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Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements

Received: 21 July 2023    Accepted: 5 August 2023    Published: 22 August 2023
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Abstract

The aim of this work was to provide a better alternative to the problems of importing standardized sand and to make good use of local sand to produce a quality mortar. Sand samples taken from various locations in the city of Brazzaville were subjected to a number of laboratory tests and to two types of mortar formulation. The results obtained show that local sands (S1-S8) in their natural state are finer and cannot be used as standard sand for cement quality control. However, some local sands can be used in the manufacture of masonry mortar. The mechanical properties of mortars made with these sands are lower than those of mortars made with standard sand, but are strongly correlated with the latter. The reformulation of local sands (S1-S8) mixed with crushed sand S9 considerably improves the mechanical properties of the mortar, which are identical to those of standard sand. The mechanical strength of mortar based on local S3 sand enriched with crusher sand (0/5) is greater than that obtained with standard sand. Reformulated sand can be used as standard sand for cement quality control. The relationship in formulation 2 between the mechanical strength of mortar based on improved local S3 sand and that of standard sand can be used to test cements. Several studies show that it is sometimes difficult to obtain the expected compressive strength of a given cement with standard sand. For the 32.5R cement used, the sands (S1-S3, S5, S6) improved to crushed sand with formulation 2, produce standardized sands for testing cements.

Published in Advances in Materials (Volume 12, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.am.20231203.11
Page(s) 31-38
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Standard Sand, Mortar, Crushed Sand, Normative Zones, Particle Seize Analysis, Sand Equivalent

References
[1] The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA). Infrastructure financing trends in Africa-2015. ICA report 2015. www.icafrica.org.
[2] P. D. N. U. P. Environment, "United Nations Environment Programme," May 7, 2019. ww.unep.org.
[3] AFNOR, «NF EN 196-1: Methods of testing cement - Part 1: Determination of strengths, 2016.
[4] ASTM C778-21. Standard Specification for Standard Sand. This specification covers standard sand for use in the testing of hydraulic cements.
[5] B. O. I. Standard, «ISO 650: Standard Sand for testing cement-specification», May 2000.
[6] Raymond Gentil ELENGA et al., 2019. Properties of sands used in construction in Congo and formulation of a local standard sand. Revue RAMReS - Applied Sciences and Engineering. RAMReS 2018 - Published Online 2018 - http://publication.lecames.org/ Vol. 3 (1), pp. 7-13.
[7] Molenaara, A. A. A. Durable and Sustainable Road Constructions for Developing Countries. Procedia Engineering 54, 2013.
[8] Cocks, G., Keeley, R., Leek, C., Foley, P., Bond, T., Crey, A., Paige-Green, P., Emery, S., Clayton, R., Iness, Mc D., Les Marchant. The use of naturally occurring materials for pavements in western Australia. Australian Geomechanics, 30, 1, 2015.
[9] Weinert, H. H. The natural road construction materials of South Africa. Academica, Pretoria, Cape Town, 1980.
[10] Paige-Green, P., Pinard, M. Netterberg, F. A review of specifications for lateritic materials for low volume. Transportation Geotechnics, 5, 2015.
[11] Gidigasu, M. D., Mate-Korley, E. N. Tropical gravel paving materials specifications in relation to the environment. Proc 8 RCSMFE. Harare, 1984.
[12] MB Diop, J Esteoule, A Bouguerra et al. 2002. Systematic validation tests on Senegalese sand formulations for the elaboration of a standardized sand.
[13] Glencross-Grant, R., Walker, P. Survey of building sands in Australia. Construction and Building Materials 17, 2003.
[14] AFNOR, NF NE 933-1, Tests for determining the geometric properties of aggregates - Part 1: Determination of grain size - Sieve size analysis 2012.
[15] AFNOR, NF NE 933-8, 1999. Tests for determining the geometric properties of aggregates - Part 8: Evaluation of fines - Sand equivalent.
[16] AFNOR, NF P94-068. Measurement of the methylene blue absorption capacity of a soil or rock material, 1993.
[17] ISO 17892-4, Geotechnical investigation and testing - Laboratory soil testing - Part 4: Determination of particle size distribution, 2016.
[18] AFNOR, NF P18-558, Determining the absolute density of fines, 1990.
[19] AFNOR, NF P18-555, Measurements of sand density, absorption coefficient and water content, 1990.
[20] AFNOR, NF P94-055, Determining the weight content of organic matter in soil, 1993.
[21] AFNOR, NF P18-540, Aggregates - Definitions, conformity, specifications, 1997.
[22] ASTM C144, 2018. Standard Specification for Aggregate for Masonry Mortar.
[23] SABS 1090. Particular specification building works.
[24] BS 1200, 1976. Covers sands for mortar for plain and reinforced brickwork, block walling and masonry.
[25] Pierre Giresse et al., 1990. Mineralogy and micro granulometry of suspended matter and of alluvial sands from Congo and Ubangui rivers, 43-2-4 pp. 151-173.
[26] Elipe, M. G. M et al., 2014. Aeolian sands: Characterization, options of improvement and possible employment in construction–The State-of-the-art. Volume 73, Pages 728-739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.10.008
[27] Benchaa Benabeb et al., 2012. Properties of self-compacting mortar made with various types of sand. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2012.07.007
[28] Luo F. et al., 2013. Luo F. J., He, L., Pan, Z., Duan, W. H., Zhao, X. L., Collins, F. Effect of very fine particles on workability and strength of concrete made with dune sand. Construction and Building Materials 47. Volume 47, October 2013, Pages 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.05.005
[29] NF EN 12620, 2008. This document specifies the characteristics of aggregates and fillers made from natural, artificial or recycled materials and mixtures of these aggregates which are used in the manufacture of concrete.
[30] AFNOR, NF EN 1015-11. Methods of testing masonry mortars: Part 11: Determination of flexural and compressive strength of hardened mortar.
[31] Venkatarama Reddy, B. V., Uday Vyas, C. V. Influence of shear bond strength on compressive strength and stress–strain characteristics of masonry. Mater Struct 41, 1697–1712 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-008-9358-x
[32] ASTM C270, 2019. Standard Specifications for Mortar unit Masonry. This specification covers mortars for use in the construction of non-reinforced and reinforced unit masonry structures.
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    Brige Dublin Boussa Elenga, Louis Ahouet, Sylvain Ndinga Okina. (2023). Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements. Advances in Materials, 12(3), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.am.20231203.11

