Investigation on performance of red mud based concrete.

What is it about?

In today’s construction scenario, concrete is one of the most frequently used building material next to steel, timber and aluminum. Concrete’s worldwide usage has led the researchers to improvise its properties. Several waste materials are being used with concrete either as partial replacement or replacement by the weight of cement. Red mud is one of such waste material obtained from Bauxite refining in alumina preparation by Bayer’s process. This study investigates the performance of Red mud on strength and durability of concrete by conducting series of tests by substituting cement by weight with 10%, 20% and 30% of Red mud. Based on the results obtained, the strength properties of concrete increased by replacing cement with Red mud by 20% of weight of cement. In case of its durability property, water absorption percentage of the concrete replaced with 30% Red mud by weight of cement is lower than that of conventional OPC concrete. Surface resistivity value is slightly higher when compared with the conventional concrete. Higher the surface resistivity value, lower the conduction property of concrete.

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Why is it important?

Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with the fluid cement that hardens over time. When aggregate is mixed with the dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms fluid slurry that is easily poured and moulded into shape [1]. The cement reacts with water and other ingredients to form hard matrix over time. It is distinguished from other, non-cementitious types of concrete, all binding some form of aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces and polymer concrete that uses polymer as a binder. In spite of all the advantages of concrete, the cement industry is one of the three major primary producers of carbon-dioxide, a major green house gas. Every tone of cement produced releases one tone of CO2 into the atmosphere [2]. Researchers have suggested a number of approaches to reduce the emission carbon-dioxide during both the cement manufacturing and concrete production.

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