Properties of Concrete Produced Using Locally Available Aggregates in Libya

Abstract

The majority of the volume of concrete is aggregates and it consists about 70% of total volume of concrete. Moreover, coarse aggregate is the source of concrete strength, controls its cost, resist weather conditions and has direct effect on concrete quality. While, fine aggregate (sand) is to filling the gaps between coarse aggregate and increase concrete workability. For that, the different types of aggregate sources should be considered and it is worth to study their effects on concrete properties. This paper aims to study and compare the properties of concrete made using two different types of coarse aggregates (Sirte and Al-Jufra aggregate) and three different types of fine aggregates (Sabha, Waddan and Zalah sand) brought from central and southern regions of Libya. The results showed that Al-Jufra aggregate has mechanical properties and strength better than Sirte aggregate. This result is reflected on Al-Jufra aggregate based concrete performance. The results illustrate a variation in the impact of the sand types on the properties of concrete in terms of compressive and tensile strength of concrete