Characteristics Strength of groundnut shell ash (GSA) and Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) blended Concrete in Nigeria.

Abstract

The experimental work evaluates the potentials of groundnut shell ash (GSA) as a partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete. Chemical analysis of the ash was carried out to ascertain it cementing properties and the partial replacement of OPC by GSA was varied from 0% to 20% in the concrete. A total of 80 specimens of the GSA/OPC concrete cubes of 150mm dimension were cured in water for 21, 28 and 56 days and the compressive and splitting tensile strengths determined. The results show that the compressive strengths of the control (0%) and those of other percentage combinations increased with curing age but decreased with increased GSA percentage. Though, Characteristics strengths revealed that the OPC/GSA concrete of 10% replacement performed better in comparison to the acceptable standard and would be more suitable for mass concrete production.