STUDY OF FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR, THERMAL VARIATION AND LUMINOSITY TEST ON FILLER SLABS

Abhishek. P, Mohammed Zakiulla, K Srisha Rai

Abstract: Due to rapid urbanization, there is an increase in demand of residential and commercial buildings which results in greater use of cement for construction thereby depleting the environment. The exces sive usage of cement has led to the implementation of greener approach in building construction. Filler slab is an environment friendly, alternative building technology which is being used in the present era. Filler slabs reduces the amount of concrete use d as certain amount of concrete in tension zone of the slab is replaced by the filler materials. In this study PET bottles and coconut shells are used as fil ler materials. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles which are dumped after being used take a lo ng time to degrade thereby affecting the environment. Coconut shell provides good thermal insulation and is also a waste product obtained from coconut trees. Since both the waste materials are inert, light in weight, they qualify to be a good filler materi al in the slab. The flexural behavior of conventional slabs and filler slabs are studied and it was seen that filler slabs withstood lesser load than that of conventional slabs. Luminosity test is done to study the amount of natural light passing through t he PET bottle when it is used as a filler material. Temperature distribution on concrete is done to study the thermal insulation provided by the coconut shell as filler material.

Keywords: Filler slab, coconut shells, PET bottles, flexural behavior, lux, temperature distribution, isotherms etc.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2017.0617005