Investigation of the Effects of Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate with Graded Palm Kernel Shell in Asphaltic Binder Course

This work investigated the effects of incorporating palm kernel shells (PKS) as partial replacement of coarse aggregates in hot mix asphaltic binder course. All the volumetric properties and the physical properties of the asphalt mixture were evaluated in order to determine the potential of PKS in the production of binder course for medium-trafficked roads. Percentages of PKS content rates used were 0%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 100% by weight of total coarse aggregate size of 4-8 mm. Specifically, 15 samples for control mix and 60 samples for the PKS proportions of compacted asphaltic mixture were prepared by using Marshall mixing procedure. The samples were prepared by varying bitumen content from 4.5% to 6.5% and tested using the Marshall Method.
The results of control samples and PKS-incorporated samples showed effective PKS content at 50% replacement having 5.7% optimum bitumen content. Overall, it is established that PKS is a viable agriculture waste product that can be used as coarse aggregates at a specific percentage in the production of asphaltic binder course for light to medium-trafficked roads.