Experimental Investigation on Strength Parameters of Laterised Concrete after Adding Silica Fume

Cement, sand and aggregates are the basic needs for any construction industry. Sand is a prime material used for preparation of mortar and concrete and which plays a major role in mix design. Now a days erosion of rivers and considering environmental issues, there is a scarcity of river sand. The non-availability or shortage of river sand will affect the construction industry. Hence there is a need to find the new alternative material to replace the river sand. M-Sand is one of the major alterntive to river sand. But its over exploitation causes serious environmental issues. Many researchers are finding different materials to replace fine aggregate and one of the major materials is locally available soil. Laterite soil is one of the easily available local soils and using different proportion of this available soil along with M-sand the required concrete mix can be obtained. This paper presents a review on the study of effect of silica fume on laterised concrete (concrete in which the fine aggregate is replaced with laterite soil). Initially the optimum percentage of silica fume is determining, with this optimum percentage of silica fume, replacement of fine aggregate with locally available laterite soil with different percentages (10 %, 20 %, 30 % & 40 %) is done. Tests on workability, compressive strength, flexural resistance, split tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were conducted on specimens. The result is then compared with that of laterised concrete and control concrete. Silica fume improves the bonding as well as compressive strength of concrete. Properties of laterite soil is as good as the regular river sand and M-Sand.