Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422

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Construction and Building Materials

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Effect of waste foundry sand (WFS) as partial replacement of sand on the strength,
ultrasonic pulse velocity and permeability of concrete
Gurpreet Singh a,⇑, Rafat Siddique b
a
Civil Engineering Department, RIMT (IET), Mandigobindgarh, Punjab, India
b
Civil Engineering Department, Thapar University, Patiala 147004, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Ferrous and non ferrous metal casting industries produce several millions tons of byproduct in the world.
Received 7 March 2011 In India, approximately 2 million tons of waste foundry sand is produced yearly. WFS is major byproduct
Received in revised form 3 June 2011 of metal casting industry and successfully used as a land filling material for many years. But use of waste
Accepted 18 June 2011
foundry sand (WFS) for land filling is becoming a problem due to rapid increase in disposal cost. In an
Available online 16 July 2011
effort to use the WFS in large volume, research has being carried out for its possible large scale utilization
in making concrete as partial replacement of fine aggregate.
Keywords:
This experimental investigation was performed to evaluate the strength and durability properties of
Concrete
Waste foundry sand
concrete mixtures, in which natural sand was partial replaced with (WFS). Natural sand was replaced
Strength properties with five percentage (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) of WFS by weight. A total of five concrete mix propor-
Ultrasonic pulse velocity tions (M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5) with and without WFS were developed. Compression test and split-
Permeability ting tensile strength test were carried out to evaluate the strength properties of concrete at the age of 7,
28 and 91 days. Modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity test were conducted at the age of 28
and 91 days. In case of durability property, Rapid Chloride Permeability test was performed on all five
mix proportion at the age of 28 and 91 days. Test result indicate a marginal increase in strength and dura-
bility properties of plain concrete by inclusion of WFS as a partial replacement of fine aggregate.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Classifications of foundry sand mainly depend upon the type of

Foundry industry produced a large amount of by-product mate-
rial during casting process. The ferrous metal casts in foundry are
cast iron and steel, non ferrous metal are aluminum, copper, brass
and bronze. Over 70% of the total by-product material consists of
sand because moulds consist usually of moulding sand, which is
easily available, inexpensive, resistance to heat damage and easily
bonded with binder and other organic material in mould. Foundry
industry use high quality specific size silica sand for their moulding
and casting process. This is high quality sand than the typical bank
run or natural sand. Foundry successfully recycles and reuses the
sand many times in foundry. When it can no longer be reused in
the foundry, it is removed from the industry. The removing sand
is termed as WFS. WFS are the major issue in the management of
foundry waste. These WFS is black in colour and contain large
amount of fines. The typical physical and chemical property of
WFS is dependent upon the type of metal being poured, casting
process, technology employed, type of furnaces (induction, electric
arc and cupola) and type of finishing process (grinding, blast clean-
ing and coating).
⇑ Corresponding author. Mobile: +91 9988887047.
E-mail address: gurpreet_gsd@yahoo.com (G. Singh).
binder and binder system used in metal casting. Some of the foun-
dry sand which is use for metal casting is green sand and chemi-
cally bonded sand. Resin coated sand, cold box sand, hot box
sand; Co2 sands are some common type of chemically bonded
sand. (Mould and core test handbook, American Foundry Society
ISBN-087433-228-1)
Commonly clay bonded sand (green sand) is used for mould
making and is mixture of silica sand (80–95%), bentonite clay (4–
10%), carbonaceous additive (2–10%) and water (2–5%). Large por-
tion of the aggregate is sand which can be either silica or olivine.
There are many recipes for the proportion of clay, but they all
strike different balance between mouldability, surface finish and
ability of the hot molten metal to design. It still remains very
cheapest way to cast metal because of easy availability. Other min-
or ingredients are flour, cereals, rice hulls, and starches. Silica sand
is the bulk medium that resist the high temperature, bentonite clay
bind the sand grain together, water activate the binding action of
clay on sand and add plasticity. Carbonaceous additive prevent
the fusing of sand on to the casting surface. Minor ingredients ab-
sorb moisture, improve the fluidity of sand. Green sand (clay
bonded sand) also contains some chemical like Magnesium oxide
(MgO), Potassium dioxide (K2O), and Titanium dioxide (TiO2).
