commonly used activators are sodium hydroxide, silicate, carbonate and
sulphate. Sodium silicate is considered the most common and effective activator.
The main contribution of silicate anions to the development of geopolymerisation
in geopolymer materials is through alkali activation. The efciency of an activator
depends on factors, such as the type of activator, dosage, ambient temperature
and water to FA (W/FA) ratio. The previous research works were mainly based on
the combination of NaOH and Na2SiO3 as alkali activators [1,18,19,37]. Hence, the
combination of NaOH and Na2SiO3 solution with different molarities was chosen
as the alkali activator in this investigation. NaOH was chosen as it is cheaper than
KOH. The NaOH was of commercial grade in pellet form (5 mm), with a specic
gravity of 2.13 and 97% purity.
The NaOH solution was prepared by dissolving the pellets in water. The mass of
NaOH solids in a solution varies depending on the concentration of the solution expressed in terms of molar, M. For instance, NaOH solution with a concentration of
8 M consists of 8  40 = 320 g of NaOH solids per litre of the solution, where 40 is
the molecular weight of NaOH. The mass of NaOH solids was measured as 262 g
per kg of NaOH solution of 8 M concentration [1]. The mass of NaOH solids per
kg of the solution for different concentrations are shown in Table 4.
It should be noted that the mass of NaOH solids was about 2644% of the mass
of this solution, of which water is the major component. The composition of the sodium silicate solution used was Na2O = 12%, SiO2 = 30%, and water 58% by mass. The

2.2. Specimen preparation and curing

All dry materials were mixed in the pan mixer for 3 min and the alkali activator
solution was then added. The wet mixing continued for another 4 min [1]. The concrete was then cast in 50 mm cube moulds and poured in three phases with appropriate compaction. For each mix proportion, six specimens were cast. Immediately
after casting, the specimens along with the moulds were concealed using plastic
and then cured in an oven for 48 h at 65 C. After the specimens were taken out
of the oven, these were left at room temperature till the day for testing. This procedure was adopted based on the method suggested by Hardjito and Rangan [1]. The
average of three specimens is reported as the compressive strength.
2.3. Mix proportions
In this investigation of OPSGPC, trial and error method was employed. Preliminary trial mixes were based on the mix design suggested for LWC by Short and Kinniburgh [39]; however, the cement and water to cement (W/C) ratio were replaced by
FA and W/FA ratio, respectively. The total water in the mix includes the water used
in the preparation of the solution and the additional water added to the mix during
mixing.
The structural grade of OPSGPC could not be achieved using the preliminary
trial mix based on method suggested by Short and Kinniburgh. Basically, the mix
design procedure, as suggested in Ref. [39], is meant for concrete with LWA, such
as foamed slag, Lytag, Aglite, Leca and the conventional binder OPC. However,
OPS have entirely different characteristics compared to other LWA. This method
is meant for OPC, which has an entirely different reaction compared to FA.
2.3.1. Trial and error method used in this investigation
The OPS are of organic origin and its properties are different from those of LWA,
such as foamed slag, Lytag, Aglite, and Leca. Further the conventional LWA has a different texture and shape compared to OPS. The trial and error method was adopted
as the method suggested by Short and Kinniburgh failed to produce the structural
grade of OPSGPC.
A total of 24 trial mixes were done to obtain the optimum strength for OPSGPC;
the mixture proportions, molarity and compressive strength of the trial mixes are
shown in Table 5. The mixture proportions, condition of OPS used along with other
fresh and hardened properties are also shown in Table 5. In these trial mixes, different variables were considered, such as FA content, molarity of alkali activator, W/FA
ratio, and the condition of OPS aggregate (saturated surface dry-(SSD)/air-dry (AD)).
The A/FA ratio for all the mixes was kept at 0.35. In this investigation, the FA content varied in the range of 310560 kg/m3.
2.3.2. Suggested method of oil palm shell geopolymer concrete
The trial and error method as shown in Table 5 has given diverse results. The
development of the compressive strength of the specimens of FA/S/OPS ratio with
1/0.82/0.73 is shown in Fig. 2; the variables in the mixes were FA and water content,
molarity of alkali activator and the condition of OPS. Based on the highest

