Cost effective light weight concrete with saw dust and brick ballast

Abstract

Use of conventional material such as cement, sand and gravel for the production of concrete has increased their demand and so created shortage of material and escalated the cost. In this study the locally available waste materials like Saw dust and Brick Ballast are used to partially replace the river sand and gravels respectively to produce light weight and low cost concrete with optimum strength. The different combinations of concrete with 4%, 8% and 12% Saw Dust (SD) and 8%, 16% and 24% Brick Ballast (BB) are being used and compared with normal concrete of M30 grade, where partial replacement of river sand and coarse aggregates are done by saw dust and brick ballast respectively. Concrete is tested for density, workability and compressive strength and a comparative analysis is done in terms of their physical properties and cost savings. It has been observed from the study that on increase in percentage of sawdust and brick ballast in concrete lead to a corresponding reduction in workability and compressive strength. The optimum mix founded is with 4% of sawdust and 24% of Brick ballast having compressive strength of 32.13 N/sq. mm with the weight reduction of 10.54% and the cost reduction of 5.46%. This optimum mix concrete can be used for lean concrete works like PCC in foundation, Flooring, Tile making. This research will not only enrich the domain but will also be very helpful in sustainable development of the nation.