STUDY ON USE OF CORAL SAND AS FINE AGGREGATES IN CONCRETE

The crisis of naturally produced aggregates is one of the major problems faced by nations in recent years. This crisis has led to the production of concretes with aggregates from alternate sources. Aggregates from the marine origin can be an alternate source for concrete especially for structures along the coastline and maritime concrete structures. In this research, the mechanical and durability properties of concrete with coral sand as a fine aggregate in partial replacement of river sand (30%, 40% and 50% by sand mass) is studied. The physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of the collected samples were studied. The hardened concrete specimens were subjected to compression and tensile tests after 7, 14 and 28 days of curing. The durability of the concrete specimens to sulphate attack and acid attack were tested. The concrete specimens with conventional fine aggregates replaced with coral sand showed higher values of compressive and tensile strength when compared to that of conventional concrete. The durability of the concrete specimens to acid and sulphate attacks was found to be similar to that of conventional concrete