Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Structural Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1458836
This article is part of the Research Topic Structural Applications of Concrete with Recycled Solid Wastes and Alternatives for Cement View all 9 articles

Strength and Durability of Concrete with Bentonite Clay and Quarry Dust

Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Umar Muhammad Umar 1Hui Qian Hui Qian 1Muhammad Nasir Ayaz Khan Muhammad Nasir Ayaz Khan 2*Muhammad Shahid Siddique Muhammad Shahid Siddique 3Hamad Almujibah Hamad Almujibah 4Ali. E. A. Elshekh Ali. E. A. Elshekh 4Maaz Osman Bashir Maaz Osman Bashir 4Nikolai Ivanovich Vatin Nikolai Ivanovich Vatin 5
  • 1 Civil Engineering Laboratory, School of Civil Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
  • 2 National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 3 NUST Institute of Civil Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 4 Taif University, Ta'if, Saudi Arabia
  • 5 Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The research object is concrete with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as bentonite clay and quarry dust. The impact of incorporating these SCMs on fresh concrete properties, compressive, flexural, and split tensile strengths, and acid resistance was investigated.Microstructural analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray radiography were used. Varying proportions of SCMs (5% to 20%) were incorporated into the concrete mix while maintaining a constant water-to-cement ratio. Key findings reveal a 7.31% increase in compressive strength, a significant 19.7% improvement in flexural strength, and enhanced acid resistance.Utilizing Response Surface Methodology (RSM), the optimal mix design for achieving superior mechanical strength was identified. The quadratic model of RSM indicated that a combination of 10.29% bentonite clay, 7.20% quarry dust, and 8.19% fine aggregate replacement yielded the highest strength. Predictive and experimental results demonstrated strong agreement. Compared to the reference concrete, the optimized samples exhibited significant increases of 18.08%, 33.60%, and 11.15% in compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths, respectively. This research demonstrates the potential of locally available SCMs as viable and sustainable alternatives for concrete production, offering improved performance without compromising strength.

    Keywords: Bentonite clay, Quarry dust, Compressive Strength, cement, response surface

    Received: 03 Jul 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Umar, Qian, Khan, Siddique, Almujibah, A. Elshekh, Bashir and Vatin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Muhammad Nasir Ayaz Khan, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.