Combined Effect of Silica Fume and Saw Dust as a Partial Replacement of Cement in Concrete: Exploring the Use of Silica Fume and Saw Dust as Sustainable Cement Replacements

Abstract

The environmental impact of OPC is significant because its production emits large amount of CO2. Utilization of industrial soil waste or secondary materials has been encouraged in construction field for the production of cement and concrete because it contributes for reducing the consumption of natural raw materials as resources. The volume of wastes generated in the world has increased over the years due to increase in population, socioeconomic activities and social development. One of the most attractive options of managing such wastes is to look into the possibility of waste minimization and re-use. The cost of cement used in concrete works is on the increase and unaffordable, yet the need for housing and other constructions requiring this material keeps growing with increasing population, thus the need to find alternative binding materials that can be used solely or in partial replacement of cement. Waste materials, in this case, Rice Husk, Saw Dust, which is an environmental pollutant it ash can be used as pozzolana in partial replacement of cement in concrete production. Concrete cubes were casted using replacement levels of 0, 1, 2 and 3 % percent of saw dust (SDA) and 5, 10, 15% of Silica Fume with OPC for M20 Grade concrete. Thus 12% replacement of OPC with SDA (2%) and Silica Fume (10%) give compressive strength at 28 days is 24.33N/mm2 and Tensile strength is 3.45N/mm2 .Therefore it can be used for concrete production.