About 85% of green sand moulding used for cast iron in the world.

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.06.041
 G. Singh, R. Siddique / Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422
Green sand is not green in colour, but green in the sense that it is
used in a wet stage (akin to green wood).
Chemically bonded sand is used in both core making and mould
making. In core making high strength is necessary to withstand
against high temperature. Chemically bonded sand is mixing of sil-
ica sand and chemical binder (1–3%) for mould and core. When
binder mixes with the silica sand, then catalyst start the reaction
that cures the chemical resin and hardens the sand core or mould.
There are various chemical binder system used in foundry indus-
try, some of the binder are furfuryl alcohol, phenolic urethane, phe-
nolic no bake-acid, phenolic resole-ester, sodium silicate,
phosphate, alkyd (oil) urethane, shell liquid/powered and flake res-
ins. Some of the most common chemically bonded sands are resins
coated sand, hot box, cold box and Co2 sand. Majority of binder
used in the foundry are self setting chemical binder. The following
sand binder or binder system in their sand mould process are So-
dium silicate, phenolic urethanes, phenolic esters, phenolic hot
box, phenolic nobake, furan nobake, furan warm box, sulphur diox-
ide, alkyd urethane and alkyd oil based core oil and epoxy So2. Col-
our of the chemically bonded sand is light than clay bonded sand.
2. Literature review
Several researchers investigated the use of WFS in various civil
applications. Javed and Lovell [1], Traeger [2], Kleven et al. [3],
MOEE [4], AFS [5], Abichou et al. [6] Mast and Fox [7], Kirk [8]
and Gunney et al. [9] have reported the use of WFS in highway
applications. Nail et al. [10], Naik et al. [11], Tikalsky et al. [12]
and Siddique et al. [13] have reported the use of WFS in controlled
low strength material. Dungan et al. [14], Deng and Tikalsky [15]
have used WFS in geotechnical field application. Braham A. [16]
has reported the use of blended recycled foundry sand in hot mix
asphalt. Ham RK and Boyle [17], Fero et al. [18], Engroff et al.
[19], Siddique et al. [20] and Dungan et al. [21] have reported on
leachate characteristic of used foundry sand. Seung-Whee and
Woo-Keun [22], Naga and El-Maghraby [23], Pereiraa et al. [24]
and Quaranta et al. [25] have reported the use of WFS in ceramic
material and tile making process. El haggar and El Hatow [26]
investigate the use of foundry sand with un-rejected plastic in
the production of manhole cover. Periraa et al. [27] have reported
the use of WFS for making refractory mortars. Colombo et al. [28],
Ferraris et al. [29] and Geo and Drummond [30] investigated the
use of WFS for the interization and reuse of waste materials by vit-
rification. Santurde et al. [31] investigated the technological behav-
ior and recycling potential of WFS in clay brick.
Not much work has been reported on the use of WFS in concrete
and concrete related product. Though some researchers has re-
ported on this area, which are,
Khattib and ellies [32] investigated the properties (compressive
strength and shrinkage) of concrete containing foundry sand as a
partial replacement of natural sand. Natural sand replaced by three
type of foundry sand white fine sand without the addition of clay
and coal, the foundry sand (blended) and WFS. Thirteen concrete
mixtures were made to investigate these properties. Replacement%
of natural fine sand class M with foundry sand was 0%, 25%, 50%
and 100%. Based on the teat results they concluded that, (a) the
concrete made with WFS and white sand showed similar strength
al all replacement%; (b) Strength of concrete was decreased due to
increasing the replacement% of foundry sand; (c) Concrete incorpo-
rating white sand and WFS gives more strength than concrete
made with blended foundry sand; (d) By increasing the replace-
ment% of foundry sand length change of concrete was increased;
(e) Drying shrinkage value was lower in concrete made with white
sand and higher in concrete containing WFS and (f) Expansion was
generally lower in concrete containing white sand as compared
417
with the other two types (blended and spent) at a low sand
replacement level of 25%.
