Thermal Properties and Drying Shrinkage Performance of Palm Kernel Shell Ash and Rice Husk Ash-Based Geopolymer...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Civil Engineering
• Sustainable Construction

Background:

• Geopolymer concrete (GPC) is an emerging sustainable building material.
• Palm kernel shell ash (PKSA) and rice husk ash (RHA) are potential supplementary cementitious materials.
• Evaluating the thermal and mechanical properties of GPC is crucial for its widespread adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop suitable geopolymer concrete formulations using palm kernel shell ash (PKSA).
• To evaluate the thermal performance and drying shrinkage of PKSA-based geopolymer concrete (PKSA-GPC).
• To compare PKSA-GPC with rice husk ash geopolymer concrete (RHA-GPC) and ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC).

Main Methods:

• Formulation development by varying geopolymer and aggregate percentages.
• Preliminary tests for mix design ratio selection.
• Performance evaluation based on thermal properties and drying shrinkage tests.

Main Results:

• Specific PKSA-GPC mix designs exhibited acceptable consistency, rheological, and thixotropic behavior.
• PKSA-GPC demonstrated superior thermal performance compared to RHA-GPC and OPCC, forming stable intumescent layers.
• PKSA-GPC and RHA-GPC showed significantly lower drying shrinkage (5.040%) than OPCC (8.996%).

Conclusions:

• PKSA-GPC exhibits excellent thermal stability and fire-retardant properties due to its intumescent layer formation.
• PKSA-GPC offers comparable or improved drying shrinkage performance versus conventional concrete.
• PKSA-GPC presents a viable, sustainable alternative to OPCC, particularly for fire-resistant applications.