Effect of Pulverized Burnt Clay Waste Fineness and Replacement Level on the Compressive Strength of Blended Cement Concrete

Abstract

Blended cement concretes typically gain compressive strength at later ages beyond the 28-day, and this does not favor its use when early age strength is required. In this paper, the effect of pulverized burnt clay waste fineness on the compressive strength of concrete has been investigated. Two different fineness of pulverized burnt clay waste classified as coarse and fine portions were obtained by sieving the original pulverized burnt clay waste portion through sieve sizes No. 100 (150 µm) and No. 200 (75 µm), respectively. Pulverized burnt clay waste dosages of 0% (control), 10% and 20% by weight of binder were used. It is found that the compressive strength of the concrete depends on the fineness and proportion of pulverized burnt clay waste. The result shows improvement in compressive strength at all curing ages with the fine portion pulverized burnt clay waste having the highest strength and improved early age compressive strength.