The Effect of Oil Palm Shells on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Composite Brick

Abstract

Horticultural modern wastes of separating palm oil from palm organic products known as oil palm shell (OPS) are accessible in extensive  amounts in Malaysia, Indonesia and other tropical nations. This massive production of palm oil has produced a high amount of waste,  which may lead to environmental problems. This study aims to investigate the effects of OPS as a coarse aggregate replacement in bricks.  The density and compressive strength performances of bricks incorporated with OPS as a coarse aggregate replacement were investigated.  The investigation also analyzed the optimum percentage of OPS added in bricks made by various levels of OPS substitution, from 10% to  40% at intervals of 10%, and compared it with the control brick at 0% OPS. The result showed the advantage of OPS when the density of  brick decreased significantly from 2502 kg/m3 at 0% OPS to 2021 kg/m3 at 40% OPS. OPS bricks showed a reduction of 19.2% in weight  compared to control bricks. Furthermore, the compressive strength exhibited an optimum of 30% OPS with 506.3 kN, which increased by  7.9% compared to the control brick strength. However, the effect of OPS towards bricks showed a slight decrease compared to control  bricks. This shows the workability of OPS as the coarse aggregate replacement has the potential to produce lightweight bricks, improve  bricks’ strength, and help reduce environmental problems.