Mechanical Properties of Concrete Incorporating Marble Powder as Partial Cement Replacement

Abstract

Pakistan is a country that has an abundance of quarry deposits. The marble and ceramics industry, such as the construction industry, plays a pivotal role in the development of a country by contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the marble and ceramics industry also adversely contribute to the growing solid waste management issues in the country, as Marble powder (MP), which comes from the marble industry, causes not only constant environmental and waste management problems, but also health issues for the people associated with the marble industry and surrounding residents. A lot of research has been done to reuse this MP waste productively. Since it contains significant amount of Silica content, it could potentially be used to partially substitute cement content in the development of eco-friendly sustainable concrete. The substitution of cement has become necessary due to the carbon footprint associated with the production of cement. This research is aimed at producing M30 grade concrete in which cement content is partially replaced with 5% and 10% MP and investigate its influence on the workability, compressive and flexural strength over time. It was found that MP could potentially be used to substitute cement content partially, thus contributing to sustainability in the construction industry, resolving the disposal of MP problems, and reducing cement dependency.