PERFORMANCE STUDY OF T - BEAM USING COCONUT SHELL CONCRETE

Abstract Coconut shell has been used as coarse aggregate in the production of concrete. This project investigates and evaluates for flexural capacity in T - beams. The flexural behavior of T-beams made with coconut shell is analyzed and compared with the conventional concrete. Four beams of varying reinforcement were cast in both coconut shell concrete and conventional concrete. Totally eight beams were cast and tested for flexural. The beams were loaded on the frame and subjected to loading on two points. This study includes the deflection, cracking, strain and ultimate flexural load. The coconut shell concrete showed increased deflection and earlier cracking. Results data shows that the coconut shell concrete. T-Beam has load bearing capacity comparable to normal conventional concrete by 80 - 85%. Keywords:Coconut shell concrete, flexural behavior, T-Beam, ultimate flexural load.