STRENGTH AND WORKABILITY OF CEMENT MORTAR WITH MANUFACTURED SAND

Abstract

Natural river sand is widely used as fine aggregates in preparation of conventional cement mortar. Due to extraction in excess, natural sand has become a scarce material and it has to be preserved. Manufactured sand (M-sand) has very high potential to replace the natural sand in preparation of cement mortar. This research paper presents a study on replacement of natural sand in cement mortar by M-sand at different percentages. Strength and workability characteristics of 1:6 cement mortar using natural sand and M-sand as fine aggregate at various replacement levels were evaluated and compared. The workability of the cement mortar increases with the increase in M-sand content up to certain level, whereas the strength increases with the increase of manufactured sand. Hence M-sand can be recommended for the replacement of natural river sand in cement mortar.