A study on grounded palm kernel shells (GPKS) as a partial replacement for sand in mortar

Abstract

The use of waste materials in mortar production offers an effective solution to address environmental challenges and waste management issues. Agricultural wastes such as rice husk, wheat straw, hazel nutshell, and sugarcane bagasse have been utilized as aggregates in mortar. However, limited studies have explored the application of grounded palm kernel shells (GPKS) as a partial replacement of sand in cement mortars. This study investigates the effects of incorporating GPKS as a partial replacement of sand on the physical and mechanical properties of mortar. The GPKS replacement levels of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% were used with a mix ratio of 1:4 (cement to sand), and a water-cement ratio of 0.7. In all, 120 cubes of size 100 × 100 × 100 mm were prepared and cured for up to 28 days, and at 7 days intervals for density, water absorption, compressive strength, and tensile strength. Although the results for GPKS replacement of fine aggregate specimens were lower than the control specimens, the results for the various GPKS replacements met the standard requirement for cement mortar grade M6. The 10% GPKS replacement obtained better average results among all the various replacement proportions with a density of 1978.33 kg/m3, water absorption of 3.35%, compressive strength of 12.59 N/mm2, and