Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.

com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

A Comparative Study on Compressive and Flexural Strength of

Concrete Containing Different Admixtures as Partial
Replacement of Cement
Apoorv Singh*, Prof. R.D Patel**, Khalid Raza***
*(M. Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, M.M.M University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P,)
**(Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, M.M.M University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P)
***( M. Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, M.M.M University of Technology, Gorakhpur, U.P,)

ABSTRACT
Concrete is the most widely used material in the world today. This paper is about the comparative study of the
flexural strength and compressive strength of concrete when different admixtures are used as partial replacement
of cement in the concrete mix. The mineral admixtures that are used here are Silica Fume, Rice Husk Ash and
Iron slag as partial replacement of cement. All these materials are industrial waste products and are abundantly
available nowadays. These materials have high silica content and pozzolanic properties and can be effectively
used as a replacement of cement during the formation of High Performance Concrete. Compressive and Flexural
strength are the two most important characteristic of concrete and are calculated for the hardened concrete to
analyze the load bearing capacity for design purposes. Thus for the effective judgment of type of mineral
admixtures to be used a comparative study is very useful.
Keywords – Compressive strength, flexural strength, High Performance Concrete, Iron slag, Rice Husk Ash
(RHA), Silica fume

I. INTRODUCTION bearing capacity. Also as concrete is weak in tension

Cement is the most widely used material in thus it is important to calculate the bending load the
today’s world. It is used in all the construction works. concrete beam can carry before failure. In this
But the formation of cement is not a sustainable research a comparative study is conducted to
process as it releases a large amount of CO2 gas in the calculate and compare the compressive and flexural
environment which is the main component of the strength that is imparted to any concrete when Silica
greenhouse gases. Thus it is inevitable to find Fume, RHA and Iron Slag are used separately as a
suitable material for the partial replacement of partial replacement of cement. For this purpose 5%,
cement in concrete mix design. Silica Fume, Rice 10%, 15% and 20% replacement of cement was done
Husk Ash and Iron Slag are highly siliceous materials by the mineral admixtures using one at a time and the
and have good pozzolanic properties. Thus these flexural strength and compressive strengths were
materials can be effectively used as a partial calculated. Compressive and Flexural strength testing
replacement of cement to impart improved properties was done according to IS: 516-1959. Then a
to the concrete. (S.A Khedr et al., 1994) studied the comparative result is shown with a table and the
effect of use of silica fume to obtain High variation of the compressive and flexural strength
Performance Concrete. (G.A Rama Rao et al, 1989) comparatively according to the replacement of
studied the nature and reactivity of silica available in cement with mineral admixtures is also shown
Rice Husk Ash (RHA). The effect of use of RHA in graphically. This research work can provide a
concrete was studied by Sandesh D Deshmukh et al, guideline for the priority of use of any particular type
(2011). Iron slag is a waste product from iron and of admixture in construction and also gives the values
Steel Manufacturing Industries. The use of iron slag of the compressive and flexural strength provided by
in concrete was studied by (S.S Sun et al, 2007) and these materials to the concrete.
the effect of use of iron slag in concrete was studied
by (C.H Huang et al,2004). Also all these materials II. MATERIALS USED
are industrial waste products that are abundantly The various materials that are used in this
available in India. Their disposal is also a problem research are as follow:-
and if filled in a land fill, these have many deleterious
effects on the environment. Compressive and 2.1 Cement:- Cement of grade OPC43 is used that is
Flexural strengths are the most important properties commercially available in Indian market. The
of the hardened concrete that signifies its load

www.ijera.com 118 | P a g e
Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

properties of the cement are as confirming to IS: proportion of various components per m3 of concrete
8112-1989. is shown in Table 1. The water cement ratio is kept as
2.2 Fine Aggregate:- Yellow sand of grading Zone II 0.42:1 and the ratio of cement: fine aggregate: coarse
confirming to IS:383-1970 is used that is available aggregate is kept as 1: 2.31: 3.46. The concrete mix
commercially. The specific gravity of the sand is was prepared by hand operations.
calculated as 2.59.
Table1. Concrete Mix design
2.3 Coarse Aggregate:- Crushed angular coarse Type of component of Weight per m3 (kg)
aggregates of 10mm and 20mm nominal sizes are mix
used in the ratio of 40:60 respectively. The specific Cement 354
gravity of the aggregate is 2.74. Fine aggregate 815
Coarse aggregate 1217
2.4 Chemical Admixture:- A concrete super Water 148
plasticizer was used from the Roorkee Construction Super plasticizer 1% by weight of
Chemicals to reduce the water Cement ratio. cement

