Strength and microstructure correlation of binary cement blends in presence of waste marble powder

Abstract

Marble industry produces stone slurry and solid waste that is not properly disposed and is usually dumped in open land which leads to land contamination. Marble waste deposition is one of the major environmental issues in the marble industry. This study emphasizes the reuse of waste material in concrete as a sustainable construction practice. The work is based on substitution of cement partially by marble powder (0, 5, 10, 15, & 20% by weight) to produce grades M30 concrete with water cement ratio as 0.45. The compressive, flexural and split tensile strength of concrete was analyzed at 7 and 28 days. The study reveals that by substituting 5% of cement by marble dust powder, there was an initial strength improvement up to 25 percent for both 7 and 28 days of curing. However, afterwards with increasing marble dust substitution, there was an irregular decrease in strength for all the mixes. The microstructure studies showed improved pore structure due to filling effect of marble powder at lower substitution. The experimental work signifies the use of marble powder at an optimum amount for enhancing the strength of concrete. Thus, marble powder incorporation in concrete can be used to reduce its harmful environmental effects and to produce economically beneficial green concrete.