Foamcrete construction blocks using industrial wastes- A sustainable approach

Abstract

There is a wide growth in construction industry in recent years, which is a very important area of concern for all the stakeholders. There is a wide-ranging diminution of natural resources, especially river sand. Also, the current statistics shows that for the production of one ton of cement, there is a discharge of one ton of carbon dioxide, which creates lot of environmental pollution. This has directed the investigators to find a more sustainable solution. Hence this study is oriented towards the development of a new building material in foamed concrete, in which natural river sand is completely substituted with manufactured sand, which is being substituted partially with quarry fine dust, which is an industrial by-product. The production of alternate building blocks using fly ash, GGBS and quarry dust can be very effectively used for the overwhelming construction processes. The consumption of industrial by-products in foamcrete, compensates the deficiency of natural resources, which solves the disposal of the above waste materials and safeguards the nature. With the use of this foamcrete blocks (density less than 1800 kg/m3) as infills, slender sections can be designed for the framed construction works. Correspondingly, the thermal insulation properties of foamcrete blocks make it more acceptable in the present construction scenario. This is an attempt to focus the attention to discuss the utilization of industrial wastes in construction blocks. It has been observed that the construction blocks, made with these industrial wastes, have similar strength and other characteristics as that of conventional bricks. The maximum attained compressive strength is 13.29 N/mm2.