Naik at el. [10] studied the effect of class F fly ash, coal combus-
tion bottom ash and waste foundry sand on cast concrete product
(brick, block and paving stone). Replacement level by mass for sand
was 25% and 35%. Replacement level by mass, for Portland cement
with fly ash was 25% and 35% for brick and block. For paving stone
it was 15% and 25%. They investigated that (a) partial replacement
of cement with FA consistently improved the strength and durabil-
ity of concrete masonry units; (b) Block (25% FA and UFS) could be
used for building exterior walls and (35% FA and UFS) could be
used for building interior wall in cold region; (c) In warm region
block and paving stone (contain 25%, 35% FA and UFS) could be
used for building both interior and exterior wall and (d) up to
35% of sand in brick and block could be replaced with either BA
or UFS for use where forest action is not a concern.
Naik at el. [11] investigated the use of high volume fly ash, bot-
tom ash and waste foundry sand in manufacturing of precast
moulded concrete product such as wet cast concrete brick and pav-
ing stone. ASTM class F fly ash was used as a partial replacement
for 0%, 25% and 35% of Portland cement. Bottom ash combined with
WFS replaced with 0%, 50% and 70% of natural sand. Test for com-
pressive strength, freezing and thawing resistance drying shrink-
age and abrasion resistance were conducted on wet cast concrete
product. The result of this investigation showed that. (a) Difference
in strength between control mix and mixtures incorporating by
product decreased with an increase in age; (b) Wet cast brick unit
that meet the minimum compressive strength requirement of
ASTM for grade N brick (24 MPa) could be produced using concrete
cylinder compressive strength as low as 14 MPa; (c) The compres-
sive strength of paving stone continued to increased with age but
fell short of ASTM C936 requirement (min 15 MPa) and (d) drying
shrinkage increased with increasing amount of WFS, fly ash and
bottom ash in concrete mixture however all brick met the drying
shrinkage requirement of ASTM C55 (max 0.065%).
Siddique et al. [33] compressive strength, splitting tensile
strength and MOE tests were carried out at the age of 28 and
56 days. Replacement% of natural fine sand with WFS was 10%,
20% and 30%. Based on test result they concluded that (a) compres-
sive strength increased slightly with increase in WFS at all replace-
ment%; (b) compressive strength increased by 4.2%, 5.2% and 9.8%
at the age of 28 days when compared with ordinary concrete mix
where as 1.0%, 5.18% and 14.3% increased at the age of 56 days;
(c) splitting tensile strength increased with an increase in the
WFS and (d) the MOE of wastet foundry sand concrete at all age
was higher than the ordinary concrete. They also concluded that
MOE of all concrete mixtures were increased with age.
Siddique at el. [34] determined the compressive strength, split-
ting tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of
concrete containing WFS at 28, 56, 91 and 365 days. Fine aggregate
were replaced with waste foundry sand with 10%, 20% and 30%.
They concluded that. (a) Compressive strength, splitting tensile
strength, flexure strength and MOE of concrete mixtures increased
with increase in waste foundry sand content; (b) Mechanical prop-
erties of concrete mixtures increase with age for all the foundry
sand content; (c) 8% to 19% compressive strength increased
depending upon WFS% and testing age and (d) 6.5% to 14.5% split-
ting tensile strength, 7% to 12% flexure strength and 5% to 12%
modulus of elasticity increased with age and waste foundry sand
content.
Etxeberria at el. [35] investigated the properties of concrete
using metallurgical industrial by product as aggregate. They used
chemical foundry sand (QFS), green foundry sand (GFS) as a partial
replacement of fine aggregate and blast furnace slag (BFS) as a par-
tial replacement of coarse raw aggregate. Replacement% was 25%,
50% and 100% of fine and coarse aggregate. They conducted tests
418 G. Singh, R. Siddique / Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422

for slump, compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus of elas-
ticity, length change, sorptivity, and high temperature exposure.