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R.H. Kupaei et al. / Construction and Building Materials 43 (2013) 490496

Table 5
Mix design for oil palm shell geopolymer concrete based on trial and error method [OPS aggregate used in saturated surface dry (SSD) and air dry (AD) conditions, mix proportion
by weight, FA = y ash, S = sand, OPS = oil palm shell, A/FA = 0.35; W/FA ratio varies].
Mix order

Mix proportion
FA/S/OPS

Fly ash content

(kg/m3)

Added water
(kg/m3)

Super-plasticiser
(l/m3)

Demoulded density
(kg/m3)

OPS
cond.

Alkali activator
molarity

A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
A9
A10
A11
A12
A13
A14
A15
A16
A17
A18
A19
A20
A21
A22
A23
A24

1/0.82/0.73
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.82/0.73
1/1.24/0.73
1/1.24/0.75
1/0.82/0.73
1/1.20/0.90
1/1.03/0.62
1/1.24/0.60
1/0.82/0.75
1/1.24/0.66
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.78/0.65
1/0.95/0.73
1/1.20/0.98
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.90/0.66
1/1.24/0.90
1/0.90/0.75
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.82/0.73
1/0.82/0.73

520
520
520
520
440
450
310
520
480
500
500
560
560
560
390
460
460
450
330
350
520
380
410
430

78.5
119.4
109.4
92.4
91.3
112.9
58.4
89.1
104.6
90.4
90.1
112.5
91.5
132.1
95.7
80.0
66.5
88.1
73.8
92.4
114.2
71.6
95.2
92.2

10.0
10.0
6.7
9.7
6.7
6.9
6.8
10.1
6.1
6.7
6.7
9.7
5.8
6.6
7.1
6.0
7.1
5.6
8.8
5.6
9.5
10.4
7.5
8.5

1826
1866
1840
1906
1782
1632
1396
1889
1861
1762
1949
1954
1905
2052
1724
1766
1691
1626
1510
1434
1824
1470
1558
1507

AD
SSD
SSD
SSD
AD
AD
AD
SSD
AD
AD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD
AD
AD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD
SSD

16 M
16 M
14 M
14 M
16 M
16 M
8M
14 M
14 M
12 M
12 M
14 M
14 M
14 M
10 M
14 M
14 M
14 M
8M
14 M
14 M
14 M
14 M
14 M

Compressive
strength (N/mm2)
14-day

28-day

20.59
7.01
9.72
17.32
8.63
16.35
12.67
16.05
10.62
15.59
16.64
14.06
18.64
11.05
9.24
27.36
25.68
14.61
8.47
10.92
8.37
16.25
11.69
13.27

22.1
9.68
10.17
19.63
9.96
17.58
13.55
18.46
11.32
17.86
18.48
15.91
19.38
12.23
10.47
28.14
27.89
15.81
9.78
11.76
9.61
18.30
12.54
14.86

Note: The mix A16 produced the highest 28-day compressive strength with 14 molarity alkali activator.

compressive strength, the mix no. A16 was selected (referred as B1 in Table 6) as
the base mix, and a further eight mixes (B2B9) were cast. The trial mixes showed
that a small change in the constituent materials results in variable strength. Hence,
in the mixes of B1B9 (Table 6), the contents of FA, sand and OPS were slightly altered to obtain an appropriate mix to produce the highest compressive strength.
The mix proportion of FA, sand (S) and OPS contents was kept constant at 1/0.74/
0.66. The FA content was varied between 460 and 500 kg/m3.
The activation of solid material requires water with considerable OH anion in
order to have signicant effect in the process of geopolymer synthesis. High dosage
of alkalinity is essential for the destruction of raw materials. It means, too much
water will reduce the geopolymerisation rate for its dilution effect. Previous study
showed that the additional water decreased geopolymerisation process before stable crystalline phases were formed. The heat evolved during geopolymerisation
shows that the high alkali activator solution to solid ratio could accelerate the dis

solution of raw materials and the hydrolysis of Si4 and Al3 compounds; however,
the poly condensation process will be delayed when the OH concentration is less
than 12 mol/l compare to the higher molarities of alkali activator. The effect of nonevaporable water on the strength variation of geopolymer is an important issue
[40].

