International Journal of Mechanics and Solids

ISSN 0973-1881 Volume 4, Number 1 (2009), pp. 95-104

Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com/ijms.htm

Workability and Strength characteristics of Cement

Concrete with Partial Replacement of River Sand by
Manufactured Fine aggregate
V.R.K. Narasinha Raju1 and T. Appa Reddy2
1

Professor of Civil Engineering

Kakatiya Institute of Technology And Sciences
Warangal 505 012, INDIA.
2

Professor of Civil Engineering

AU College of Engineering Andhra University,
Visakhapatnam 530 003, INDIA.

Abstract
Artificial sand is a fine aggregate processed from quarried stone that is
crushed and classified to obtain a controlled gradation and a cubical to angular
particle shape. Statistics from the Bureau of Mines substantiate the growing
popularity of stone sand. In 1983, 13 million tons of stone sand was produced
in the U.S. By 1991, the number had grown to 45 million tons presently the
requirement would have reached above 100 million tons. This artificial sand
here after will be referred as Manufactured Sand of Manufactured Fine
Aggregate. An experimental study has been conducted for different concrete
mix proportions at different percentage replacement levels of river sand by
MFA. The results indicated that replacement of river sand by MFA is
beneficial from strength as well as workability viewpoint.

Need for Manufactured Sand

As the supplies of suitable natural sand near the point of consumption are becoming
exhausted, the cost of this sand is increasing. In addition to this, the turbulence
created by dredging sand near the estuaries could damage the fragile ecosystem along
the coast. Thus a replacement material to the natural sand was sought, and the fines
from crushing operations were identified as a possible substitute material. Early
attempts by the quarry industry to market this material as manufactured sand resulted
in failure. This was due to the material having been produced as a waste product; no

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V.R.K. Narasinha Raju and T. Appa Reddy

thought having been given to the properties that are crucial to its performance in
concrete. The manufactured sand also failed due to noncompliance with the existing
sand specifications. Criteria such as misshapen particles increasing the water demand,
gradation not falling within the prescribed envelope, micro fines (material passing a
75micron sieve) content too high, sand equivalent and fineness modulus out of
specification; to name but a few, have limited the general acceptance of manufactured
sand. Attempts to modify the properties of the manufactured sand to conform to the
specifications brought with them new problem such as increased production costs and
disposal of the waste micro fines from the washing process. These problems were
recognized by the aggregate and concrete industries and together with the specifying
authorities, revised the sand specifications to include manufactured sand as a
construction material in its own right. However, since manufactured sand is so
different to natural sand, new testing sand proportioning methods need to be
developed. One of the main causes is the limit being placed on the amounts of
material finer than 75micron is allowed in the aggregates and sand. Most countries
have recognized manufactured sand as a unique material, as compared to natural sand.
More and more countries recognize that the recovery of sand from riverine deposits
has an ecological price tag attached. In addition, sources of sand suitable for use in
concrete are fast being depleted, and many of the remaining sources are situated far
from the point of consumption. Brazil has introduced a specification for crushed fines
allowing higher levels micro fines. In some areas of India the use of natural sand in
concrete is banned, thus forcing concrete manufacturers to use manufactured sand
with high amounts of micro fines (IS 383-1972, 20% passing 150 micron sieve).

Need of the present study

The challenge before a construction engineer is that, with the available knowledge of
Concrete Technology, can a structurally sound concrete can be developed using ecofriendly materials economically. To answer this, the present investigation has been
focused on effective utilization manufactured sand in place river sand in concrete.
A detailed review of literature reveals that there is need for the study of strength
aspects of concrete when conventional river sand is partially / totally replaced with
manufactured sand. MFA is a fine aggregate processed from quarried stone that is
crushed and classified to obtain a controlled gradation and a cubical to angular
particle shape. The first commercial use of MFA was made in the early 1930s.
Current usage of MFA is over 100 times the amount utilized in 1930s and represents
approximately 20% of total concrete fine aggregate requirements. This percentage is
expected to increase in the years ahead. MFA differs from natural sands in gradation,
particle shape and texture. Each of these characteristics has some influence on
mixture design and influences cement requirements, water requirements, additive
requirements, workability, and finishing characteristics of the concrete. This material
completely passes through 4.75mm sieve and retains on 150m sieve. In this phase of
study, river sand used in concreting is replaced partially with the manufactured fine
aggregates and the properties at green state and hardened state of such concrete were
studied.

