An Experimental Investigation of Strength of “Granite Fines Concrete”

Abstract

Granite fines which are the byproduct produced in granite factories while cutting huge granite rocks to the desired shapes. While cutting the granite rocks, the powder produced is carried by the water and this water is stored in tanks. After evaporation of water the granite dust remained is transported and disposed on the lands. Disposing this granite fines is a major problem in an Urban set up. Factories are situated close to the residential areas that in case random disposal of the granite fines would lead to health hazards of the people dwelling in the areas in particular and also would prove to be an environmental hazard in general. With the properties of the granite fines, i.e., its size and fineness, it can be very effectively used as a filler material in the concrete, replacing the fine aggregate which will help in filling up the pores in the concrete which is otherwise porous. Filling up of the pores by the granite fines increase the strength of the concrete and also a material which is abundantly available and which has a disposal problem can be made use effectively. In this paper an attempt is made experimentally to investigate the Strength Behavior of Concrete with the use of Granite Fines as an additive. Concrete is prepared with granite fines as a replacement of fine aggregate in 5 different proportions namely 0%,10%,15%,20%and 25%various tests such as compressive strength, tensile strength and Flexural strength are investigated and these values are compared with the conventional concrete without granite fines.