Experimental Study on the Effect of Cement and Sand Replacement with Red Mud and Quarry Dust in Cement Concrete Pavements

Abstract

The main objective of the project is experimental study of the possibility of utilizing the waste red mud (bauxite residue) and quarry dust in cement concrete. Red mud is a by-product produced in the process of extraction of aluminium from bauxite. The red mud generated by this process is highly alkaline with a pH usually ranging from 10 to 12. It leads to serious environmental problems. Worldwide there are approximately 80 to 90 million tons of red mud is being generated every year. The production of 1 ton aluminium generates 1-2 tonnes of red mud. The storage of red mud is economically and environmentally problematic due to the risk of contamination of natural resources and living organisms. Red mud can be used in replacement of cement in concrete. The quarry dust which is available from local resources can be used as a replacement of river sand in a conventional concrete pavements. This study aims at describing such utilization and their effective usage in concrete. Experiments have been conducted under laboratory conditions to assess the compressive strength and flexural strength of the concrete cubes made of red mud and quarry dust. By conducting the model tests we can replace the 15% of cement with red mud and 30% of sand with quarry dust.