EVALUATION OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE MADE BY PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF SAND WITH QUARRY DUST

Abstract

The demand for natural sand in the construction industry has continually increased which has resulted in the reduction of its sources and an increase in price. In such a situation, the quarry dust being a waste product can be an alternative to the river sand. This study investigates the use of quarry dust as partial replacement of fine aggregate; sand, in concrete production. Quarry dust was used to replace fine aggregates from 0% to 40% in steps of 10%. Concrete cubes measuring 150 x 150 x 150mm were cast using the ratio 1:2:4 by weight and Water/Cement (W/C) ratio of 0.60 and their compressive strengths evaluated at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days curing. The results shows that of all concretes slumps for different percentage of quarry dust, none has collapsed slump and the optimum compressive strength of 27.85 N/mm2 was obtained with 20% replacement which gives a higher value than concrete made with 0% replacement. It is therefore recommended that the concrete can be used for non-structural elements.