INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL SAND ON THE PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE AND MORTAR

An enormous quantity of concrete is consumed by the construction industry. About 37.5 % volume of concrete is comprised of sand. A good class concrete is produced by cautious mixing of cement, fine and coarse aggregates, water and admixtures as required to obtain an optimum quality and economy. Generally, cement and coarse aggregates are factory made products and their quality and standards can be easily controlled and maintained. Water used for mixing of concrete is usually tap water. The fine aggregates or sand used is usually obtained from natural sources particularly river beds or river banks. Nowadays due to constant sand mining, the natural sand is reducing at an alarming rate. Sand dragging from river beds has led to several environmental issues. Due to various environmental issues Government has expelled the dragging of sand from rivers. This has led to a scarcity and substantial increase in the cost of natural sand. There is a vital need to find an alternative to Natural Sand. The only long term replacement for sand is Artificial sand. In the present study, an attempt has been made to experimentally study the properties of concrete and mortar by replacing the 100% natural sand with artificial sand. The results have shown that the natural sand can be replaced with the artificial sand to produce concrete and mortar of satisfactory strength and durability