Comparative Analysis of Strength of Concrete Based on Different Types of Fine Aggregate

The increasing cost and scarcity of natural sand for concrete production has led to the use of various types of fine aggregate for concrete production. The paper compares the compressive strength of concrete produced with and without varied proportions of Quarry dust, Pit sand from Wiamoa and River sand from Okyi River (Mankessim). The paper was limited to the compressive strength of concrete for columns and beams with coarse aggregate size of 14mm nominal size and compressive strength of 30N/mm2. Water-cement ratio of 0.5 was used for a mix ratio of 1: 2: 4 and proportion of sand, 50 % each. A total of 72 specimens were cast and cured for 7, 14, 21, and 28 days respectively. Three cubes each were crushed using the compressive testing machine and the average taken as the compressive strength of the concrete. Results shows that river sand had the highest average compressive strength of concrete produced without varied proportion of sand with 37.78N/mm2, while quarry dust and river sand had the highest average compressive strength for concrete produced with varied proportion. Quarry dust and river sand have the highest average compressive strength of 36.09N/mm2. River sand should be used when producing concrete without varied proportion, whiles quarry dust and river sand should be used for varied proportion of sand for good compressive strength.