Comparative Study on the Strength and Durability Properties of Concrete with Manufactured Sand

The present research work enable us to study the basic properties of concrete in which Manufactured Sand (M-Sand) is used as a partial and full replacement for natural sand. To retain the natural resource such as natural sand an attempt is made in this research by partially replacing the natural sand with M-Sand. To study the basic strength and durability characteristics of concrete, M30, M40 and M50 grades were selected. In the strength characteristic study, the compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength were determined experimentally for the conventional and M-Sand concrete. In the durability study, the conventional and M-sand concrete is tested by conducting acid attack test, sulphate attack test and Rapid Chloride Permeability Test (RCPT). The experimental results revealed that the M-Sand replaced concrete have 20% more compressive strength when compared with conventional concrete for the 60% replacement of sand with M-sand (which found optimum). In the acid attack test, the percentage weight loss for conventional concrete is 2.65%, whereas for M-sand replaced concrete it is only 2% irrespective of grade of concrete. Low chloride ion permeability was observed for M-Sand concrete whereas moderate chloride ion permeability was observed for conventional concrete in RCPT test. The test results exhibits that the durability property of concrete is enhanced by partial replacement of sand with 60% of M-Sand for all the grades of concrete.