An Experimental Study on Strength Development of

Concrete Using Black Cotton Soil

Udit Jain
1
, Vikram Rajvanshi
2
, Ayush Agarwal
3

Department of Civil Engineering, Jaypee Institute of Engineering & Technology
A-B Road, Raghogarh, Dist. Guna - 473226, Madhya Pradesh
1
udit17788@yahoo.co.in
2
vikramrajvanshi@gmail.com
3
ayushagarwal@gmail.com

Abstract: In the present Scenario, different admixtures and
different composite materials like fly ash, are used for making
concrete and replaced with some quantity of cement as it is the
costliest material. In this experimental setup, we replace
certain percentage of cement with Black Cotton Soil to
enhance compressive strength of Concrete. The main
governing property of black cotton soil is that when water is
added to the soil, it swells up and on drying it forms a hard
rock like material. In the Malwa region in central India there
are massive deposits of Black Cotton soil. It is freely available
as it is of no use as far as vegetation and farming is concerned.
When concrete is prepared on a very large scale, replacing
small amount of cement by black cotton soil will decrease the
cost of the entire project to an appreciable extent. This will
make any project more economical by using waste material as
an asset. Cubes were casted for checking the Compressive
Strength of Concrete with and without Black Cotton Soil.
Keywords: Black Cotton Soil, Concrete, Mineral Admixture
I. INTRODUCTION
In the present scenario concrete is an indispensable material in
buildings and different civil engineering work. There are
different materials used in cement concrete to enhance its
strength property. There are different ways to increases the
strength of concrete. It is possible by using different materials
as additive (Without replacement) to concrete or can by using
materials as a replacement of cement in preparation of
concrete. Replacements help to minimize the use of the cement
to some extent and hence minimize the cost.
The use of mineral admixtures for the manufacture of concrete
normally includes natural pozzolanic material and by-products
such as fly ash and silica fume [1]. Several studies have
reported that the addition of fly ashes improves the strength
and durability of concrete [2] because of their pozzolanic
properties. The addition of silica fume to mortar or concrete
enhances the strength and durability of concrete by a large
extent. It acts both as chemically inert filler, improving the
physical structure, and as a pozzolana, reacting chemically
with the Calcium Hydroxide formed during the hydration of
cement to form more C-S-H gel [3]. But the major
disadvantage of Silica Fumes is the tremendous cost it adds to
the project.
Different types of test have been performed for the use of clay
and soil in concrete. Black cotton soil is commonly found in
Maharashtra, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Gujarat, some
parts of Tamil Nadu and in the Malwa region of Madhya
Pradesh. The governing property of black cotton soil is that it
forms a hard rock like material when it dries up.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the use Black
cotton soil, which is available in abundance, in Malwa region
as materials which can be used as the percentage replacement
to achieve higher strength of concrete and compare its result
with standard plain cement concrete. When concrete is
prepared on a very large scale, replacing certain percentage of
cement with black cotton soil will decrease the cost of the
entire project to an appreciable extent and can make any
project more economical.
II. MATERIALS

A. Cement
Cement was used was OPC 43 Grade and the specific gravity
was determined to be 3.15.

B. Black cotton Soil (BCS)
Black cotton soil was collected from massive deposits in the
Malwa region. The main property of BCS is that when it is
subjected to water, it swells up very rapidly and as soon as the
water evaporates, the soil becomes a hard rock like material.
This property has been used for replacing a certain percentage
of cement.

TABLE I
PROPERTIES OF BLACK COTTON SOIL
Physical Properties
Liquid Limit % 73
Plastic Limit % 28
Plasticity Index 45
Shrinkage Limit % 13
Specific Gravity 2.7
Grain Size Distribution
Sand % 24
Silt % 3.2
Clay % 72.8


C. Aggregates

Crushed aggregates with a maximum size of 20 mm were used
as coarse aggregates and Zone II sand was used as the fine
aggregates. The specific gravity and of coarse and fine
aggregates were 2.75 and 2.64 respectively.

III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Several concrete cubes of dimension 150 mm x 150 mm x 150
mm [4] were prepared at a water/cement ratio of 0.44, using
one portion of cement, and one-one by four portion of
normalized sand, and two-three by four portions of aggregates
[5] by mechanical pugging and compacting in moulds on a
vibration table.
A set of three cubes and three beams were casted for standard
M25 grade of concrete without any replacements or additions
as a reference mix. More sets of cubes and beams were casted
by replacing 5% cement with black cotton soil by weight and
replacing 10% cement with black cotton soil by weight. The
specimens were cured in curing tank at 27C [6] and tested at 7
days and 28 days for strength. Concrete beams of dimension
500mm x 100mm x 100mm, and concrete cubes of 150mm x
150mm x 150mm were used for the experimental program.
Cubes and Beams were casted under 3 categories:

1. C1: Standard M25 Grade of Concrete
2. C2: M25 Grade of Concrete + 5% Black Cotton Soil
3. C3: Grade of Concrete + 10% Black Cotton Soil
TABLE II
QUANTITY OF MATERIALS USED IN CASTING
Material C1 C2 C3
Cement (kg/m
3
) 450 427.5 405
Black Cotton Soil (kg/m
3
) 0 22.5 45
Fine Aggregate (kg/m
3
) 563.8 563.8 563.8
Coarse Aggregate (kg/m
3
) 1255 1255 1255
Water (kg/m
3
) 198 198 198
w/c Ratio 0.44 0.44 0.44