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Effect of curing on hardening
The observation on OPSGPC specimens prepared based on preliminary mix design [39] and cured at room temperature of 28 C
showed that the specimens had not hardened even after 10 h. Nevertheless, the physical observation revealed that the concrete loses
its workability within the rst 2 h of preparation of the specimen.
When the specimens were covered with plastic wrapping and
cured in an oven at 65 C, the hardening took place in less than
2 h. All the specimens were cured at 65 C for 48 h, as stated in
the methodology; the results of the compressive strengths are
shown in Tables 5 and 6. The average difference between the 14
and 28-day strength for the trial mixes (Table 5) was about 10%.
As known, the geopolymerisation takes place within the rst
48 h of heat curing and the compressive strength enhancement between 14 and 28 days was insignicant. The suggested method
shows that the variation in the compressive strength between 14
and 28 days was about 5%. This might be due to the higher com-

pressive strength of the suggested mixes compared to the trial

mixes.
A longer curing time improves the polymerisation process
resulting in higher compressive strength. The previous study indicated that a longer curing time does not produce weaker material
[41]. However, the increase in strength after curing for 48 h is not
signicant [42]. Davidovits reported that for geopolymer concrete
using natural material as the source material, curing at a lower
temperature for a shorter period of time is sufcient to achieve satisfactory results [6].

3.2. Development of compressive strength

The demoulded density of OPSGPC varied between 1766 and
1860 kg/m3. Thus, a reduction in dead load of about 20% could be
achieved for OPSGPC compared to normal weight concrete. The
compressive strength of OPSGPC does not have a direct effect on
the quantity of FA used. In the trial mixes, with a quantity of
500560 kg/m3 of FA, the compressive strength was about 30%
lower than the mix with 460 kg/m3 of FA; this might be attributed
to the high water demand for workability. Further, the observation
on the workability of mixes with high FA content was lower compared to mixes with low FA. The comparison between the mixes
A17 and A21 in the Fig. 2 shows that an increase of 60 kg FA causes
a reduction in strength of about 65% due to increase in water of
72%. Another comparison between mixes A2 and A21 with molarities of 16 M and 14 M, respectively, shows that the use of higher
molarity alkali activator did not have much effect on the compressive strength.
The development of the compressive strength is also dependant
on the condition of OPS used. Fig. 3 shows that for mixes with the
same molarity of 14 M, but containing OPS of AD condition produced slightly lower compressive strength compared to mix with
OPS of SSD condition. The mixes with air-dry OPS produced a lower
strength of about 7% compared to the mixes with OPS in the SSD

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R.H. Kupaei et al. / Construction and Building Materials 43 (2013) 490496

FA/S/OPS = 1/0.82/0.73

Compressive strength (MPa)

30
25
20
15

16Mol , AD
10

14Mol , SSD
16Mol , SSD

5
0

Fig. 2. The development of compressive strength of mixes with FA/S/OPS ratio of 1/0.82/0.73 [Fly ash (FA) and water (W) in kg/m3].

Table 6
Acceptable mix design for oil palm shell geopolymer concrete [OPS aggregates used in saturated surface dry (SSD) and air dry (AD) conditions, mix proportion by weight, FA = y
ash, S = sand, OPS = oil palm shell, A/FA = 0.35; W/FA ratio varies].
Mix order

Mix proportion
FA/S/OPS

Fly ash content

(kg/m3)

Water (kg/m3)

Super-plasticiser
(l/m3)

Demoulded density
(kg/m3)

OPS cond.

