POTENTIAL USE OF NATURAL RED MUD AS PARTIAL REPLACEMENT IN CEMENT

BYG.MURALI MOHAN

CONTENTSIntroduction Materials used and their availabilityPreliminary tests Design of Cement mortar mixPreparation and testing of mortar cubesResultsconclusion

INTRODUCTION

During present era use of cement became very high because of urbanization. So the natural resources are decreasing rapidly.As part of development, use of cement in buildings, many other civil engineering structures is taking place.But the sources are getting reduced very fastly because of heavy usage.In order to reduce the usage of conventional materials like cement, some experiments are done for finding out compressive strength of Cement By replacing Cement with Red mud

Red mud comprises of oxides of iron, titanium, aluminum and silica along with some other minor constituents. Presence of Alumina and Iron oxide in red mud compensates the deficiency of the same components in limestone which is the primary raw material for cement production. Experiments have been conducted under laboratory condition to assess the strength characteristics of the aluminum red mud. our project work focuses on the suitability of red mud obtained for construction. Five test groups of cubes were casted by replacing the cement with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15,&20% of red mud. The strength of these cubes will be compared with the conventional cubes .

MATERIALS USED AND THEIR AVAILABILITY

Cement ( OPC 53 grade Cement) Ordinary Portland Cement (53 Grade) is being used throughout the project. Different tests were performed on the cement to ensure that it confirms to the requirements of Indian standards.

Fine aggregate (Locally available)Locally available sand is used as fine aggregate in the cement mortar. The sand here used is that which is passed through 1.18mm and retained on 90microns.

Red mud(locally available)The red mud is collected from the near by fields. The red mud here used is that which is passed through 90 microns.

S.NO. PROPERTY TEST RESULTS1 Standard consistency 30%2 Specific gravity 3.23

3Initial setting time 53 minutes

Final setting time 530 minutes

4Soundness (Expansion)

Lechatlier method1 mm

5 Fineness of cement (Dry sieving method) 6%

PRELIMINARY TESTS

A. CEMENT

B.FINE AGGREGATE• Fine aggregate is locally available.

S.NO. PROPERTY TEST RESULTS

1 Zone of sand Zone II

2 Specific gravity 2.74

S.NO. PROPERTY TEST RESULTS

1 Specific gravity 2.64

C.RED MUD

CEMENT MORTAR MIX

The proportions of materials used in the preparation of the cement mortar cubes are as

Ratio of proportions of cement to fine aggregate(sand) 1 : 3

Amount of water to be added is ( P/4 +3) % of mass (cement +sand) P = % of water required to make cement paste of standard consistency

PREPARATION AND TESTING OF CEMENT MORTAR CUBES

1. Mixing of material for each test cube shall be separately prepared. The quantities of cement, sand and water shall be as follows:Cement – 200 gms, sand – 600 gms, water – (p/4+3) % of mass (cement +sand) where P = % of water required to make cement paste of standard consistency.2.All ingredients shall be dry mixed for one minute. After that, water is gradually added till paste is formed of uniform colour. Mixing time shall be between 3-4 minutes. If uniform colour of paste is not achieved after mixing more than 4 minutes, fresh mortar shall be prepared.

3.Apply the oil on interior surface of mould and place the mould on vibrating table. Immediately after preparing mortar as describe in point 2, place the mortarinside cube moulds. Tamp 20 times for approximate 8 sec to ensure full compaction of mortar.4. Further compaction shall be done by using vibrating machine.The period of vibration shall be two minutes5.After completion of vibration, remove moulds along with base plate and finish the top surface by trowel.6.Keep moulds filled with specimen for 24 ± 1 hr. Remove samples from mould and immediately submerge in clean water.

7.After curing period is over, remove cubes from water and immediately place in testing machine with side facing upwards. Load shall be uniformly applied at the rate of 171 KN/min. in UTM machine of capacity 600KN.

8.Calculate compressive strength of specimen by using following formulacompressive strength = P / AwhereP = Maximum load appliedA = cross-sectional area of test specimenCompressive strength shall be calculated as average value of three samples.

% of red mud added

Compressive strength for 7days

(Mpa)

Compressive strength for 28days( Mpa)

0 35.27 50.23

5 33.12 48.15

10 30.53 45.23

15 26.2 41.87

20 20.4 36.53

RESULTS

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%05

10152025303540

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (7 DAYS )

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (7 DAYS ) (Mpa)

Proportions of red mud (%)

com

pres

sive

str

engt

h (m

pa)

compressive strength at 7days for different proportions of red mud

compressive strength at 28 days for different proportions of red mud

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%0102030405060COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (28 DAYS)

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (28 DAYS)

Proportions of red mud (%)

Com

pres

sive

st

reng

th(m

pa)

Comparision of compressive strength of cube with different proportions of red mud

7 days 28 days0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0% red mud5% red mud10% red mud15% red mud20% red mud

Time(days)

Com

pres

sive

str

engt

h (m

pa)

CONCLUSION

Cement mortar cubes with different proportions of red mud are tested for their compressive strength and it is found that 1.The compressive strength of cement mortar will decrease as the amount of red mud increases. 2.Also the decrease in the compressive strength of the cement mortar is increasing as the amount of the red mud increases. Also it is noted that the specific gravity of the red mud is less when compared to the specific gravity of the cement.

SCOPE OF FEATURE WORK

It became clear that by increasing as the proportion of the red mud the strength of cement mortar is getting reduced, so there is a scope toincrease in the strength if GGBS and fly ash is added along with the red mud.