Coconut Shell Concrete Research Lab

This research laboratory is used for coconut shell concrete mix design development  and produced. On this coconut shell concrete, studies of mechanical properties, bond properties and durability properties were studied. Structural behavior of coconut shell concrete under flexure, shear and torsion were analyzed. Plastic shrinkage and deflection characteristics of coconut shell concrete slabs were studied. Full scaled structure was constructed using coconut shell concrete and the behaviors were monitored for more than five years. All the studies on coconut shell concrete show that the behavior of coconut shell concrete is very similar to conventional concrete. Especially, coconut shell concrete has more ductility compared to conventional concrete which is more benefit and useful for earthquake-resistant and blast-resistant structures.

Non-structural elements such as coconut shell concrete hollow blocks, mosaic tiles, paver blocks, manhole covers, pipe, fencing posts, etc, were also produced and tested for practical implementation. It can be concluded that the coconut shell is one of the promising alternate materials for the production of sustainable concrete and can be recommended to use the coconut shell concrete in different applications of both structural and non-structural elements without any hesitation with full confidence. For the benefit of the readers of this article, some of the photographs given below may give some useful information.