They concluded that (a) concrete made with chemically foundry
sand and green foundry sand obtained more compressive strength,
tensile strength and modulus of elasticity than conventional con-
crete when made with high water cement ratio; (b) Concrete made
with chemically foundry sand obtained highest workability, but
use of slag as coarse aggregate more than 50% reduce the workabil-
ity of concrete; (c) Concrete produced with metallurgical industrial
by product suffered similar length change to that conventional
concrete and (d) Concrete made with waste material gave more
compressive strength after high temperature exposure than con-
ventional concrete.
Guney at el. [36] Investigated the re usage of WFS in high strength
concrete. In this study the natural sand was replaced by WFS by 0%,
5%, 10%, and 15%. They studied the slump test, compressive strength,
splitting tensile strength, Water absorption, freezing thawing resis-
tance and dynamic elasticity modulus. Based on the test result they
concluded that (a) increase in the replacement level of standard fine
sand with WFS, decrease the compressive strength, tensile strength
and MOE of concrete, but similar compressive, tensile and MOE were
obtained from the specimen with 10% WFS and control one; (b) Con-
crete with 5% WFS exhibited reduction in water absorption and void
ratio and (c) Reduction in compressive, tensile strength and MOE
after freezing and thawing cycle were in allowable limits of the ACI
code. They concluded that foundry sand can be successfully used
in high strength concrete application if the particle size distribution
is very carefully arranged.
2.1. Research significance
Use and recycling of ferrous and nonferrous metal casting
industry waste is important issue in today’s world, WFS s the major
waste of metal casting industry used as byproduct. Not much work
has been reported on the use of WFS in concrete related to strength
and durability properties. So in this work, WFS was used as a par-
tial replacement of fine aggregate in concrete in order to investi-
gate the effect of WFS on the strength and durability properties.
3. Experimental detail
are given in Table 2. Locally available crushed coarse aggregate having maximum
size 12.5 mm was used. Passing% from 12.5 mm sieve was (90–100%). Passing from
10 mm sieve was (40–80%) and passing from 4.75 mm sieve was (0–10%). Testing of
coarse aggregate was done as per (BIS: 383-1970) [38]. Various results are given in
Table 3.
3.1.3. Waste foundry sand (WFS)
Waste foundry sand was obtained locally. WFS were used as a partial replace-
ment of fine aggregate (natural river sand). Binders used were Bentonite clay and
water. Metal poured in the foundries was gray iron. Approximately 90–95% foundry
sand is reused by local foundries. Physical properties of WFS are given in Table 2
and chemical composition of WFS given in Table 4. WFS has low fineness modulus,
specific gravity, and low unit weight.
3.1.4. Super plasticizes
Superplasticizer was polycarboxylate having relative density of 1080 g/l at
30 °C. It was brown in colour. Super plasticizer was used for maintain the flow
workability of plain concrete in form of slump.
3.2. Concrete mix proportions
A control concrete mixture (M-1) was designed as per (BIS: 10262-1982) [40] to
have 28 day compressive strength of 40 MPa. Four more concrete mixtures (M-2,
M-3, M-4 and M-5) were made by replacement of fine aggregate with WFS.
Replacement% was 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%.
3.3. Casting of specimen
For conducting the compression test and ultrasonic pulse velocity test,
152.4 mm (6 inches) cubes were cast. 152.4  304.8 mm (6  12 inches) cylinders
were cast to conduct the splitting tensile strength test and MOE. For investigating
the durability properties, 203.2  101.6 mm (8  4 inches) cylinders were cast.
These cylindrical specimens were cast for conducting Rapid Chloride Permeability
Test (RCPT). After casting the test specimen, all specimens were covered with plas-
tic sheet to reduce the moisture loss and cured for 24 h in air. After 24 h, all test
specimens were taken out from the mould, and placed in tank for water curing.
All specimens were casted at room temperature.
3.4. Concrete properties
3.4.1. Fresh concrete properties
According to Indian standard specification (BIS: 1199-1959) [41] fresh proper-
ties of concrete such as slump, temperature, and air content were determined. Re-
sults are given in Table 5.