2.5 Silica Fume:- Silica fume is a by-product of the III. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
manufacture of silicon metal and Ferro-silicon alloys. The concrete mix was designed confirming to IS:
The process involves the reduction of high purity 10262-2009 and concrete beams cubes were cast for
quartz (SiO2) in electric arc furnaces at temperatures different replacement percentages of cement by Silica
in excess of 2,000°C. Silica fume is a very fine fume, Rice Husk Ash and Iron Slag. The cement was
powder consisting mainly of spherical particles or replaced by 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by weight by
microspheres of mean diameter about 0.15 microns, Silica Fume, RHA and Iron slag respectively using
with a very high specific surface area (15,000–25,000 one at a time. The beams casted were of the
m2/kg). For the project silica fume was obtained that dimensions of 700mm*150mm*150 mm and the
is commercially available in Delhi market. The dimension of the cubes was 150mm* 150mm*
specific gravity of silica fume is 2.22. 150mm. The samples were cured in fresh water for 7,
14 and 28 days. Then the beams were tested to
2.6 Rice Husk Ash:-Rice Husk Ash is a waste calculate the flexural strength and the cubes were
product obtained from Rice Husk boilers. For this tested for compressive strength at 7 and 28 days
project the RHA was obtained from Sardar Nagar confirming to IS:516-1959 and comparative graphs
Distillery, Gorakhpur. The specific gravity of RHA is showing the values of flexural strength and
calculated as 2.0. compressive strength for different mineral
admixtures as partial replacement of cement were
2.7 Iron Slag:- Iron slag is the granular material drawn.
formed when molten iron blast furnace slag is
rapidly chilled by immersion in water. It is a granular
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
product with very limited crystal formation, is highly
4.1. Flexural strength test:- The flexural strength
cementitious in nature and, ground to cement fines,
test was conducted on beam specimens by manual
and hydrates like Portland cement. For this project
flexural strength testing machine. The beams were
iron slag was obtained from Gallant Industries,
tested on 7, 14 and 28 days after curing in fresh water
Gorakhpur. The specific gravity of Iron Slag was
at 27 0C. Separate graphs were drawn for 7,14 and 28
calculated as 3.03.
days to show the variation of flexural strength with
different amount of replacement of cement by
2.8 Water:- Fresh water was used for preparation of
different admixtures. The value of flexural strength
concrete mix as well as for the curing of the samples
for different level of replacement of cement is given
created during the project.
in Table2 and the graphs for 7 ,14 and 28 days are
given in fig.1 ,fig.2 and fig.3 respectively.
2.9 Concrete Mix:- The concrete mix designed was
of M30 grade confirming to IS:10262- 2009. The

www.ijera.com 119 | P a g e
Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

Table 2. Flexural strength of concrete with different admixtures

Sl. % FLEXURAL STRENGTH(M Pa)
No. replaceme
nt of
cement by 7 Days 14 Days 28 Days
Mineral
Silica RHA Iron Silica RHA Iron Silica RHA Iron
admixture
fume Slag fume Slag fume Slag
1 0 3.56 3.56 3.56 4 4 4 4.3 4.3 4.3
2 5 3.56 4 2.96 3.71 4.15 3.4 5.04 5 4.3
3 10 3.71 3.4 3.4 4.2 4 3.48 5.34 4.36 5.19
4 15 3.86 2.67 4.082 4.3 3.67 4.12 5.63 4 5.24
5 20 3.4 2.22 3.48 3.44 3.44 3.52 4.6 3.74 4.22

4.5
4
7 days flexural strength (M Pa)

3.5
3
2.5 Silica fume
2 RHA
1.5 Iron slag
1
0.5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
% replacement of cement
Figure . 1 Variation of 7 days flexural strength for different admixtures

5
4.5
14 days flexural strength (M Pa)

4
3.5
3
2.5 Silica fume
2 RHA
1.5 Iron slag
1
0.5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
% replacement of cement
Figure.2 Variation of 14 days flexural strength for different admixtures

www.ijera.com 120 | P a g e
Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

6
28 days flexural strength (M Pa)

4
Silica
fume
3 RHA

Iron slag
2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
% replacement of cement
Figure.3 Variation of 28 days flexural strength for different admixtures

4.2 Compressive strength test:- The compressive replacement of cement by different admixtures. The
strength test was conducted on concrete cubes by values of compressive strengths for different mineral
automatic compressive strength testing machine by admixtures are given in Table 3 and the variation of
applying the load gradually. The cubes were tested compressive strength for different proportion of
after 7 days and 28 days curing period and separate replacement of cement with admixtures at 7 days is
graphs were drawn to show the variation of given in fig.4 and the variation of compressive
compressive strength for different amount of strength at 28 days is given in fig.5.

