Flexural Study of Lightweight Concrete Beams casted of Oil Palm Shell (OPS) Aggregates

Abstract

This study's main goal is to investigate the potential applications of OPS aggregate in the manufacturing of concrete. This helps to preserve natural resources in addition to addressing the problem of how to get rid of OPS trash. For this study, twelve under-reinforced concrete beams were made and tested. The reinforcing ratios of these beams varied, from 0.52% to 3.90%.  The paper presents data related to several important aspects of the beams' behavior, including Information about how the beams deflected under load, Details about when and how cracks formed in the beams, Measures of how much the beams could deform before failure, Information on how the beams rotated at their ends during testing. The flexural behaviour of reinforced OPS concrete beams and other regular reinforced concrete beams was compared in the study. The experimental results and the current industry Codes of practice were found to be reasonably well aligned. Notably, beams with low reinforcement ratios satisfied every serviceability standard listed in BS 8110, proving that they were appropriate for real-world uses.