Effect of waste marble powder on the properties of concrete

Abstract

Concrete, the most widely used construction material in the world, consumes a large volume of natural resources. The growing concern for the preservation of the environment has led to the development of new technologies for the valorization of industrial by-products in the construction sector. The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of using waste marble powder (WMP) as a partial replacement for sand in concrete. A group of five concrete mixtures was prepared with sand substitution levels of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. Several tests were performed to evaluate workability, density, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and compressive strength. The test results show that increasing the ratios of waste marble powder leads to an increase in the compressive strength of the concrete with an optimum percentage of 15%. Therefore, it has shown that mixtures containing a percentage of WMP lower than 15% have improved the mechanical properties compared to conventional mixtures, which indicates that WMP can replace sand in concrete. Furthermore, the use of WMP is a viable source of raw materials for the construction industry as well as an eco-friendly solution for the disposal of WMP to preserve natural aggregate reservoirs.