3.1. Material 3.4.2. Hardened concrete properties

Compressive strength test and ultrasonic pulse velocity test were conducted on
3.1.1. Cement 152.4 mm (6 inches) cube in accordance with (BIS: 516-1959) [42] and (ASTM
Portland pozzolana (fly ash based) cement was used. It was tested as per Indian C597) [43] respectively. 152.4  304.8 mm (6  12 inches) cylinders were used
standard specification (BIS- 1489 part 1) [37]. Various properties/test are given in for splitting tensile strength test (BIS: 5816-1999) [44] and Modulus of Elasticity
Table 1. test (BIS: 516-1959) [42]. Tests were performed up to 90 days.
For determined the durability properties of concrete, Rapid Chloride Permeabil-
ity Test (ASTM 1202 C) [45] was performed on 203.2  101.6 mm (8  4 inches)
3.1.2. Aggregate
cylindrical specimen. This test method covers the determination of the electrical
Natural coarse sand having 4.75 mm maximum size particle was used. It was
conductance of concrete to provide a rapid indication of its resistance to the pene-
tested as per Indian standard (BIS- 383-1970) [38] and satisfied its requirement.
tration of chloride ions.
It also satisfied the ASTM C33 [39] requirement. Various properties of fine aggregate
This test method consists of monitoring the amount of electrical current passed
through 50.8 mm (2 inches) hick slices of 101.6 mm (4 inches) diameter cylinders
during a 6 h period. A potential difference of 60 V dc is maintained across the ends
Table 1 of the specimen, one of which is immersed in a sodium chloride solution, the other
Physical properties of Portland pozzolana cement. (BIS-1489 Part 1) [39]. in a sodium hydroxide solution. The total charge passed, in coulombs, has been
found to be related to the resistance of the specimen to chloride ion penetration.
Physical properties BIS-1489:1991 Test result
Soundness
Le-chat expansion 10.0 Max 1.6 Table 2
Setting time (mm) Physical properties of waste foundry sand (WFS) and natural sand. (BIS: 383-1970)
Initial 30 Min 92 [40].
Final 600 Max 248
Properties Natural sand WFS
Compressive strength (MPa)
3 day 16 18 Specific Gravity 2.68 2.18
7 day 22 36 Fineness Modules 2.64 1.89
28 day 33 47.8 Water absorption (%) 1.2 0.42
Specific gravity – 2.9 Moisture content (%) 0.16 0.11
Standard consistency (%) – 35% Material finer than 75 l (%) 0.5 8
Drying shrinkage (%) Max 0.15 0.024 Clay lumps and friable particles (%) – 0.8
 G. Singh, R. Siddique / Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422 419

Table 3 Table 5
Physical properties of coarse aggregate (BIS: Concrete mix proportions, with and without waste foundry sand (WFS) (BIS: 10262–
383–1970) [40]. 1982) [42].

Properties Value Mixture No. M-1 M-2 M-3 M-4 M-5

Type Crushed Cement (kg/m3) 450 450 450 450 450
Specific gravity 2.7 Natural sand (kg/m3) 554 527 500 471 443
Fineness modules 6.35 WFS% 0 5 10 15 20
Total water absorption (%) 1.14 WFS (kg/m3) 0 27 54 83 111
Moisture content Nil Coarse aggregate (12.5 mm) (kg/m3) 1139 1139 1139 1139 1139
Maximum size (mm) 12.5 W/C ratio 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Water (kg/m3) 189 189 189 189 189
Super plasticizer (L/m3) 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65
Slump (mm) 90 85 85 80 80
4. Result and discussion
Air content (%) 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.5
Air temperature (°c) 27 27 28 27 27
4.1. Compressive strength Fresh concrete density (kg/m3) 2332 2334 2334 2334 2334
Concrete temperature (°c) 26 26 27 27 26
Compressive strength results of concrete mixtures with and
without WFS sand at the age of 7, 28 and 91 days are shown in
Fig. 1. It could be observed that concrete mixtures made with
7 day 28 day 91 day
WFS exhibited higher compressive strength than control concrete.
