Abstract
The weight and cost of plain concrete are part of the setbacks in its use for construction purposes especially in low-cost housing delivery. This paper reports the experimental results of samples of concrete produced from a mix combination of cement, fine aggregate (sand) and volcanic scoria as coarse aggregate. The scoria concrete so produced in mix ratio 1:2:4 was tested for compressive strength, flexural strength and water absorption capacity. Empirical values of those factors that affect concrete strength were equally determined, these included specific gravity, bulk density and fineness modulus. The quality of scoria as an aggregate was also assessed by carrying out crushing test, impact value and abrasion tests. The compressive strength and modulus of rupture for 28 – days samples of scoria concrete was 20.42N/mm 2 and 6.08N/mm 2 respectively. This compares well with plain concrete with compressive strength of 22.22N/mm 2 and flexural strength of 7.14N/mm 2 . The results show that scoria concrete has sufficient strength to be used as a construction material.
Highlights
Shelter is a basic human need, decent shelter for the mass of the poor have not materialized over the years
The use of light weight aggregates to produce light weight concrete has the advantage of reducing the dead weight in building structures (Ndububa et al 2009)
Costs are reduced when aggregate materials are readily available, affordable and cheap, the present research interest on concrete made from light weight aggregate of volcanic origin
Summary
Shelter is a basic human need, decent shelter for the mass of the poor have not materialized over the years. Efforts at mass housing delivery at affordable rates to low income earners have not been successful due to the high cost of construction materials like cement from which concrete is made (Ndububa and Aho, 2004; Okpalla, 1994). Another disadvantage in the use of concrete is its high dead weight, it has an average unit weight of 23KN/m3. This paper reports a laboratory programme aimed at determining some engineering properties of concrete produced from cement, sand and scoria as coarse aggregate. J. Uungwa, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Plate 1: Volcanic scoria aggregates. There was a reduction in density in favour of scoria concrete
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