Alkali activator
molarity

B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9

1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66
1/0.74/0.66

460
460
460
480
480
480
500
500
500

80
80
80
66
66
66
110
110
110

6.0
6.0
6.0
9.5
9.5
9.5
9.0
9.0
9.0

1766
1786
1790
1772
1792
1795
1836
1856
1860

AD
SSD
SSD
AD
SSD
SSD
AD
SSD
SSD

14 M
14 M
16 M
14 M
14 M
16 M
14 M
14 M
16 M

Compressive strength (N/

mm2)
14-day

28-day

27.36
28.44
29.53
28.98
30.39
30.86
19.53
21.04
21.85

28.14
29.96
30.81
30.14
32.63
32.94
20.08
22.19
22.87

Note: The mix B5 with OPS in SSD condition produced the highest 28-day compressive strength in the category of 14 molarity alkali activator.

condition. This might be due to the absorption of water and solution in the OPS during mixing.
Another aspect of the compressive strength is the W/FA ratio.
The mixes of B5 and B8 of 14 M, but with W/FA ratios of 0.34
and 0.42, respectively, produced 28-day compressive strengths of
32.63 MPa and 22.19 MPa. The reduction in the compressive
strength was about 32%, which shows that an increase in W/FA ratio decreases the compressive strength. Water is an essential factor
during geopolymerisation process, especially for the desolation of

solid components and the hydrolysis of dissolved Si4 and Al3 ions.
Based on existing theory on water in concrete, it can be divided
into chemically bound, physically absorbed and free. Non-evaporable water is chemically bound in geopolymer gels and plays a basic part of the structure and will undoubtedly affected the
properties of the geopolymer [41]. The strength reduction of mixes
with high water content can be understood by comparing the
mixes B5 and B8 with a water content of 66 kg/m3 and 110 kg/
m3, respectively. It should be noted that the increase of FA in
mix B8 is only about 20 kg/m3 more than the mix B5. The mixes
with less water have a high concentration of alkali solution, which
accelerates the dissolution rates of aluminosilicate oxides. However, the water content cannot be lowered considerably as it affects
the workability of the geopolymer mix. At a very low water content, proper mixing and compaction of the mixes could not be
achieved and would result in porous concrete. Hence, the quantity
of water in the geopolymer mix must be optimized to ensure that
both workability and the target compressive strength are achieved.

The effect of water content on the strength, as seen from the mixes
A1 and A2 (Table 5), shows that a 52% increase in added water
causes a 58% reduction in the strength.
The crushed OPS have rough surfaces, and, hence, might contribute to strength development compared to uncrushed OPS,
which has a convex surface [43]. In this investigation, the OPS used
were crushed and had rough surfaces. As observed from Table 5,
the ratio of 14-day to 28-day strength was found to be about
93%. A comparison between the compressive strengths at the age
of 28-day of mixes A12 and A13 shows that by decreasing the
quantity of OPS and ne aggregate, an increase in strength of about
22% could be achieved; in contrast, the effect of an increase in ne
aggregate causes a reduction in strength of about 24%, as observed
from mixes A12 and A14 (Table 5).
The comparison between mixes B5 and B6 shows that the latter,
with 16 M, produced a slight increase of 1%. It can be concluded
that any increase in W/FA ratio causes a decrease in strength.
The mix B5 with 14 M, FA content of 480 kg/m3 and W/FA ratio
of 0.34 is considered as optimum in this investigation and is recommended for producing structural grade 30 OPSGPC.
3.3. Acceptable mix design
The structural grade of OPSGPC could not be achieved by
using the conventional method meant for LWC using OPC. The
compressive strengths obtained from these methods fall well below the structural grade concrete. However, the trial and error

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R.H. Kupaei et al. / Construction and Building Materials 43 (2013) 490496

