Improved Concrete Properties Using Quarry Dust as Replacement for Natural Sand

Abstract

Concrete plays a major role in the construction industry. Natural sand is a prime material used for the preparation of concrete and also plays an important role in Mix Design. Now a day's river erosion and other environmental issues have led to the scarcity of river sand. The reduction in the sources of natural sand and the requirement for reduction in the cost of concrete production has resulted in the increased need to find new alternative materials to replace river sand so that excess river erosion is prevented and high strength concrete is obtained at lower cost. One such material is Quarry stone dust: a by-product obtained during quarrying process. Attempts have been made to study the suitability of Quarry dust as sand replacing material and it has been found that Quarry dust improves the mechanical properties of concrete as well as elastic modulus. The optimum compressive strength is achieved at the proportion of fine to coarse with 60:40 ratio.