Workability and Strength characteristics of Cement Concrete

97

Experimental Program: Experimental program consists of workability and

strength tests on concrete with partially replacing river sand by MFA. . For the
determination of properties at green stage of concrete, workability, slump test has
been preferred as it is more convenient for field works than any other workability test.
For the evaluation of strength properties of concrete with MFA as partial replacement
to sand, tests on cubes, cylinders and prisms were adopted. The variations in this
phase of study include the partial replacement of river sand by MFA at regular
intervals of 20% from 0% to 100%.
Designation of mixes: In total, 6mixes for each grade, thus studies on 18 mixes
were done in this part of the investigation. Each mix is designated by the letter M
followed by the designed cube compressive strength and a letter A-F indicating the
replacement of fine aggregate by Manufactured sand at regular intervals of 20%. For
example M20D indicates that the mix is of M20grade concrete with 60% natural river
sand replaced by manufactured sand. M40A denotes mix is of M40 grade concrete
without any replacement of natural sand. M30F indicates, the M30 grade concrete
with manufactured sand in place of natural sand (100% replacement)

Materials
Cement: The ordinary Portland cement of 43 Grade is used for the production of
concrete. Standard Consistency, specific gravity and fineness as percentage retained
on 90microns sieve were found to be 30%, 3.12 and 4.3% respectively.
Fine Aggregate: The fine Aggregate used in this investigation is natural river
sand and it has a fineness modulus of 2.67. The specific gravity and unit weight are
found to be 2.30 and 1510kg/cu.m. respectively. The sieve analysis of the fine
aggregate is presented in Table.4.1. The sieve analysis revealed that the fine aggregate
falls in the Zone II of IS 383:1972. The fineness modulus of the fine aggregate is
found be 2.68.
Coarse Aggregate: The nominal maximum size of the coarse aggregate is of
20mm. The sieve analysis of the coarse aggregates is presented in Table.4.1. The
Specific gravity and fineness modulus of the Coarse Aggregate was 2.78 and 6.89
respectively.
Manufactured Fine Aggregate: The specific gravity of MFA is found to be 2.50.
The sieve analysis of this aggregate is presented in Table.4.2. The fineness modulus is
found to be 2.64. This sand falls in the Zone II category of IS: 383-1972. The bulk
density is 1450kg/cum. The percentage bulking is observed to be 33.33% at 5% of
water content. The bulking characteristics of MFA are presented in Fig.4.1. A
comparison of the sieve analysis of River sand and MFA is presented in Fig.4.2.
Water: Portable water is used for concreting and curing purpose.

Tests for workability and compressive strength

Three grades of concrete namely M20, M30 and M40 were designed using river sand
as fine aggregate. The Fine aggregate (river sand) is partially replaced with MFA to
the tune of 100% with 20% replacement as increment. Thus 6 mixes were prepared

98

V.R.K. Narasinha Raju and T. Appa Reddy

for each grade of concrete and the workability of these mixes was determined. The
slump value of the mix was reported as the workability of the corresponding matrix.
The mix proportion adopted for different grades and different replacements were
presented in Table. 3. The variation of workability for different grades of concrete for
different replacements was presented in Table.4.4. For each category of the mixes
adopted, five cubes (150mm x 150mm x 150mm) and five cylinders (150mm
diameter and 300mm length) were cast. The cube compressive strength and split
tensile strength of the cast specimen were tested after 28 days of curing. The average
value (compressive strength / split tensile strength) of the five test specimens of each
series was considered as the representative value (compressive strength / split tensile
strength) of the corresponding series. The variation of cube compressive strength and
split tensile strength of the different mixes cast were tested and the test results were
presented in Table. 4 and Table 5. The test results of NDT were presented in the
Table.6 and Table 7. From the table 6, it is clear that the rebound value of concrete
with manufactured fine aggregates is better than that of conventional concrete. This
indicates that the compressive strength of concrete with manufactured fine aggregate
is more than of conventional concrete. A similar observation can be had from the
thable.7, where in the UPV test results of concretes considered in this investigation
were presented.

Percentage of Bulking

Bulking characteristics of MFA

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0

Percentage of Water

Figure 1: Bulking characteristics of MFA.

