The Wastes Utility in Concrete

The Marble Slurry Wastes (MSW) produced by marble industry is left unattended in the environment which causes serious environmental problems. In order to evaluate its potential usage in normal 1:2:4 concrete, this study was designed, where the partial replacement of cement with MSW was examined. Replacement of cement with MSW from 0 to 100%, and also its usage as an additive material 10% and 20% by weight of cement were the main objectives of this study. Various laboratory tests, like compressive strength test, splitting tensile test and slump test were conducted by using local available MSW. The primary chemical composition of the MSW indicated that it contains high contents, nearly 97% of lime (CaO). The laboratory results show that cement in structural concrete can be replaced by MSW up to 7% safely. The compressive and splitting tensile strength of concrete was observed to be increased by 15% and 6% by the addition of 10% MSW. A similarly increase in strength was also observed by adding the 20% of MSW additionally to the normal 1:2:4 concrete. However, by the addition of MSW in concrete, its slump strength i.e., its workability is found to be reduced.