Experimental Study on Fractional Replacement of Cement with Waste Paper Pulp in Concrete

Abstract

This study is about waste paper pulp from paper industries to be employed as a fractional substitution of cement in concrete at varying percentages to access its properties and performance. To evaluate the fresh property of concrete, slump cone test was conducted. The concrete compressive strength test (CST) was evaluated by testing 36 cubes of side 150mm. Twelve concrete cylinder specimens of ‘diameter 150mm and height 300mm’ were cast to evaluate the split tensile strength (STS) and twelve specimens of size ‘150mm x 150mm x 700mm’ were cast to find out the modulus of rupture (MOR) of concrete. The slump value showed an indirect correlation with the increment in the percentage of waste paper pulp. The 28th day strength tests revealed that the compressive strength was increased by 15.5% for a 10% substitution of cement. The compressive strength was nearly the same for 5% substitution and there was a fall in compressive strength by 16.67% for 15% substitution. The tensile strength was increased by a maximum of 7.5% for 5% substitution of cement and it decreased progressively after 10% substitution. Flexural strength was increased by about 10.89% for 5% substitution, 2.5% for 10% substitution and a decrease in flexural strength of about 13.9% for 15% substitution was observed. Thus, it was concluded that fractional substitution of cement by waste paper pulp can be achieved by 5% for optimum results. The 5% substitution of cement may yield an economic and environment-friendly concrete construction.