CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Concrete is widely used as a structural material in the world today. The demand for
concrete is increasing due to the rapid growth in construction sector. The continuous use of
natural materials to produce concrete will lead to ecological imbalance in the future. In
order to avoid from environmental problem, the natural materials can be replace by using
waste materials such as coconut shells as a partial replacement in coarse aggregate while
PET bottle as a partial replacement in fine aggregate. Coconut shells were usually thrown
away indiscriminately due to a lack proper disposal (Ho Chia Chen, 9 July 2017). Since the
waste generation is relatively plenty, therefore, utilization of the solid coconut waste and
Poly-ethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle as partial replacement in aggregate can help to
avoid from environmental problem. GA Circular was reported, in 2018 about 660,000
tonnes of PET bottles were dumped at landfills or leaked to the environment. The goal of
this literature review is to study the properties of materials in coarse and fine aggregate
used in concrete and type of testing on hardened concrete for quality check of construction.

2.2 Coconut Shells as Partial Replacement of Aggregate

Coconut shell is one of the solid disposal wastes from agricultural activities. The use of
coconut shells as one of the composite materials in the production of concrete was driven
by the problem caused by the disposal of solid waste that lead to environmental problem.
Coconut shells as partial replacement of aggregate has been studied by researchers.
 ‘A review on utilization of coconut shell as coarse aggregates in mass concrete’ this
journal discussed about various factors. It was observed that concrete using coconut shell
aggregates resulted in acceptable strength required for structural concrete. The coconut
shell-cement composite is compatible and no pre-treatment is required. The impact
resistance of coconut shell concrete is high. Moisture retaining and water absorbing
capacity of coconut shell are high. (Kaur & Kaur, 2012)

‘Properties of Concrete with Coconut Shells as Aggregate Replacement’ in this journal

they studied about the strength of coconut shell replacement and different and study the
transport properties of concrete with coconut shell as coarse aggregate replacement. They
concluded that increase in coconut shell percentage decreased densities of the concrete and
with coconut shell percentage increased the 7 days strength gain also increased with
corresponding 28 days curing strength. (Yerramala Ramachandrudu, 2012)

‘Experimental Study on Palm Kernel Shells as Coarse Aggregates in Concrete’ in this journal
they found that a potential exists for the use of coconut shell as replacement of conventional
reinforced concrete and lightweight reinforced concrete. Coconut shell concrete contributes
to resource conservation. (Osei & Jackson, 2012)

‘Coconut Shell as Partial Replacement for Coarse Aggregate : Review’ in this study he
presents that coconut shell provides more resistance to crushing, impact and abrasion
compared to crushed granite aggregate. Coconut shell can be grouped under light weight
aggregate. The 28 days air dry densities of coconut shell are less than 2000 / kg m 3 and
these are within the range of structural light weight concrete. Coconut shell concrete
satisfies the requirement of ASTM C 330. (Shelke, Ninghot, Kunjekar, & Gaikwad, 2014)

‘Experimental Analysis of the Use of Coconut Shell as Coarse Aggregate’ in this

journal paper presents the properties of coconut shell and coconut shell aggregate concrete
is examined and the use of coconut shell aggregate in construction is tested. Moisture
content and water absorption were 4.20% and 24% respectively and these values are higher
compared to conventional aggregate. Density of coconut shell is in the range of 550 kg/m3-
650 kg/m3 and these are within the specified limits for light weight aggregate. (Reddy,
Jyothy, & Shaik, 2014)
 ‘Compressive Strength of Concrete by Using Coconut Shell’ in this journal makes the
findings that oil palm shell is a waste from agricultural sector and available in large
quantities. It aims at analysing the compressive strength characteristics of concrete
produced using crushed, granular coconut as substitute for conventional coarse aggregate
with partial replacement. The experimental programme was to investigate the best mix
proportion of combination of coconut shell as coarse aggregate in concrete and feasibility
of combination of coconut shell as coarse aggregate in concrete. As per experimental
analysis it was concluded that coconut shell can reduce the material costs and it is more
suitable as low strength giving light weight aggregate in concrete production. (Kambli,
2014)

‘A Study on the Utilization of Coconut Shell as Coarse Aggregate in Concrete’ in this

journal says that the coconut shell exhibit more resistance against crushing, impact and
abrasion compared to conventional aggregate. So there is no need to treat the coconut shell
before use as an aggregate. Coconut shell has potential as light weight aggregate in
concrete. Furthermore, using coconut shell as aggregate in concrete can reduce the material
cost in construction because of low cost and its availability. (B. Rajeevan & Shamjith K M,
2015)

‘Light Weight Aggregate Concrete By Using Coconut Shell’ in this journal says that the
presence of sugar content in coconut shell does not affect the setting and strength of
concrete as long as it is not in a sugar free form and the conventional increase in strength
indicates that the coconut shell aggregate does not deteriorate once coconut shell aggregates
are capsulated into the concrete matrix. Also the coconut shell aggregate have higher water
absorption because of higher porosity in its shell structure. The aggregate impact value of
coconut shell aggregates are much lower compared to crushed stone aggregate which
indicates that aggregates have good absorbance to shock. The study concluded that cost of
producing concrete can be reduced up to 48%. (Kakade & Dhawale, 2015)
 ‘Waste Coconut Shell as a Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate in Concrete Mix
- An Experimental Study’ in their journal, they discussed about various factors. It was
observed that coconut shell concrete has superior workability because of the smooth surface
on one side of the shell. The presences of sugar in the coconut shell as long as it is not in a
free sugar form, will not affect the setting strength of concrete. Due to tough made tissue,
shell is not decomposed easily and it remains as solid waste for years. (Sonawane & Chitte,
2016)

