Technical Feasibility of the Use of Sandy Loam Soils in Concrete

Abstract

In Mozambique, the task of providing infrastructural facilities for the rapidly growing population is enormous. Although the country has unique characteristics that present opportunities for timber construction to thrive, concrete continues to be one of the most used materials in modern construction. However, the concrete industry has a considerable impact on the environment due to production and the raw material consumed. Among the constituents of concrete, sand has been the one in which its exploitation causes the most damage to the environment. An alternative to solve this problem would be the use of fine sandy loam aggregate in the production of concrete. Thus, this research presents the study of the technical feasibility of using fine sandy loam aggregate in the production of concrete. The main study variables were the consistency and mechanical strength of concrete compression. For the production of concrete, two types of gravel of ¾ were used, sandy loam soil, sandy soil and Portland cement. Specimens were manufactured for 4 different mixes, with a reference mix containing cement, sand, gravel and water. To evaluate the performance of the mixes, tests of mechanical resistance to compression were carried out at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of age. After determining the main physical and mechanical characteristics, promising results were obtained for the mixtures with 25% and 50% substitution, where the axial compressive strength test reached 26.3 MPa and 27 MPa, above the reference mixture of 25.6 MPa. The 100% mix of alternative soil reached an average strength of 25.2 MPa. This same mixture, although having low mechanical strength, has greater consistency, with a slump of ±10 cm.