Utilization of Sawdust as a Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate for Sustainable Hollow Concrete Block Production

Author

Aashish Mahour, Mr. Ujjawal Bhargava, Dr. Manoj Sharma

Abstract

 Hollow concrete blocks are widely used in residential, industrial, and multi-store construction. They are generally produced using Portland cement, fine aggregates, and water. Compared with conventional concrete, block mixtures typically contain a higher proportion of fine aggregate and lower water content.

The increasing demand for natural fine aggregates has led to resource depletion and environmental concerns, creating a need for sustainable alternative materials. Sawdust, a readily available waste material, can be utilized as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in hollow concrete blocks.

The objective of this experimental study is to evaluate the suitability of sawdust as a partial replacement for fine aggregate in hollow concrete blocks and to determine an optimum replacement level that provides acceptable strength, density, and overall performance. The study also aims to promote waste utilization, conserve natural resources, and support the development of more sustainable and economical construction materials.

The study was a laboratory experimental study conducted by preparing two types of HCB test samples. The first test sample of HCB was produced by using mix proportion 1:2:1:2 of cement, sand, gravel 00 and crushed aggregate respectively as a control group. The second sample HCBs were produced by replacing sand with sawdust in 4% increment in volume 4%. 8%, 12%, 16%, 20%, and 24%. but the result between 8% and 12% replacement shows high difference therefore 10% replacement is needed to get the intermediate result.

The experimental results indicate that the control hollow concrete block (HCB) without sawdust achieved a mean compressive strength of 5.09 MPa. With the incorporation of sawdust as a partial replacement for fine aggregate, the mean compressive strength decreased to 4.01 MPa at 10% replacement and 2.13 MPa at 20% replacement. Based on the strength requirements, 10% sawdust replacement was found suitable for Class B HCBs, while 20% replacement was considered acceptable for Class C HCBs.

The density and water absorption results also demonstrated the influence of sawdust incorporation. A 4% volumetric replacement of sand with sawdust reduced the block density by approximately 3.86%, while water absorption increased by about 2%. In addition, the use of sawdust resulted in a reduction in material cost compared with conventional HCBs. At 4% volumetric replacement, the material cost decreased by approximately 2.17rs (2%). 

Keywords

Compressive Strengths, Fine aggregate, Hollow Concrete Block, Sawdust, HCB, Sand

Full Text:

Download Paper PDF

References

(1) S.T. Tyagher et al (2011), long man science and technology, Horrow esses, U.K, Proportion of concrete.

(2) Maharani Riziki et al (2010), Journal of forestry research, scrutiny of physical properties of Sawdust from tropical countries wood species: Effect of different mills and Sawdust particle size.

(3) L.O. Ettu, et al (2013), Variation of OPC- Rice Husk Ash- Saw Dust Ash composites strength with mix proportion ISSN:2277-9655 Impact factor: 1.852 Ettu. 2(8): August,2013)

(4) Daniel Yaw osier et al (2016), international journal of scientific research, compressive strength of concrete using Sawdust as aggregate. © 2020 JETIR June 2020, Volume 7, Issue 6 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR2006084 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR)

(5) Adebakin I. Adeyemi A., Adu J. T,.Ajayi F., Lawal A.  O.(2012) “Usesof sawdust as admixture in production of lowcost and light-weight hollow sandcrete blocks”

(6) Divatar Y., Manjunath S., Aswath M.U., (2012). “Experimental Investigation on Behaviour of Concrete with the Use of Granite Fines”. International Journal of Advance Engineering .

(7) Kumar, Dilip and Singh, Smita and Kumar, Neetesh and Gupta, Ashish 2014 “Low Cost Construction Material for Concrete”

 (8) Elinwa A.U and Abdulkadir S., (2011). “Characterizing Saw Dust Ash for Use as an Inhibitor for Reinforcement Corrosion”. New Clues in Sciences, 1, 1 -10.

(9) Mageswari M. and Vidivelli B., (2010). “The Use of Sawdust Ash as Fine Aggregate Replacement in Concrete”. Journal of Environment Research and Development,3  

 (10) Dr.Suji.D,Narayanan. A. M,etal (June 2016),“Experimental Study on Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregates with Quarry dust and Sawdust”.

(11) K.Gopinath,K.Anuratha (August 2015). “Utilization of Sawdust in Cement mortar and Cement Concrete”.

(12) Shoab Hussain, Savinth Kumar (may 2017). “Experimental Study on Partial replacement of fine aggregate with Sawdust and Quarry dust.

(13) Vignesh b, Lingaraju D (Dec 2016). “Experimental study on partial replacement of quarry dust and saw dust in fine aggregate”.

(14) Application, Innovative and Sawdust,of and Used, Wastage,{2016}

(15) T. U. Ganiron Jr, “Investigation on the use of Coco Coir Polypropylene as Thermal Insulator”, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, vol. 59, (2013).

(16) Satya Prakash Sharma , Sanjit Kumar Yadav (2021) Experimental Investigation On Partial Replacement Of Cement With Brick Powder And Fine Aggregate With Saw Dust.” ijarse  

(17) Joefil Carl Osabel Dacorro, Tomas Jr Aquino Diquito. (2022) Utilization of Sawdust in Making Concrete Blocks: An Experimental Research on Hollow Concrete Block’s Rigidity. International Journal of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering.

(18) Nim Prasad Sharma (2026) “Experimental Study on Physical and Mechanical Characteristics of Concrete with Partial Replacement of Cement by Wood ash and Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate by Saw Dust Dowder”. Journal of Physical and Life Sciences.

 

Share your valuable work from Social Media Buttons