Strengthening of Concrete by Incorporation of Nano-Silica and Dolomite Powder
Nano technology is an emerging field of science with wide applicability. Nano technology has opened new areas for research in the almost all fields. Matter exhibits different physical, chemical, biological properties at nano-scale. The use of nano-particles in concrete will be beneficial to overcome its various drawbacks. Much research has been already done in the arena of civil engineering encompassing various topics like strength, durability, performance etc. Incorporation of nanoparticles in concrete for strength enhancement has also been done by the previous researchers. Nano-particles have been combined with fibres also to know the combined effect of two on the strength. It is found that nano-particles has never been used in combination with dolomite powder and can be used as cement’s replacement .In following study strengthening of concrete was done by the incorporation of nano-silica and dolomite powder. Three levels (values) of the above two parameters i.e. percentage replacement cement with dolomite powder and nano-silica were taken. Test results indicated that the combination of nano silica and dolomite powder did not satisfy requirement of desired strength in concrete. The concrete lost its strength significantly by using nano silica and dolomite powder. INTRODUCTION Concrete being a composite material made by the mixture of coarse and fine aggregates with cement. With the increasing use of cement in building material different types of cements are used according their uses. These coarse and fine aggregates bonded together with cement which hardens with time. Cement reacts along with water and fine aggregate, coarse aggregates to make a mixtures which binds the materials together. Physical properties of wet slurry can be improved by additives such pozzolans or super-plasticizer. Frequently concrete poured along with the reinforcing materials which resulted higher strength in tensile, yielding reinforced concrete. The one type of cement which is now increasingly used is nano-concrete. Nano concrete generally made up of nano-particles. In nano-concrete nano-particles plays very important role. Concrete being composite material inherits a lot of drawbacks which reduces its strength and its life. To overcome these drawbacks which are associated with concrete and to increase its strength, nano particles are increasingly used in concrete. These nano particles can fill the small voids which ultimately increases strength of concrete. Silicon dioxide’s nano particles which is known as nano silica inhabits a wide applicability in different areas like in field of biomedical research because of their stability, also contains less amount in toxicity and holds ability to function along with a range of molecules and polymers. Silica in nano form is now widely used as an admixture in concrete because of its various application and endurance to overcome the inherit drawbacks associated with it. Up to the certain extent when nano-silica is applied in concrete, it increases its strength and improves various other mechanical properties. Dolomite in its natural form known as Calcium Magnesium Carbonate which contains a good amount of purity and white colour. Dolomite being a rock mineral known for wettability, dispersibility and absorption of plasticizer. Dolomite has application for ornamental purpose and gardening work. In India Chhattisgarh is the leading state in the production of dolomite which accounts total production of 28%. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are other leading states in production of dolomite materials. Dolomite is one of the mineral of limestone. Rich constituents in dolomite are magnesium and calcium. It also contain other minerals in smaller amounts. It is also applied as supplement of calcium and magnesium. Various research studied found out that fine dolomite powder in fact can be applied as cementitious materials to produce cement by adding dolomite limestone. 3.0 MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM Different class of materials and experiments conducted in the project. Cement, fine, coarse aggregate are the main materials which we used in the experiment. The different tests like fineness test, sieve analysis, consistency test conducted to know the values of specific gravity pertaining to fine, coarse aggregates that are crucial for getting quantity of fine, coarse aggregates during project. 3.0 MATERIALS USED The properties and specification of materials which were applied in present study are as follow: 3.1.1 Cement In present study particularly Ambuja Cement was applied. Various tests were conducted on cement samples. These test were fineness test, initial and final setting time test, soundness test, and compressive strength test. Tests were performed according IS code procedures. Ambuja cement’s was obtained as specific gravity 3.15 and cement’s density was 1400 kg/m. 3.1.2 Coarse Aggregates Aggregates having coarse nature plays decisive role in making concrete.
