Wood waste as coarse aggregate in the production of concrete

Abstract

An attempt was made in this experimental investigation to recycle wood waste. Concrete-containing wood aggregate in percentages of 0, 15, 20 and 25 in place of crushed stone was developed with a characteristic compressive strength of 25 MPa, with a mix proportion of 1:1.26:2.76 and with water/cement ratio of .45. One hundred and twenty specimens were cast and tested to evaluate the strength and durability properties of concrete. The performance of wood aggregate concrete was compared with control concrete that contained only crushed stone aggregate. The compressive strength of control concrete was 31.40 MPa and that of wood aggregate concrete with 15% replacement level was 32.36 MPa which is 3.06% above the control concrete. Split tensile strength of 15% replaced wood aggregate concrete was 2.25 MPa as against a value of 2.05 MPa for control concrete registering an increase of 9.75%. The flexural strength of control concrete was 2.49 MPa and that of concrete containing 15% wood aggregate was 2.51 MPa which was .80% higher than the control concrete. The weight loss of wood aggregate concrete with 15% replacement level under acid attack was 30.38% greater than the control concrete. Under alkaline attack, the weight loss of wood aggregate concrete with 15% replacement level registered an increase of 9.72% over control concrete. Therefore, wood aggregate can be used in the production of concrete, and the optimum replacement was found to be 15% from all considerations.