An investigation on effect of partial replacement of cement by waste marble slurry

In this study, waste marble slurry from Makrana region of Rajasthan in India is characterized for various physiochemical properties and used to replace cement partially by weight in concrete. Effects of marble slurry on hydration process, fresh and hardened concrete properties and durability properties using indigenously fabricated equipment are investigated. Effect of particle size of marble slurry on compressive strength and experimental trials on reinforced concrete with dried marble slurry are also conducted. No significant effect on characteristics of cement pastes is noted. Drying shrinkage is found to decrease and strength of mortar improves for a certain percentage replacement. Marble slurry is found to show filler effect by giving the concrete a denser and even structure. It is observed that the mechanical properties of concrete enhanced with incorporation of dried marble slurry for up to 15% replacement. The quality of concrete improves as per ultrasonic pulse velocity and durability tests. Reinforced concrete with marble slurry also shows promising results with increased bond strength. Finally, a compressive strength prediction model is developed using artificial neural network (ANN). The results for ANN are plotted as experimentally evaluated 28 days' compressive strength versus predicted compressive strength. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.