AN EXPLORATIVE STUDY ON THE SUITABILITY OF JUTE LEAF (Corchorus spp.) POWDER AS AN ADMIXTURE IN CONCRETE PRODUCTION 1
Zakka, P.W., 2Bang, D.P., 1Anowai, S.I., 1Williams, F.N., 1Yahaya, A.M., 3Bako, W., 4Yohanna, H.S & 1Igomu, I.
1Department of Building, University of Jos, Nigeria.
2Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Jos, Nigeria.
3ECWA College of Health Technology Kagoro
4Department of Building Technology, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria
ABSTRACT: The properties and performance of concrete are largely determined by the properties of the cement paste. Admixtures in concrete confer some beneficial effects such as acceleration, retardation, air entrainment, water reduction, plasticity etc., and these effects are due to their action on cement. Classical chemical additives to concrete are considered as one of important factors for improving the properties of concrete in structural designs. Today the construction industry is in need of finding effective materials for increasing the strength of concrete structures with low cost, and with less environmental damage. This research was aimed at addressing such issues by investigating the suitability of Jute leaf powder as an admixture in concrete production. At 7 days hydration period in water, the control had a compressive strength of 18.50N/mm2, it was observed that the introduction of jute leaf powder increases the compressive Strength of the concrete expect in the case of 0.2% where there is a decrease in strength compared to the control cubes throughout. At 28 days hydration period in water, the control had a compressive strength of 28.33N/mm2, it was observed that at 0.2% admixture dosage, the concrete had the lowest compressive strength of 26.00N/mm2. Other percentages are high but that of 0.4% concrete cubes is highest. This shows that the optimum value is 29.01 N/mm2 at 0.4% of admixture. The Flexural Strength results revealed that the concrete with all different admixture dosage levels increases in strength as the admixture percent increases. At 28days, the concrete beams with 0% admixture developed strength of 3.92N/mm2 while the 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.4% had a flexural strength of 3.98N/mm2, 5N/mm2, and 5N/mm2 respectively. Therefore an increase in jute leaf powder increases the flexural strength of the concrete beams. The work shows that compressive strengths of 94.71%, 91.76% and 102.4% of the control (0%) can be achieved at the 28-days. The admixture ratio of (Jute/cement) was ranging between 0-0.4% by weight with mix proportion of (1:2:4) (cement:sand:gravel) by volume and same water to cement ratio (W/C) of 0.57. The experimental tests show that when modified concrete is compared with the normal concrete (without admixture), there is an increase in concrete compressive strength and flexural strength with increase in the ratio of jute leaf powder to certain percentage. Thus, the Jute leaf powder has shown promise as a low-cost concrete admixture in terms of increasing the setting time of concrete.
Keywords: Exploitative, Study, Suitability, Jute Leaf, Powder, Admixture, Concrete, Production
