Study of Effect of Red Mud on the Properties of Concrete

Abstract

In India and worldwide, variety of waste is generated in different forms, shape and texture. These industrial wastes mostly possess threat to the environment and the society living nearby. Various researches has been done on this waste material to either degrade or to utilize it in some or the other way. One such hazardous waste generated by industry is Red mud. It is the residual waste generated by Bayer’s Process of aluminum extraction. Red mud is the most hazardous waste than the other waste mainly due to its high fineness and Ph. Steps have been taken to utilize this waste as partial replacement of cement in concrete without compromising the strength and economy. For this mortar cubes were casted using cement with varying percentage of red mud with the addition of lime and the same procedure followed for silica to find the optimum red mud replacement with addition of either lime or silica. After this test result showed that 10% red mud replacement with 20% silica to the weight of red mud can be added effectively in concrete without compromising the strength and also decreasing the cost of cement in concrete by 6.43% thereby achieving economy. This paper also speaks about the future possibilities of using red mud as a partial replacement in concrete for work such as buildings, pavements, dams, etc after few more test is conducted and various other parameters found on this optimized concrete.