Performance of Concrete made with River Stones and Crushed Stones as Coarse Aggregates within Okene (LGA), Kogi State, Nigeria
Sadiq A.; Afolabi M. Suberu J. A
ABSTRACT
It is a common practice within Okene local government area (LGA) in Kogi State, Nigeria to use river stones as construction materials to provide sustainability and growth in the State. A detail reports aimed at investigating the performance of concrete made with crushed stone and locally sourced river stone as coarse aggregates for concrete productions. The preliminary laboratory investigation was conducted to characterize the crushed stone and locally sourced river stone include the sieve test, physical properties, aggregate impact value and aggregate crushing value were within the required specifications to determine the sustainability of using coarse aggregates for construction work. A prescribed mix of 1:1.5:3 and 1:1:2, cement, fine and coarse aggregates respectively with water cement ratio of 0.55 was adopted. The constituents were mixed manually and cast into cubic mould size 150mm3 for the compressive strength while cylinder mould measuring 100mm diameter x 200mm long was used for split tensile strength. All the cube specimens were demoulded after 24hours and cured by immersing in water for maturity of 7, 14 and 28days respectively. It was observed that all the test results proved to have the required strength and also indicate that concrete produced with crushed stone has the maximum compacting factor and slump value. The optimum mean compressive strength and split tensile strength are 29.52N/mm2 and 3.88N/mm2 at designated mix for concrete made with crushed stone compared to river stone as 26.58N/mm2 and 3.08N/mm2 cured at 28days of testing respectively. The characteristics of the individual aggregate accounted for the variation in strength of the concrete. In conclusion, it’s advisable to use both mix ratios for structural elements and the effect of any types of coarse aggregate on the concrete strength will be identified and also enable consumers to determine the type of aggregate to be designated for a specific concrete production.
Keywords: characterization, coarse aggregates, strength, consistency test and physical properties.
