Can the Strength of Concrete Be Increased Without Adding Cement?

Overview

Objectives/Goals My goal was to increase the final strength of concrete by adding aggregates. I had no odjectives. Methods/Materials The experimenter mixed pre-packaged concrete mix with water and filled three plastic test cylinders for the control group. Steel fibers were added to an identical batch of concrete at 2% of cement volume weight. Three cylinders were filled with this concrete referred to as the steel batch. Fibermesh was added to a second variable batch,and an additional three cylinders were filled. these cylinders are refferd to as the fibermesh batch. A thrid variable batch was mixed, adding plastic at 2% the cement volume weight, and three more cylinders were filled. This batch is referred to as the plastic batch. All the cylinders were allowed to damp cure at a temperature of 22.2C. 1. Eight 40.5 Kg bags of pre-mixed Quikrete concrete mix 2. Three plastic test cylinders 3. Fifty-six grams of fibermesh. 4. Three kilograms of steel fibers. 5. Three kilograms of high impact plastic particles. 6. One Imer cement mixer. Results The concrete batch produced three cylinders that tested 31.50 MPa or higher at twenty-eight days of curing. This exceeds the manufacturer's design for strength. The plastic batch produced one cylinder at 31.33 MPa, one cylinder at 31.50 MPa, and one cylinder at 31.67 MPa. The fibermesh batch cylinder were all above the control batch average. They tested at 32.29 MPa, 32.15 Mpa, and 32.22 MPa. The steel batch was the strongest concrete, testing at 32.91 MPa, 34.00 MPA, and 32.74 MPa. Eight of the nine variable cylinders equaled or exceeded the strength of the standard concrete cylinders. Conclusions/Discussion The fibermesh and steel batches all produced concrete that exceeded the strength of standard concrete. Two of the three plastic batch cylinders met or exceeded the strength of standard concrete. Inert materials can be added ta standard concrete to increase the final strength of the mix.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Structural Capability & Strength of Materials (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1812

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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