FA/S/OPS = 1/0.74/0.66

Compressive strength (MPa)

35
30
25
20
14Mol , AD
14Mol , SSD

15

16Mol , SSD

10
5
0
FA= 460, W=80
B1,B2,B3

FA= 480, W=66

B4,B5,B6

FA=500, W=110
B7,B8,B9

Fig. 3. The comparison of 28-day compressive strength for different molarities and OPS condition [Fly ash (FA) and water (W) in kg/m3].

method, as suggested in Table 6, produced a strength as high as

32 MPa.
Table 5 shows that the molarity of the solutions used in the trial
mixes varied between 8 and 16 M. It is to be noted that among the
ve different molarities (8 M, 10 M, 12 M, 14 M and 16 M), the
molarity of 14 M produced the highest strength. The highest compressive strength of 28 MPa was achieved for mix A16 with W/FA
ratio of 0.38 and FA content 460 kg/m3. Thus, with A16 as the base,
further mixes, as shown in Table 6, were cast and a strength increase was achieved. It shows that for mixes with similar mix proportions and different molarities of 14 M and 16 M, the molarity
with 14 M gives comparable strength as that for the mix 16 M.
Hence, the molarity of 14 is chosen for economic reasons.
Table 6 shows the compressive strengths of mixes B1B9 with
modied mixes that were developed based on the trial mixes.
The suggested mix B5 with the mix proportion of 1/0.74/0.66
(FA/S/OPS), FA of 480 kg/m3 and water content of 66 kg/m3 produced the highest strength of 32 MPa. Although the mix B6 produced a slightly higher compressive strength than the mix B5,
the molarity of mix B6 was 16. The ratio of 14- to 28-day strength
of the mix B5 gives as high as 93%. Hence, the mixture proportion
of B5 with a FA content of about 480 kg/m3 with 14 M molarity is
recommended.
Fig. 3 shows the comparison between the nine mixes of B1
B9. As seen from the gure, the target structural strength of
25 MPa could be achieved based on mixes B1B6; however,
mixes B7B9 produced a lower strength than the other mixes
due to the high water content. It should be stated that in mixes
B7B9, the FA content was 500 kg/m3, and, hence, for workable
concrete the demand for water is high. The reductions in the
compressive strength of mixes with OPS of AD condition were
found to be 6%, 7% and 9%, respectively, compared to OPS of
SSD condition for the same molarity of 14 M. Further, it should
be noted that the reduction in the strength was found to be
more for mixes with a high FA content. The increase in molarity
of the solution did not have the desired effect on the compressive strength; for mixes with 16 M, the increase in strength
was about 13% compared to mixes with 14 M.
4. Conclusions
A total of 32 mixes of OPSGPC were cast, and based on the
experimental results of this investigation, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. OPSGPC of demoulded density of about 1800 kg/m3 can be produced using the waste material OPS as LWA.

2. The mixture proportions, as stipulated in the conventional mix

design methods are not suitable for OPSGPC.
3. OPSGPC requires special attention in curing as the loss of water
during heat curing would result in strength reduction.
4. The increase in water, OPS and ne aggregate contents reduces
the strength signicantly.
5. The increase in molarity between 14 M and 16 M resulted in
insignicant strength increase and hence 14 M is recommended
for future works.
6. The mix with 14 M, FA content of 480 kg/m3 and W/FA ratio of
0.34 is considered as optimum in this investigation and is recommended for producing structural grade 30 OPSGPC.
7. The ratio of 14- to 28-day compressive strength was found to be
about 93% for the recommended mix proportion of OPSGPC.
8. A high quantity of FA reduces the compressive strength and OPS
aggregate in SSD condition is preferred over AD condition.

Acknowledgments
This research work is funded by University of Malaya under the
research fund: High Impact Research Grant (HIRG) No. UM.C/625/
1/HIR/093 (Synthesis of novel geopolymer oil palm shell lightweight concrete).
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