Mechanical and durability characterization study on partial replacement of coconut shell in geopolymer concrete

Geopolymer concrete is produced with use of byproduct are the environmentally friendly and positive impact for workable growth. This research, by products such as fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) were utilized as binding material in geopolymer concrete. The main aim of the present study is to replace the coarse aggregate by coconut shell and evaluate the mechanical and durability properties of the concrete by varying the 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%. The study results indicates that, 40% use of coconut shell shows the high strength behaviour than other variations. In order to evaluate the durability properties, water absorption, rate of absorption, acid resistance and sulphate resistance tests was performed. The study results represented that, fly ash and GGBS shows the strong binding cementitious material while using coconut shell as coarse aggregate. the formation of calcium aluminium silicate hydrate(C-A-S-H) gel and siloxane bonds with coconut shell reduce the acid attack and water absorption capacity of the geopolymer concrete.