50

Compressive strength (MPa)

Compressive strength of control mixture was 40 MPa at 28 days.
From these results, it was found that 28 day compressive strength
increased by 8.25%, 12.25%, 17% and 13.45% for mixtures M-2 (5%
WFS), M-3 (10% WFS), M-4 (15% WFS) and M-5 (20% WFS) respec-
tively than control mixture M-1 (0% WFS). At 91 days, increase in
strength was 7%, 14.25%, 16.25%, 19.5% and 15.5% for M-1, M-2,
M-3, M-4 and M-5 mixture, respectively. It was also observed that
compressive strength of all concrete mixtures increased with age.
With the increase in age from 28 to 91 days, % increase in compres-
sive strength of mixtures M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5 were 7%, 6%,
4%, 2.13% and 1.98% respectively. Comparative study of compres-
sive strength at 28 and 91 days indicate that % increase in com-
pressive strength decreases with the increase in WFS content at
91 days in compression to 28 days, it was decreased by 7% to 1.98%.
Similar results were reported by Guney et al. [36], Etxeberria
et al. [35], and Siddique et al. [34] in their investigation. Guney
et al. [36] reported that the concrete with 10% WFS showed almost
similar strength. Etxeberria et al. [35] reported that concrete made
with green foundry sand and chemical foundry sand obtained
higher compressive strength than conventional concrete when
the concrete is produced with high water–cement ratio. Siddique
et al. [34] reported that with increase in WFS% compressive
strength increased by 8% to 19%.
In present investigation, compressive strength of concrete in-
creased with the increase in WFS content up to 15% as partial
replacement of sand. This could be due to dense matrix because
WFS is fine sand and its particle size varies between 600l to
150l. Reduction in compressive strength with the inclusion of
20% WFS could probably due to increase in surface area of fine par-
ticles led to the reduction the water cement gel in matrix, hence;
binding process of coarse and fine aggregate does not take place
properly.
4.2. Splitting tensile strength
Splitting tensile strength of concrete mixtures made with and
without WFS were determined at the ages of 7, 28 and 91 days,
and test results are shown in Fig. 2. Splitting tensile strength of
concrete mixtures increased with the increase in WFS content.
Splitting tensile strength of control mixture M-1 (0% WFS) was
2
y = -0.026x + 0.694x + 42.84
R2 = 0.9667
45
y = -0.0266x2+ 0.8134x + 39.911
R2 = 0.9719
40
35
30
y =-0.0106x2+ 0.4254x + 26.831
R2 = 0.9178
25
0 5 10 15 20 25
waste foundry sand (%)
Fig. 1. Effect of WFS on compressive strength.
4.23 MPa at 28 days. It was increased by 3.55%, 8.27%, 10.40%
and 6.38% of M-2 (5% WFS), M-3 (10% WFS), M-4 (15% WFS) and
M-5 (20% WFS) respectively. Higher value of splitting tensile
strength was observed at 15% WFS. At the age of 91 days, it in-
creased by 1.89%, 5.2%, 11.58%, 13.47% and 11.11% of M-1, M-2,
M-3, M-4 and M-5 concrete mixtures respectively. It was again ob-
served that up to 15% replacement of natural sand with WFS, con-
crete mixture M-4 (15% WFS) showed higher value of of concrete
mixtures also increased with age. Between 28 to 91 days, concrete
mixture M-1 (0% WFS) achieved an increase of 1.89%, whereas in-
creased was 1.60% for M-2 (M-5% WFS), 3.05% for M-3 (10% WFS),
2.78% for M-4 (15% WFS) and 4.44% for M-5 (20% WFS). Similar re-
sults were reported by Etxeberria et al. [35] that splitting tensile
strength increased with inclusion of WFS in concrete when con-
crete made with higher water cement ratio. Siddique et al. [34]
have also reported on splitting tensile strength. They observed that
it was increased from 6.5% to 14.5%. Guney et al. [36] have reported
that splitting tensile strength value was higher at 10% replacement
of natural sand with WFS than control mixture. According to
Gunny et al. [36] splitting tensile strength values can be acceptable
when compared to ACI 318 relationship.