Table 3. Compressive strength of concrete with different admixtures

S. % of mineral Compressive Strength(M Pa)
No. admixture as
replacement of
cement 7 days compressive strength 28 days compressive strength

Silica RHA Iron slag Silica fume RHA Iron slag

Fume
1 0 23.6 23.6 23.6 38.2 38.2 38.2
1 5 24.5 22.3 26.3 40.2 32 31.2
2 10 27.2 21.4 23.6 41.1 31 35
3 15 27.6 17.4 22.3 42 29.1 37
4 20 22.2 16 21.4 37.4 27.5 34

www.ijera.com 121 | P a g e
Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

30
7 days compressive strength (M Pa)
25

20

Silica fume
15
RHA
10 Iron slag

0
10 15 20 0
25 5
% replacement of cement
Figure 4. Variation of 7 days compressive strength of concrete for different admixtures

45
28 days compressive strength (Mpa)

40
35
30
25
Silica fume
20
15 RHA

10 Iron slag
5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
% replacement of cement

Figure .5 Variation of 28 days compressive strength for different admixturtes

V. CONCLUSIONS  The highest value of flexural strength obtained

 Silica Fume gives the highest values of flexural was 5.63 M Pa that was obtained for 15%
strength and compressive strength as compared replacement of cement by Silica Fume.
to Rice Husk Ash and Iron Slag.  The highest compressive strength achieved was
 The values obtained for Silica fume and Iron slag 42 M Pa for 15% replacement of cement by
are maximum for 15% replacement of cement Silica Fume.
after which the value decreases.  Both RHA and Iron Slag are abundantly
 For Rice Husk Ash the value of flexural strength available industrial wastes in India and can be
and compressive strength is the minimum and it effectively used as partial replacement of cement
is lower than the values for M30 specimen in concrete mix.
formed with 0% replacement.  Silica Fume can impart very high strength and
 The compressive and flexural strength of the can be used to form High Performance Concrete.
specimen goes on decreasing as the percentage  28 days compressive strength for RHA and Iron
of RHA increases. slag is lower than that of concrete without any
admixture.

www.ijera.com 122 | P a g e
Apoorv Singh et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 9( Version 5), September 2014, pp.118-123

REFERENCE
[1] IS :456-2000
[2] IS:516-1959
[3] IS:10262-2009
[4] G.A Rama Rao,R.K Sastry and P.K Rohatgi
Bull ,”Nature and reactivity of silica
available in rice husk and its ashes” Mater.
Sci.vol 12, no.5, dec 1989, pp. 469-479
[5] S. Bhanja*, B. Sengupta, “Influence of silica
fume on the tensile strength of concrete”,
Cement and Concrete Research 35 (2005)
743–747
[6] Sun, S.S., Zhu, G.L., Zhang, Y.,
"Application Technology of Iron and Steel
Slag in China", China Waste Steel, Vol.4,
Feb., 2007, pp21-28.
[7] J.Y Sun and C.H Huang, C.H., "Influence of
Slag and Steel Slag Composite on Properties
of High Content Slag Concrete", New
Building Materials, vol20 jul.2004,ppl3-15.
[8] User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct
Materials in Pavement Construction
Publication Number: FHWA-RD-97-148
[9] V. Yogendran, B.W. Langan, M. N .Haque ,
M.A. Ward, Silica fume in high strength
concrete, ACI Mater. J. 84 (2) (1982) 124–
129.
[10] M.S Shetty, Concrete Technology
[11] Sandesh D. Deshmukh, Pravin V. Domke,
Satish D. Kene, R.S.Deotale, “Experimental
Study on Strength of Concrete by Using
Artificial Fibers with Rice Husk Ash”
International Journal of Engineering
Research and Applications (IJERA) ISSN:
2248-9622,Vol. 1, Issue 3, pp.571-581
[12] S.A. Khedr, M.N. Abou- Zeid,
“Characteristics of silica-fume concrete”, J.
Mater. Civ. Eng. ASCE 6 (3) (1994) 357–
375.

www.ijera.com 123 | P a g e