Workability and Strength characteristics of Cement Concrete

99

Sieve Analysis of River Sand and MFA

Size (mm)
0.15

0.3

0.6

1.18

2.36

4.75

10

20

40

80
100
90

70
60
50
40
30

Percentage Passing

80

MFA
River Sand

20
10
0

Figure 2: A comparison of the sieve analysis of River sand and MFA.

Variation of Compressive strength with Partial Replacement of

Natural sand by MFA

Cube Compressive strength (Mpa)

70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00

M20
M30
M40

30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage replacement of Natural Sand by MFA

Figure 3: Variation of Compressive strength for different levels of replacement of

River sand by Manufactured Fine Aggregate.

100

V.R.K. Narasinha Raju and T. Appa Reddy

Variation of Workability (Slump) with Partial Replacement of
Natural sand by MFA
90
80

Slump (mm)

70
60
50

M20
M30

40

M40

30
20
10
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage replacement of Natural Sand by MFA

Figure 4: Variation of workability for different levels of replacement of River sand

by Manufactured Fine Aggregate.

Table 1: Sieve Analysis of River Sand and Coarse aggregates.

Sieve Size

80mm
40mm
20mm
10mm
4.75mm
2.36mm
1.18mm
600m
300m
150m

Coarse Aggregates
Percentage Percentage
retained
Passing
0
100
0
100
13.90
86.10
78.60
21.40
96.44
3.56
100
0
100
0
100
0
100
0
100
0

Fine aggregates
Percentage Percentage
retained
Passing
0
100
0
100
0
100
0
100
0
100
0
100
20.14
79.86
56.25
43.75
91.65
8.35
100
0

Workability and Strength characteristics of Cement Concrete

101

Table 2: Sieve analysis of Manufactured Fine Aggregates.

Sieve Size

Manufactured Fine aggregates

Percentage retained Percentage Passing

80mm
40mm
20mm
10mm
4.75mm
2.36mm
1.18mm
600m
300m
150m

0
0
0
0
0
11.0
20.87
48.52
84.14
100

100
100
100
100
100
89
79.13
51.48
15.86
0

Table 3: Mix Proportions adopted for different grades of concrete.

Mix
Designation
(Grade)

Water/
binder

Cement
(kg)

Water
(kg)

M20A
M20B
M20C
M20D
M20E
M20F
M30A
M30B
M30C
M30D
M30E
M30F
M40A
M40B
M40C
M40D
M40E
M40F

0.58
0.58
0.58
0.58
0.58
0.58
0.52
0.52
0.52
0.52
0.52
0.52
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.45
0.45

327.59
327.59
327.59
327.59
327.59
327.59
355.77
355.77
355.77
355.77
355.77
355.77
400.00
400.00
400.00
400.00
400.00
400.00

190
190
190
190
190
190
185
185
185
185
185
185
180
180
180
180
180
180

Fine Aggregate (kg)

Natural
Manufactured
sand
Fine
Aggregate
675
0
540
135
405
270
270
405
135
540
0
675
700
0
560
140
420
280
280
420
140
560
0
700
820
0
656
164
492
328
328
492
164
656
0
820

Coarse
aggregate
(kg)

Slump
(mm)

1400
1400
1400
1400
1400
1400
1300
1300
1300
1300
1300
1300
1150
1150
1150
1150
1150
1150

65
70
75
80
70
60
50
55
60
65
65
50
45
50
50
60
60
45

102

V.R.K. Narasinha Raju and T. Appa Reddy

Table 4: Cube Compressive strength variation for different percentage replacements

of river sand by MFA for different grades of concrete.
Natural Manufactured Compressive
Sand
sand (%)
strength(Mpa)
(%)
M20
100
0
28.00
80
20
34.00
60
40
38.07
40
60
40.11
20
80
36.04
0
100
31.97

Compressive
strength
(Mpa) M30
38.72
39.11
51.63
54.21
47.83
42.35

Compressive
strength
(Mpa) M40
46.80
48.51
53.08
55.82
52.51
50.22

Table 5: Split tensile strength variation for different percentage replacements of river
sand by MFA for different grades of concrete.
Natural Manufactured
Split tensile
Split tensile
Split tensile
Sand
sand (%)
strength(Mpa) strength(Mpa) strength(Mpa)
(%)
M20
M30
M40
100
0
3.21
3.66
4.05
80
20
3.50
3.78
4.20
60
40
3.78
4.05
4.34
40
60
3.80
4.10
4.54
20
80
3.20
4.00
4.28
0
100
3.10
3.68
4.20

