LIGHTWEIGHT PRECAST FLOOR SLAB MADE OF OIL PALM SHELL (OPS) HYBRID CONCRETE

An experimental study on the engineering properties of Oil palm shell (OPS) hybrid concrete for precast floor slab was conducted. Conventional crushed stone as partial replacement of OPS was employed. Three conditions of curing to simulate the laboratory curing condition, practical curing condition, and without curing are applied. The slump, demoulded density, compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were determined. OPS concrete with 30% crushed stone as coarse aggregate fulfilled the minimum strength requirement for lifting/transportation and servicing. Since the air dry density of this concrete is 2000 kg/m3, it can be accepted as lightweight concrete. A test to failure on a lightweight precast floor slab made of OPS hybrid concrete verifies that the slab satisfies the limit state condition for general office floor.