Performance of Oil Palm Shell Lightweight Concrete Incorporated with Bamboo Fiber Siew Choo Chin (&) , Qi Hao Roger Wong, Kar Sing Lim, and Shu Ing Doh Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Pahang, Malaysia {scchin,kslim,dohsi}@ump.edu.my, rogerwongqihao@gmail.com Abstract. Oil palm shell (OPS) as lightweight aggregate is a viable method in fabricating lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC). However, low mechanical properties are the major drawbacks for LWAC confining its structural applica- tions. Inclusion of bamboo fibre is found effective and an economical method for strengthening the LWAC. This paper studied the effects of bamboo fibre on the workability, density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength of OPS lightweight concrete. Volume fractions of bamboo fibre, 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% were added in the concrete. Results showed that ratio percentages of splitting tensile strength to compressive strength of bamboo fibre reinforced OPS concretes were in the range of 9.3–11.1% which were comparable with normal weight concrete (NWC). The OPS concretes incorporating bamboo fibre had flexural strength to com- pressive strength ratios greater than the conventional LWAC. This signifies that bamboo fibre can improve significantly the flexural strength of OPS concrete. Keywords: Oil palm shell Á Lightweight aggregate concrete Á Bamboo fibre 1 Introduction Lightweight concrete (LWC) is defined as concrete with a minimum compressive strength of 17 MPa and density ranging between 1400 and 1800 kg/m 3 [1]. Credited to its advantageous characteristics such as lightweight, low thermal and acoustic con- ductivity, low tendency to buckle and wrap due to differential temperature gradients, high fire and frost resistance, LWC is being preferred over conventional construction solutions [1, 2]. The most popular processing method for LWC is by employing lightweight aggregate (LWA) with a specific gravity lower than 2.6 [3]. Oil palm shell (OPS) is a potential alternative LWA which can be used instead of natural or manu- factured LWA. As the second largest palm oil producer in the world, Malaysia dis- charges more than 4.56 million tonnes of OPS annually [4]. However, in comparison to normal weight concrete (NWC) with equivalent strength, LWC is more susceptible to brittleness, shrinkage and weaker in tensile, shear and flexural strength [5]. Many researchers have proved that incorporation of discrete fibres is an effective and economical way to enhance the toughness and durability of the cementitious © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 B. S. Mohammed et al. (Eds.): ICCOEE2020, LNCE 132, pp. 405–412, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6311-3_46