Table 6: Rebound hammer values of different grades of Concrete mix for different
percentage replacements of Natural sand by MFA.
Mix
Designation
(Grade)
M20A
M20B
M20C
M20D
M20E
M20F
M30A
M30B
M30C

At 7 day curing
Rebound
Value
14.7
15.5
16.1
15.9
15.3
14.9
22.8
24.1
25.5

Compressive
Strength
(MPa)
17.7
18.5
19.1
18.9
18.3
17.9
25.8
27.1
28.5

At 14 day curing
Rebound
Value
24.3
25.6
26.5
26.3
25.2
24.5
37.6
39.8
42.0

Compressive
Strength
(MPa)
23.1
24.1
24.8
24.6
23.8
23.2
33.5
35.3
37.0

At 28 day curing
Rebound
Value
29.2
30.8
31.8
31.6
30.2
29.4
45.1
47.7
50.4

Compressive
Strength
(MPa)
26.61
27.816
28.62
28.419
27.414
26.811
38.67
40.68
42.69

Workability and Strength characteristics of Cement Concrete

M30D
M30E
M30F
M40A
M40B
M40C
M40D
M40E
M40F

24.1
24.1
23.5
32.2
32.8
33.9
34.2
33.5
33.1

27.1
27.1
26.5
35.2
35.8
36.9
37.2
36.5
36.1

39.8
39.8
38.7
53.0
54.2
55.9
56.4
55.3
54.6

35.3
35.3
34.4
45.7
46.6
48.0
48.3
47.5
46.9

103
47.7
47.7
46.4
63.7
65.0
67.1
67.6
66.3
65.5

40.68
40.68
39.675
52.74
53.745
55.353
55.755
54.75
54.147

Table 7: Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity values of different grades of Concrete mix for
different percentage replacements of Natural sand by MFA.
Mix
At 7 day curing
Designation
US Pulse Dynamic
(Grade)
speed
Modulus
(kM/Sec)
M20A
3.50
24320
M20B
3.59
25497
M20C
3.68
26763
M20D
3.87
29593
M20E
3.77
28124
M20F
3.68
26763
M30A
3.35
22197
M30B
3.42
23222
M30C
3.59
25497
M30D
3.68
26763
M30E
3.68
26763
M30F
3.87
29593
M40A
3.42
23222
M40B
3.59
25497
M40C
3.68
26763
M40D
3.87
29593
M40E
3.87
29593
M40F
3.77
28124

At 14 day curing

At 28 day curing

US Pulse
speed
(kM/Sec)
3.55
3.64
3.73
3.93
3.83
3.73
3.39
3.47
3.64
3.73
3.73
3.93
3.47
3.64
3.73
3.93
3.93
3.83

US Pulse
speed
(kM/Sec)
3.57
3.66
3.75
3.95
3.85
3.75
3.41
3.49
3.66
3.75
3.75
3.95
3.49
3.66
3.75
3.95
3.95
3.85

Dynamic
Modulus
255848
268419
281939
312234
296507
281939
233219
244141
268419
281939
281939
312234
244141
268419
281939
312234
312234
296507

Dynamic
Modulus
26403
27707
29109
32254
30621
29109
24057
25189
27707
29109
29109
32254
25189
27707
29109
32254
32254
30621

Conclusions
Based on the experimental results in this part of the research work the following
conclusions were drawn.
(1) Replacement of Natural sand by Manufactured Fine Aggregate improves the
workability of the matrix.
(2) Replacement of Natural sand by Manufactured Fine Aggregate improves the
cube compressive strength of the matrix.

104

V.R.K. Narasinha Raju and T. Appa Reddy

(3) Increase in the workability and the strength of the Concrete with MFA over
Concrete with natural sand is mainly due to the presence of material passing
through 75 micron sieve present in the MFA.
(4) The dynamic modulus, ultrasonic pulse velocity increase with the age of
concrete.

Acknowledgements
Authors are highly thankful to the authorities of Kakatiya Institute of Technology and
Sciences, Warangal, for providing necessary materials and equipment for the
experimental program.

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