Experimental Investigation of Concrete Properties using Locally available Coarse Aggregates in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Concrete is the most widely used construction material worldwide. The concrete mainly consists of cement, water, fine aggregate(FA), and coarse aggregate(CA).CA is the main constituent of concrete in terms of weight and volume. The properties of CA can affect the fresh and mechanical properties of concrete. In the present study, CA from three different sources (Sargodha, Mangla, and Margalla) are used in three different mixes of grade M-20 (1:1.5:3) concrete. The FA aggregate source (Chenab) is kept the same in all three mixes with constant w/c=0.5. It is observed that the fresh properties of concrete with Margalla and Sargodha CA are better compared to the  Mangla source aggregate. This is because the CA of both the sources is relatively smooth in shape compared to the Mangla source that improves the flowability of concrete. While the lesser flowability of the Mangla source concrete is due to CA used is flaky, elongated, and has high absorption. The mixes with Margalla and Sargodha aggregate also performed slightly better in terms of mechanical properties. But overall, a significant difference occurred in the fresh properties of mixes compared to mechanical properties. Hence, it can be said that in normal strength concrete the different sources of aggregate mainly affect the fresh properties of concrete.