Strength, Durability and Microstructure Investigations of Concrete Containing Empty Palm Oil Fruit Brunch Ash (EPO-FBA)

Understanding of the internal arrangement of the constituents of structural concrete, at the microscopic level, and its strength behavior, as well as its ability to result in durable concrete, are necessary in order to enhance its innovative and sustainable application. This paper presents the results of investigation conducted to ascertain the strength characteristics, microstructure configuration and durability traits of concrete with its ordinary Portland cement (OPC) fraction replaced partially with empty palm oil fruit brunch ash (EPO-FBA). The compressive strength properties were assessed with 150 x 150 x 150 cube specimens while 100 x 100 x 100 cube specimens were used to assess the durability properties. An insight into the morphology and the microstructure of samples with EPO-FBA was obtained through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed that EPO-FBA is a good supplementary cementing material up to 10% replacement level, however, the samples with EPO-FBA showed a significantly improved compressive strengths development and good durability characteristics at latter ages, at the replacement level beyond 10%.