Table 4
Chemical composition of waste foundry sand.

Constituent SiO2 Al2O3 TiO2 CaO MgO Fe2O3 Na2O K2O SO3 Mn3O4 SrO
Value (%) 83.8 0.81 0.22 1.42 0.86 5.39 0.87 1.14 0.21 0.047 –
420
7 days
Splitting tensile strength (MPa)
5 2
y =-0.0019x + 0.0609x + 4.2743
R2= 0.9347
4.5
y =-0.0021x2+ 0.0595x + 4.1989
4 R2 = 0.919
3.5
3 y =-0.003x2+ 0.0762x + 2.7734
2.5
0 5
Waste foundry sand (%)
Fig. 2. Effect of WFS on splitting tensile strength.
28 days
34
Modulus of Elasticity (GPa)
33.5
33
32.5
32
31.5
31
30.5
30
29.5
0 5
Waste Foundry Sand (%)
Fig. 3. Effect of WFS on modulus of elasticity.
4.3. Modulus of elasticity (MOE)
Modulus of elasticity was investigated at the age of 28 and
91 days, and test results are shown in Fig. 3. It is evident that,
inclusion of WFS in concrete mixtures led to increase in modulus
of elasticity at all ages. At 28 days, modulus of elasticity of control
concrete mixture (M-1, 0% WFS) without WFS was 29.9 GPa. In-
crease in MOE by 1.67%, 5.01%, 6.35% and 4.35% of M-2 (5%
WFS), M-3 (10% WFS), M-4 (15% WFS) and M-5 (20% WFS) concrete
mixtures respectively than control concrete mixture (M-1). At
91 days concrete mixtures M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5 achieved
an increase of MOE was 6.02%, 8.69%, 10.03%, 12.37% and 11.37%
respectively. % increased in MOE due to age was also observed be-
tween 28 to 91 days, it was increased by 6.02%, 6.9%, 4.77%, 5.66%
and 6.73% of M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-5 concrete mixtures
respectively. At the age of 28 days it was observed that, concrete
mixture containing 15% WFS has higher MOE (31.8 GPa).
According to Guney et al. [36], concrete exhibited similar mod-
ulus of elasticity as that of control concrete mixture at 10% replace-
ment of natural sand with WFS. Siddique et al. [34] concluded that
modulus of elasticity increased by 5% to 12% at all age when inclu-
sion of WFS content increased in concrete mixtures.
4.4. Rapid Chloride Permeability Test
A durable concrete is the one that performs satisfactorily under
anticipated exposure condition during its service life span. One of
the main characteristics influencing the durability of concrete is
its permeability to the ingress of chloride. The chloride ion present
in the concrete can have harmful affect on concrete as well as on
the reinforcement. Swelling of concrete due to chloride ion pene-
G. Singh, R. Siddique / Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422
28 days 91 days
R2 = 0.9802
10 15 20 25
Fig. 4. Effect of WFS on chloride ion penetrability.
tration is 2 to 2.5 times larger than that observed with water pen-
etration. So this test covers the experimental evaluation of
91 days electrical conductance of concrete to provide rapid indication of
concrete resistance against chloride ion penetration.
To evaluate the concrete resistance to chloride penetration, test
was conducted on five concrete mixtures and results have shown
y =-0.0054x2+ 0.1946x + 31.669
R2 = 0.9577
in Fig. 4.
At 28 days, charges passed were 1368, 1250, 1150, 1060 and
1190 coulombs at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of WFS. Coulomb value
decreased with the increase in WFS content up to 15% WFS, which
y =-0.008x2+ 0.24x + 29.74 indicate that concrete became more dense. This aspect has also
R2 = 0.903 been reflected by the compressive strength result up to 15% WFS.
