Comparison of split tensile strength of concrete using basalt and granite as coarse aggregates

This work aims at comparing the splitting tensile strength of basalt concrete mix with granite concrete mix. A total of 24 cylindrical concrete specimens of diameter 100mm and length 200mm were made in the laboratory. The British standard mix design method was used to obtain four different mix designs for batching the ingredients comprising ordinary Portland cement, river sand, water, granite and basalt with two mix designs each corresponding to basalt and granite samples. The specimens were cured for 28 days and tested for splitting tensile strength. The results show equivalent values of splitting tensile strength for basalt and granite samples with values for granite samples slightly higher than those of basalt samples. The average splitting tensile strength of the basalt samples B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6 are 11.10 N/mm2, 10.37 N/mm2, 11.37 N/mm2, 10.13 N/mm2, 11.60 N/mm2, 10.25N/mm2 respectively while that of the granite samples G1 and G2 are 11.52 N/mm2 and 10.58N/mm2 respectively. The corresponding mix ratios are 1:1.96:2.81 for B1, B3, and B5 samples, 1:2.25:2.75 for B2, B4, and B6 samples, 1:1.80:2.75 for G1 sample and 1:2.07:2.76 for G2 sample.