INVESTIGATION ON STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF SELFCOMPACTING CONCRETE WITH M-SAND AND METAKAOLIN

Abstract

Construction projects have been increasing rapidly leading to an enormous rise in the usage of concrete, which has led to the depletion of river sand. Extraction of river sand results in environmental problems like the depletion of the ground water and soil erosion and ecological problems such as the extinction of fauna and flora. Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) can be really a high-performance concrete that may flow under its own weight, occupies the form work entirely and self-consolidates without the need for vibration[5][6].The laying of this type of concrete can save both labour and time. M Sand is crushed rock (fine aggregates) made out of solid granite rock that is cubically formed with wrought borders, cleaned and rated with consistency to function as an alternative for river sand. Using M Sand could overcome the flaws transpiring in concrete like honey cleaning, segregation, voids, etc[3]. The objective of this work is to study the strength properties of self-compacted M-sand concrete Metakolin. For this purpose, M30 grade concrete was used and tests were conducted for various proportion of sand replaced with M-Sand at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and Metakaolin was used as an admixture to the concrete. Concrete specimens were tested conforming to Bureau of specifications. The results obtained have been analysed with regard to the control specimens. By the evaluation outcome, it has been found that 30 percent of these traditional fine aggregate (River Sand) can possibly be independently substituted with M-Sand to enhance the mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete.