Utilization of Sawdust Ash as an additive of cement in concrete and study of its mechanical properties

Abstract

The sustainability of the concrete industry is in jeopardy because it is one of the biggest consumers of natural resources. Environmental and monetary issues are the main difficulties the concrete industry is currently dealing with. In this study, the potential substitution of sawdust ash for cement in the production of concrete is explored. In this project, the potential substitution of sawdust ash for cement in concrete production was explored, a typical carpentry waste, and then we utilize several testing techniques to examine how it impacts the mechanical characteristics of concrete. In an experiment, the compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths of concrete samples made with various ratios of sawdust ash and cement were examined. The samples were made following ASTM C-109, ASTM C-496 and ASTM C-78 for compression, tensile and flexural testing. In place of cement, saw dust ash was added to the M-15 (M indicates ‘mix’ and 15 indicates compressive strength of 15MPA) sample in weight percentages of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The concrete samples were tested to ascertain their compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths after 14 days. Comparisons between the results and untreated concrete were done. In this study, the behavior of concrete was investigated when sawdust ash was replaced for cement to weight-based extents of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 25%. This could address the problem of how to dispose of sawdust ash while also enhancing the properties of concrete.