After the preparation of samples and curing, various tests were
performed on these samples:

1. Ultra Sonic Pulse Velocity Test on cubes
2. Destructive Testing of cubes by Compression Testing
Machine
3. Destructive Testing of beams by Flexural Tensile
Testing Machine (2 point Load)

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. Testing of Cubes:
Ultrasonic Pulse velocity was determined using the Non
Destructive Testing Equipment, PUNDIT Plus in the
laboratory. The quality of Concrete Cubes in terms of
uniformity or absence of internal flaws, crack, segregations and
indication of the workmanship employed can be assessed by
pulse velocity. Pulse velocity between 3.5 and 4.5 km per
second implies that the Quality of our concrete prepared was
Good [7].
TABLE III
RESULTS OF CUBE TESTS
Category Pulse Velocity (km/s)
Compressive Strength (N/mm
2
)
7 Days 28 Days
C1 3.92 16.15 24.82
C2 4.12 20.09 28.04
C3 3.88 13.94 21.54


Fig. 1. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity of Cubes


Fig. 2. 7 Days Compressive Strength of Cubes


Fig. 3. 28 Days Compressive Strength of Cubes
3.92
4.12
3.88
3.75
3.80
3.85
3.90
3.95
4.00
4.05
4.10
4.15
M25 Std. 5% BCS 10% BCS
P
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s
e

V
e
l
o
c
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(
k
m
/
s
)
Pulse Velocity for Cubes
16.15
20.09
13.94
0
5
10
15
20
25
M25 Std. 5% BCS 10% BCS
C
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7 Days Compressive Strength of Cubes
24.82
28.04
21.54
0
5
10
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20
25
30
M25 Std. 5% BCS 10% BCS
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Fig. 4. Comparison between 7 and 28 days compressive strength of cubes
The values of 7 days and 28 days Compressive Strength of
Concrete clearly show that M25 Grade of Concrete with 5%
Black Cotton Soil has higher Compressive Strength than
Standard M25 Cubes. The Compressive strength of M25 Grade
of Concrete with 10% lack Cotton Soil is however less than
both M25 Standard and M25 with 5% Black Cotton Soil. So
the Optimum percentage of cement that should be replaced
with Black Cotton Soil must lie between 5% and 10%.
B. Testing of Beams:

Beams were tested for flexural tensile strength using a two
point loading flexural testing machine:

TABLE IV
RESULTS OF BEAM TESTS
Category Flexural Strength (N/mm
2
)
C1 6.2 N/mm
2

C2 7.1 N/mm
2

C3 4.7 N/mm
2




Fig. 5. Flexural Tensile Strength of Beams
The flexural tensile strength of concrete with 5% Black Cotton
Soil has higher flexural strength of standard M25 concrete
beams. Here also, the flexural strength of concrete with 10%
Black Cotton Soil is less than both the other set of beams.
V. CONCLUSION
Several cubes and beams of M25 grade were casted with and
without the addition of different amounts of Black cotton soil.
Their compressive strengths, flexural strengths, and pulse
velocity were assessed. On the basis of this study, the
following conclusions may be drawn:
The optimum percentage of Black Cotton soil that can
replace Cement in Concrete lies between 5% and
10%.
When cement is replaced by black cotton soil, higher
flexural and compressive strengths are observed. On
the basis of this effect, black cotton soil is an
important additive by replacing cement.
After conducting the Ultra sonic pulse velocity test,
we can conclude that the quality of concrete was
Good.
The high-volume concrete with Black Cotton Soil
offers a holistic solution to the problem of meeting the
increasing demands for concrete in the future in a
sustainable manner and at a reduced or no additional
cost. Black Cotton Soil is a waste material available in
abundance and it can be used as an asset.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank Dr. K.K. Jain Dean and HOD Civil
Department, Dr. N.J. Rao Director, and Mr. Krishan Murari,
Senior Lecturer, Jaypee Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Guna, for his continuous support and guidance
throughout our work.
REFERENCES

[1] C. Jaturapitakkul, K. Kiattikomol, V. Sata and T. Leekeeratikul,
Use of ground coarse fly ash as a replacement of condensed silica
fume in producing high-strength concrete, Cem Concr Res 34
(2004), pp. 549555.
[2] J. Ayala, F. Blanco, P. Garca, P. Rodrguez and J. Sancho,
Asturian fly ash as a heavy metals removal material, Fuel 77
(1998), pp. 11471154.
[3] A.K. Mullick, Performance of Concrete with Binary and Ternary
Cement Blends, Indian Concrete Journal, January 2007, pp. 15-22
[4] IS 456:2000 Plane and Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice
(Fourth Revision), pp. 15.
[5] IS 10262:1982 Recommended Guidelines for Concrete Mix Design,
pp. 8.
[6] IS 516:1959 Methods of Test for Strength of Concrete, pp. 8.
[7] IS 13311 (Part 1) : 1992 (Reaffirmed 1999) Non Destructive
Testing of Concrete Methods of Tests, Part 1 Ultrasonic Pulse
Velocity, pp. 4





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