Use of Industrial Silica Sand as a Fine Aggregate in Concrete—An Explorative Study

Abstract

Industrial silica sand is a by-product obtained from the industries like paint, paper, rubber etc. It has a similar property with river sand and& M sand. This study explores the effect of high content of silica sand as a partial replacement for fine aggregate for concrete making in construction purpose. In this present research four types of silica sand from two different industrial units (coarser silica sand (VC and TC) and finer silica sand (VF and TF)) were used. The physical classification and morphology observation of silica sand through scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDAX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is examined. Fresh and hardened concrete properties were performed for the six sand samples, with two grades (M20 and M30) of concrete. No new compositions or phases were identified in silica sand concrete. Both fine and coarse silica sands were finer than river sand and M sand, as evaluated from the physical classification. The workability of silica sand mix at a fresh state improves the concrete performance up to 40%. The mix, which contains 80% coarser silica sand (TC) with 20% river sand, attained the maximum compressive strength of 34.5 Mpa and tensile strength of 3.5 Mpa at 28 days, which was the greatest of all the mixes. The combination of silica sand and river sand or M sand showed the superior impact of the concrete over the discrete concrete. SEM images showed the well-developed hydrated products like calcium silicate hydrate (CSH), calcium hydroxide (CH) and ettringite in all concrete mixes. It was observed from the XRD pattern that all concrete mixes containing silica sand have a high peak of quartz (SiO2), and calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) exhibits the formation of hydration products in the concrete. Similar stretching and bending patterns of silica sand concrete relates the pattern of nominal sand concrete as observed from Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Characterization and Comparative Analysis of Natural, Sustainable Composite Material Properties Using Bio-Binder for Eco-Friendly Construction Applications

“…Finally, it was found that the compressive strength was 0.1 MPa. The sand particles were very fine, which resulted in a decrease in the mechanical properties [27][28][29]. The sand silica density was estimated to be around 2059 kg/cm 3 [30,31].…”

Study on Flexural Behaviour of Ferrocement Composites Reinforced with Polypropylene Warp Knitted Fabric

“…The scale range used in the SEM analysis was 5 µm with the resolution of 5000x. The samples were examined in the SEM instrument [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. After the flexural strength test, mortar bonded with the fabrics was taken out from the ferrocement composites.…”

XRF and XRD Testing for Sand Mineral Content Identification at Talang Siring Beach

“…Natural minerals can also be transformed into basic materials (Kenzhaliyev et al, 2022). Sand as Concrete Fine Aggregate (Malathy et al, 2022). From previous research, To maximize natural products, preliminary research is required to convert sand into high-value minerals, thereby enhancing the economic value of the people in the Talang Siring beach region.…”