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    ACS Style

    Brige Dublin Boussa Elenga; Louis Ahouet; Sylvain Ndinga Okina. Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements. Adv. Mater. 2023, 12(3), 31-38. doi: 10.11648/j.am.20231203.11

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    AMA Style

    Brige Dublin Boussa Elenga, Louis Ahouet, Sylvain Ndinga Okina. Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements. Adv Mater. 2023;12(3):31-38. doi: 10.11648/j.am.20231203.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.am.20231203.11,
      author = {Brige Dublin Boussa Elenga and Louis Ahouet and Sylvain Ndinga Okina},
      title = {Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements},
      journal = {Advances in Materials},
      volume = {12},
      number = {3},
      pages = {31-38},
      doi = {10.11648/j.am.20231203.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.am.20231203.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.am.20231203.11},
      abstract = {The aim of this work was to provide a better alternative to the problems of importing standardized sand and to make good use of local sand to produce a quality mortar. Sand samples taken from various locations in the city of Brazzaville were subjected to a number of laboratory tests and to two types of mortar formulation. The results obtained show that local sands (S1-S8) in their natural state are finer and cannot be used as standard sand for cement quality control. However, some local sands can be used in the manufacture of masonry mortar. The mechanical properties of mortars made with these sands are lower than those of mortars made with standard sand, but are strongly correlated with the latter. The reformulation of local sands (S1-S8) mixed with crushed sand S9 considerably improves the mechanical properties of the mortar, which are identical to those of standard sand. The mechanical strength of mortar based on local S3 sand enriched with crusher sand (0/5) is greater than that obtained with standard sand. Reformulated sand can be used as standard sand for cement quality control. The relationship in formulation 2 between the mechanical strength of mortar based on improved local S3 sand and that of standard sand can be used to test cements. Several studies show that it is sometimes difficult to obtain the expected compressive strength of a given cement with standard sand. For the 32.5R cement used, the sands (S1-S3, S5, S6) improved to crushed sand with formulation 2, produce standardized sands for testing cements.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Evaluation of the Properties of Local Sands Used in a Cement Mortar and in the Formulation of a Standard Sand to Test the Class of Cements
    AU  - Brige Dublin Boussa Elenga
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.am.20231203.11
    AB  - The aim of this work was to provide a better alternative to the problems of importing standardized sand and to make good use of local sand to produce a quality mortar. Sand samples taken from various locations in the city of Brazzaville were subjected to a number of laboratory tests and to two types of mortar formulation. The results obtained show that local sands (S1-S8) in their natural state are finer and cannot be used as standard sand for cement quality control. However, some local sands can be used in the manufacture of masonry mortar. The mechanical properties of mortars made with these sands are lower than those of mortars made with standard sand, but are strongly correlated with the latter. The reformulation of local sands (S1-S8) mixed with crushed sand S9 considerably improves the mechanical properties of the mortar, which are identical to those of standard sand. The mechanical strength of mortar based on local S3 sand enriched with crusher sand (0/5) is greater than that obtained with standard sand. Reformulated sand can be used as standard sand for cement quality control. The relationship in formulation 2 between the mechanical strength of mortar based on improved local S3 sand and that of standard sand can be used to test cements. Several studies show that it is sometimes difficult to obtain the expected compressive strength of a given cement with standard sand. For the 32.5R cement used, the sands (S1-S3, S5, S6) improved to crushed sand with formulation 2, produce standardized sands for testing cements.
    VL  - 12
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Author Information
  • Higher National Polytechnic School, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo

  • Higher National Polytechnic School, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo

  • Higher National Polytechnic School, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo

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