Mechanical properties of seashell concrete

Abstract

Blood clam or cockle (Anadara granosa) shell is a type of marine by-product that can be used to replace aggregate or cement partially in concrete. In this research, the ground cockle seashell was used as a partial cement replacement. The ground seashells were prepared by burning, crushing, grinding and filtering the cockle using no #200 sieve. The mechanical properties studied were compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of seashell concrete. These properties were compared with those of a control Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete. Based on the trial mixes using the ground seashell with proportion of 2, 4, 6 and 8% by weight of cement, the optimum compressive strength was achieved for the mix that replaced cement by 4%. The seashell concrete yielded less compressive strength and modulus elasticity compared to the OPC concrete. It is noted that the tensile strength and flexural strength were higher than those of the OPC concrete, which is advantageous to increase concrete tension properties.