Stress-strain characteristics and flexural behaviour of reinforced Eco-friendly coconut shell concrete

•Conceal cured CSC achieved the grade of M20 concrete using 401 kg/m3 of cement.•The stress strain behaviour of CSC is parabolic and good fit with popovics model.•The maximum strain of CSC was arrived as 0.006.•The capacity ratio of CSC in flexure varied from 1.00 to 1.06.•The ductility ratio of CSC varied from 2.68 to 4.90.

In this study the stress-strain behaviour of coconut shell concrete incorporating ground granulated blast furnace slag and manufactured sand was obtained and it was in good fit with popovics model (Mo et al., 2015). Coconut shell concrete of grade M20 was achieved using 401 kg/m3 of cement by conceal curing. The flexural behaviour of under-reinforced and over-reinforced coconut shell concrete designed by limit state method using the actual stress-strain behaviour is analogous with the experimental values. The deflection and crackwidth of coconut shell concrete is comparable with the permissible values given by IS 456:2000, ACI-318 and EC 2:1992.