“ Experimental study on the properties of concrete made with alternate construction materials ”

Rapid increase in construction activities leads to active shortage of conventional construction materials due to various regions. Concrete is most widely used construction material. Cement, sand & granite stone are the constituents of the concrete. Researches were researching for cheaper materials that can be used as substitute for these materials. In this context an experimental study was carried out to find the suitability of the alternate construction materials such as, rice husk ash, sawdust , recycled aggregate and brickbats as a partial replacement for cement and conventional aggregates .For this concrete cubes of sixe 150mm x150mm were casted with various alternate construction materials in different mix proportion and with different water cement ratios. Their density, workability and compressive strengths were determined and a comparative analysis was done in terms of their physical properties and also cost savings. Test results indicated that the compressive strength of the OPC/RHA concrete cube blocks increases with age of curing and decreases as the percentage of RHA content increases.It was also found that the other alternate construction materials like saw dust, recycled aggregates and brick bats can be effectively used as a partial replacement for cement and conventional aggregates. The results showed that the compressive strength, of recycled aggregate are on average 70% to 80% of the natural aggregate concrete and the compressive strength of brick bat concrete and saw dust concrete was found to be in the range of 30-35% and 8-10% respectively. The compressive strength of rice husk ash concrete was found to be in the range of 70-80% of conventional concrete for a replacement of cement up to 20%.