Determination of the Compressive Strength of Concrete from Binary Cement and Ternary Aggregates

Abstract

One of the most active fields of research embraced by many disciplines, including civil engineering, is material reuse. It is known that ceramics wastes from various construction and demolition sites and manufacturing processes are dumped away into the environment, resulting in the pollution that threatens both agriculture and public health. Therefore, the utilization of ceramic waste in construction industries would help to protect the environment from such pollutions. This paper presents the results of an experimental analysis of the effects of partial replacement of coarse aggregates, fine aggregates, and ordinary Portland cement with the ceramic waste, at percentage levels of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%; and the assessment of the strength property of the concrete produced with optimum combination of the constituents. Compressive strengths of this concrete were determined at 7, 28, and 56 days of curing using 150 × 150 × 150 mm cube specimens. Test results showed that the compressive strength of the concrete decreased as the content of ceramic waste present in the concrete increased. Thus, concrete produced from the partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement with ground ceramics gave compressive strengths of 16.6 N/mm2 and 13.4 N/mm2 at 5% and 20% replacement levels respectively. Similarly, the compressive strengths of concrete from the partial replacement of sand with fine ceramics were 13.8 N/mm2 and 10.9 N/mm2 for 5% and 20% replacements respectively. For 5% and 20% replacement levels of granite with crushed ceramics in concrete gave a compressive strength of 11.6 N/mm2 and 9.7 N/mm2, respectively. For concrete derived from the partial replacement of stone dust with fine ceramics, the compressive strengths were 19.6 N/mm2 and 18.10 N/mm2 respectively for 5% and 20%. For concrete produced from the partial replacement of bush gravel with crushed ceramics, the compressive strengths obtained were 10.9 N/mm2 and 8.98 N/mm2 respectively for 5% and 20% replacements. Finally, the concrete derived from the optimal combination of binary cement, ternary fine, and coarse aggregate had a compressive strength of 22.20 N/mm2 which is higher than the compressive strength of the control mixture at 18.10 N/mm2. The result of the ANOVA carried out showed that the compressive strength obtained for each partial replacement of different components is statistically significant at 5%, i.e. the change in the compressive strength of the concrete produced is due to the presence of ceramic waste.