The Use Of Manufactured Sand In Concrete Production Test Results And Cost Comparison

Manufactured sand is a term used for aggregate materials less than 4.75mm and which arernprocessed from crushed rock or gravel. Due to booming of construction activities in ourrncountry, natural sand resources are increasingly depleted and its cost is becoming increasinglyrnhigh. This research was, therefore, conducted to study the influence that manufactured sandrnhave in compressive strength of concrete, to compare the cost of different mix compositionsrnand to assess the prospects of using manufactured sand as replacement of natural sand inrnEthiopia.rnInitially, different natural and manufactured sand samples to be used in the concrete mixesrnwere collected and their physical properties were studied. Fifteen different concrete mixesrnhaving five mix proportions for both natural and manufactured sand (i.e. 100%NS+ 0%MS;rn75%NS+25%MS; 50%NS+50%MS; 25%NS+75%MS and 0%Ns+100%MS) were preparedrnfor normal strength, intermediate strength and high strength concrete using a water cementrnratio and cement contents of 0.54, 370kg/m3; 0.39, 460kg/m3; 0.30, 520kg/m3 respectively.rnThe properties of these mixes have then been assessed both at the fresh and hardened state. Inrnaddition, comparison of costs for each concrete mixes based on the price of the concreternmaterial collected from Addis Ababa, Nazareth, Awassa, Mekelle and Jimma towns werernmade.rnThe results of the hardened properties of the mixes have shown that concrete mixes withrnpartial proportions of manufactured and natural sand achieved a higher compressive strengthrnat all test ages. The cost comparisons results also have shown that using manufactured sand inrnpartial or full replacement to natural sand doesn’t cause any significant cost variation. It hasrnbeen found also that use of manufactured sand is more suitable for high strength concreternproduction. It can therefore, be concluded from the findings of this research that when thernavailability of natural sand is scarce or in cities where the price of natural sand is as expensivernas manufactured one, manufactured sand concrete mix is a viable and better alternative to thernuse of natural sand.rnKeywords: aggregate, compressive strength, concrete, cost, manufactured sand, workability.

Get Full Work

Report copyright infringement or plagiarism