However, at 20% WFS, there is slight increase in coulomb value
with references to 15% WFS. All concrete mixtures have Low Per-
10 15 20 25 meability (coulombs between 1000 and 2000) as per ASTM
C1202 [45]. It can be seen that RCPT values decreased with the in-
crease in WFS% in concrete mixtures. Maximum reduction in RCPT
value observed at 15% replacement of natural sand with WFS. It
mean that at 15% replacement, concrete exhibit more resistance
to chloride ion penetrability than control mixture M-1 (0% WFS).
According to ASTM C 1202 [45], all concrete mixtures have low
penetrability to chloride ion.
At 91 days, coulombs charge passed were 1260, 1060, 990, 940,
and 1040 at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of WFS. Coulombs charges
passed at 91 days are less than those of 28 days, which indicate
that concrete microstructure become denser. This is also evident
by the compressive strength values. This can be due to presence
of fine particle of WFS in concrete mixtures. These fine particles re-
duce the voids between ingredient of concrete and makes dense
matrix. It also helps to decrease the electrical conductance of
concrete.
From 91 days results, these results concrete mixture M-2 (10%
WFS) and M-3 (15% WFS) comes under the category of very low
chloride ion penetrability, where as other mixture falls under low
category.
4.5. Ultrasonic pulse velocity test
Ultrasonic pulse velocity test basically involve the measure-
ment of electronic wave velocity through concrete. This test is used
to diagnose the quality of concrete. USPV test was performed on
concrete containing 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of WFS at the age
of 28 and 91 days. USPV test results are shown in Fig. 5. It can be
from this that USPV value increased with the increase in waste
foundry content in concrete mixtures and it also increases with
age. USPV value for concrete mixture containing WFS was found
more than control concrete mixture M-1 (0% WFS). Electronic wave
velocity value varies between 4231 m/s to 4284 m/s. maximum va-
lue was observed for M-4 (15% WFS) concrete mixture. According
 G. Singh, R. Siddique / Construction and Building Materials 26 (2012) 416–422
Fig. 5. Effect of WFS on ultrasonic pulse velocity.
Fig. 6. Relation between compressive strength and RCPT.
Fig. 7. Relation between compressive strength and USPV.
to BIS 13311 (part 1): 1992 [46] it comes under the zone of good
quality concrete and it also satisfied ASTM 597-93 [43].
As there is increase in USPV value with inclusion of WFS in con-
crete mixture, it means that the quality of concrete in term of den-
sity, homogeneity and lack of imperfections is good.
Through this investigation, it has been established that up to
15% use of WFS results in better enhanced strength and more dura-
ble concrete.
4.6. Relation between compressive strength and durability properties
Figs. 6 and 7 show the relationship between RCPT and ultra-
sonic pulse velocity with that of compressive strength. Equation
and co-relation coefficient are shown in each figures. A polynomial
relationship in the form of ax2 + bx + c seems to be best fit data R2
value of more than 0.94. The equation and correlation coefficient
values are given in Table 6. Higher value of co relation coefficient
421
Table 6
Relationship between compressive strength and durability properties.
Compressive strength (x) verses RCPT (y)
Equation Y = 4.3034x2 + 322.5x 4648.3
Correlation coefficient (R2) 0.9498
Compressive strength (x) verses USPV (y)
Equation Y = 0.6519x2 50.819x + 5221.8
Correlation coefficient (R2) 0.9612
indicates that compressive strength has a strong relationship with
RCPT and ultrasonic pulse velocity test. Generally, an increase in
compressive strength with inclusion of WFS in concrete leads to
an increase in chloride ion penetrability and improve the quality
of concrete in term of density, homogeneity.
5. Conclusions
Following conclusions are drawn from this investigation.
1. Partial replacement of sand with WFS (up to 15%) increases the
strength properties (compressive strength, splitting tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity) of concrete.
2. Maximum increase in compressive strength, splitting tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity of concrete was observed
with 15% WFS, both at 28 and 91 days.
3. Inclusion of WFS increases the USPV values and decreased the
chloride ion penetration in concrete, which indicates that con-
crete has become denser and impermeable.
4. WFS can be suitably used in making structural grade concrete.
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