Experimental Study on The Partial Replacement of Cement with Red Mud in Concrete

Abstract

These days the construction industry is fully developed due to a massive increase within a short period of time in the use of cement and concrete for multiple construction activities. The same rate is expected to continue in the next decade and this may cause global environmental impacts. The raw materials needed to manufacture cement and produce concrete provide less and require more energy for production. This increasing demand is causing a rapid depletion of resources. To overcome this situation, it is very important to use industrial waste and by-products for the manufacture of cement and concrete construction. Red mud is the extensive amount of industrial waste generated during the production of alumina. It has been found that for every 1 ton of alumina 1.2 to 1.3 tons of red mud waste is generated. As red mud has complex properties, the disposal process becomes quite challenging Disposal of this waste was the first prime problem encountered by the alumina industry after the adoption of the Bayer process. The conventional method of disposal of the red mud in ponds has often adverse environmental impacts as during monsoons the waste may be carried by run off to the surface water courses and as a result of percolating may cause contamination of ground water. Further disposal of large quantities of red mud dumped, poses increasing problems off storage occupying a lot space over the years many attempts have been made to find a use for red mud but nobody have proven to be economically satisfactory. Red mud or red sludge is a waste product generated in the industrial production of Aluminum via Bayer’s process of refining bauxite enrooted to alumina. With about 150 million tons (Globally) & 9 million tons in India of this hazardous material produced annually, red mud is one of the most important disposal problems in the mining industry. In this study, Mix was designed for M25 grade of conversational concrete. 6 mix were made in which Red mud were substituted by weight of cement in varying proportion 0%, 5%, 10% ,15%,20% and 25%. We evaluated the strength of concrete by performing tests which are compressive strength, flexural strength at the age of 7days and 28day. Study results revealed that 15% cement can be the optimally replaced by red mud beyond which compressive strength, Flexural strength deceasing. We find out that Compressive strength increase by 3.80 %, Flexural strength increase by 9.42% and replacing cement with red mud at 15%. However, the optimum level was observed as 15% without deceasing in strength. Study results revealed that 15% cement can be the optimally replaced by red mud beyond which compressive strength, Flexural strength deceasing. We find out that Compressive strength increase by 3.80 %, Flexural strength increase by 9.42% and replacing cement with red mud at 15%. However, the optimum level was observed as 15% without deceasing in strength.