‘Performance of coconut shell as coarse aggregate in concrete’ in this journal says that
coconut shell has added advantage of high lignin content. It makes the composites more
weather resistant and coconut shell has low cellulose content due to which it absorb less
moisture as compare to other agriculture waste. Coconut shell being naturally available
since its shell are non-biodegradable and because of its smooth surface on one side of the
shells, concrete made with coconut shell presents better workability. It is substitute for
aggregates in developing concrete hollow blocks. (Kanojia & Jain, 2017)

2.3 Poly-ethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottle as partial replacement in Fine

Aggregate

The use of Poly-ethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottle as one of the composite materials
in the production of concrete was driven by the problem caused by the disposal of solid
waste that lead to environmental problem because of the amount of plastic consumed
annually has been growing steadily. PET Bottle as partial replacement of aggregate has
been studied by researchers.

‘Effects of waste PET bottles aggregate on the properties of concrete’ in this journal
they studied the effects of waste poly-terephthalate (PET) bottles lightweight aggregate
(WPLA) on the density of concrete. Mixture proportions of concrete were planned so that
the water cement ratios were 45%, 49%, and 53%, and the replacement ratios of WPLA
were 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% by volume of fine aggregate. Density of concrete mixtures
decreased with the increase in WPLA content. In their study the influence of polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) bottles lightweight aggregate (WPLA) on the splitting tensile strength
of concrete was observed. Also the study investigated the effect of polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) bottles lightweight aggregate (WPLA) on the modulus of elasticity of
concrete. According to the authors, modulus of elasticity of concrete mixtures decreased
with the increase in PET aggregates. (Choi, Moon, Chung, & Cho, 2005)

‘Use of waste plastic in concrete mixture as aggregate replacement’ journal presented

the possibility of using various plastic wastes, containing approximately 80% polyethylene
and 20% polystyrene, as fine aggregates, up to 4.75 mm in concrete. By increasing the
plastic waste content, the compressive tests showed the tendency for compressive strength
values of plastic waste concrete to decrease below the reference concrete at each curing
age. The concrete with 10% of plastic waste displayed the lowest compressive strength at
28 days curing age, about 30% lower than that of the reference concrete mixture. Also the
study found 5%, 7%, and 8.7% lower densities of concrete mix containing 10%, 15%, and
20% plastic aggregates respectively. (Ismail & AL-Hashmi, 2008)

‘Mechanical properties and abrasion behaviour of concrete containing shredded PET

bottle waste as a partial substitution of natural aggregate’ this journal presented the effects
of size and shape of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) aggregate on the fresh and
hardened properties. Three types of PET aggregate, collected from a plastic recycling plant,
two were shredded and separated fractions of similar types of PET bottles and one was a
heat-treated product of the same PET bottles with sieve size from 0.5-11.2mm. 5%, 10%
and 15% in volume of natural aggregate in the concrete mixes were replaced by an equal
volume of three differently shaped and sized PET aggregates with deferent W/C ratios. Test
results showed that density of fresh concrete decreased as the content of plastic aggregate
increased. Differences in the size and shape of PET-aggregates affect the slump of fresh
concrete mixes, which ultimately change the mechanical behavior. The study also observed
a reduction in the compressive strength of concrete due to the addition of PET-aggregates
to replace natural aggregates. For 5% replacement the 28-day compressive is more than
75% of the compressive strength of reference concrete. For concrete with 10% and 15%
plastic aggregate are respectively 71% and 59%. According to the authors, natural
aggregates and PET-aggregate cannot interact with cement paste and therefore the
interfacial transition zone in concrete containing PET-aggregate is weaker than that in the
reference concrete, which lowers the resulting compressive strength. The study presented
the abrasion behaviour of concrete specimens (depth of wear and weight loss) containing
various types and contents of PET-aggregate, and the reference concrete. In this paper, 5%,
10% and 15% in volume of natural aggregate in the concrete mixes were replaced by an
equal volume of three differently shaped and sized PET aggregates.
According to the authors, the abrasion resistance of the concrete mixes with the various
types of PET-aggregate is better than that of the normal concrete, also they found that the
behaviour of the abrasion resistance of concrete arising from the incorporation of various
types and contents of PET aggregate suggests that this property depends on the compressive
strength of concrete as well as on the properties of plastics.(Saikia & de Brito, 2014)

2.4 Compressive Strength Test

Compressive strength is the ability of material or structure to carry the loads on

its surface without any crack or deflection. A material under compression tends to
reduce the size, while in tension, size elongates. Compressive strength of concrete
depends on many factors such as water-cement ratio, cement strength, quality of
concrete material and quality control during production of concrete. Compressive
strength test can be use cube or cylinder concrete to determine the failure value of the
concrete.

2.5 Slump Test

Slump test is to determine the workability or consistency of concrete mix prepared

at the laboratory or the construction site during the progress of the work. Concrete
slump test is carried out from batch to batch to check the uniform quality of concrete
during construction. Generally concrete slump value is used to find the workability,
which indicates water-cement ratio. Concrete slump test is the most simple workability
test for concrete because it involves low cost and slump test can provide immediate
results. Due to this factor, concrete slump test has been used widely for workability test.
2.6 Water Absorption Test and Porosity Ratio

Water absorption test is to determine the moisture content in concrete and to

determine the water holding capacity of the coarse and fine aggregates. Lightweight
concrete absorbs more water than normal concrete and its water absorption ratio is
between 12% and 22% (Topcu, 2006). Aggregates having more absorption have more
porous in nature and are generally considered unsuitable, unless found to be acceptable
based on strength, impact and hardness tests.