Enhancement of Durability Properties and Drying Shrinkage of Heat-treated Oil Palm Shell Species High-strength Lightweight Concrete

Aim: In this study, the effects of heat-treated and non-treated oil palm shell (OPS) species (dura and tenera) are investigated on the slump, density and compressive strength of oil palm shell concrete (OPSC). Two different species of OPS coarse aggregates are subjected to heat treatment at 65 and 130 °C with the duration of 1 h. The results show that the workability of the OPSC increases significantly with an increase in temperature of heat-treated of the tenera OPS aggregates. It is found that the maximum achievable 28-days and 180-days compressive strength is 51 and 54 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, rapid chloride penetration tests (RCPT), porosity measurement and water absorption tests were performance to signify the effects of heat treatment on different OPS species lightweight concrete (LWC). The use of heat-treated OPS LWC induced the advantageous of reducing the permeability and capillary porosity as well as water absorption. The results showed that the ideal of heat treatment method has enhanced the performance of drying shrinkage. Hence, the findings of this study are of primary importance as they revealed that the heat treatment on OPS species LWC can be used as a new environmentally friendly method to enhance the durability properties and drying shrinkage of OPS LWC.