Determining the Suitability of POFA as Partial Replacement to Cement in Concrete for Acoustic Properties: Sounds Transmission Loss and Sounds Absorption Assessment

Abundance of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) produced by the process of burning fibers and fruit bunches as fuel has contribute to several problems related to the space and environmental control. By having an alternative to manage and control the POFA as agricultural waste, it can give great benefits in construction industry for replacing the dependence of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as binder in concrete. The properties of POFA itself are close to the OPC as binder in concrete yet there are some other unique characteristic of POFA in providing a better acoustical performance in a concrete. In this study shown that by replacing some part of cement with POFA in concrete mixture, it contribute to greater acoustical performance due to the high sound transmission loss and sound absorption found in this study. This study focus on single concrete mix with water cement ratio of 0.45 for concrete grade 25 and can be concluded that higher percentage of POFA replacement can enhance the acoustic properties of a concrete block but may reduce the strength of the concrete.