Modeling of Strength of Concrete Produced with Fine Aggregates from Different Sources

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, the compressive strength of concrete was determined from concrete made with fine aggregate sourced from three different locations. Fine aggregates were sourced from Onitsha, Uli, (Anambra State) and Njaba (Imo State) and constrain to several tests namely: sieve analysis, initial and final setting time. The mix ratio of 1:1.5:3and the water/cement ratio of 0.6 were used to produce these concrete samples. Both the slump test and compressive strength test were carried out on these samples. A total of Thirty-six (36) concrete cubes (150mm x 150mm x150mm) were cast, cured and tested after 7, 14, 21and 28 days of curing for each of the fine aggregates. The results for the mean compressive strength of the concrete produced, showed that all of them had average strength greater than 20N/mm2 , with fine aggregate from Uli having the highest mean at 33.2N/mm2 after 28days of curing. Thus, any fine aggregates could be used to produce structural light weight concrete, but fine aggregate from is highly recommended for projects that requires higher strength. A mathematical models used for the prediction of the compressive strength of concrete produced with different fine aggregate were also created by the Response Surface Method (RSM) using the design Expert Software Application. The optimizations were done and the results were validated.