Experimental Study on Single Bay Reinforced Coconut Shell Concrete Portal Frame under Lateral and Cyclic Load

As a natural stone aggregate, resources are reducing at a high rate due to the large concrete use. For the search of substitute material for natural aggregates, in recent years coconut shells are used in the concrete field. Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) portal frames are a very common structural element and used for resisting lateral loads. In this research single bay, RCC portal frames made with coconut shell concrete (CSC) are tested under lateral load and cyclic push-pull load. The results are compared with frames made with conventional concrete (CC). Four prototype bare frames cast in that two frames made with CSC and two with CC. Behavior and characteristics like load capacity, deflection, crack formation, concrete strain, stiffness, and ductility are studied. It was found that under cyclic push-pull load CSC frames are comparable with CC frames rather than under lateral load. The amount of deflection and strains are observed in the CSC frame is comparatively more than in CC frames. Stiffness and ductility also observed more in CSC frames than CC frames.