Feasibility as a Potential Substitute for Natural Sand: A Comparative Study between Granite Cutting Waste and Marble Slurry

One of the most challenging problems of 21st century is solid waste management and stone slurry is a prime shareholder in this waste. The paper aims at assessing the feasibility of utilizing the two different types of stone waste generated globally in huge quantities i.e., Granite cutting waste and marble slurry as a replacement for fine aggregate in concrete manufacturing. The paper reports the similarities and highlights the contrasting behaviour of GCW and MS concrete in terms of durability, compressive and flexure strength, abrasion, permeability and ultra-pulse velocity. The strength and durability of concrete is determined by a number of factors including the physical and chemical composition of constituent ingredients as well as the microstructure of ingredient particles. Explanations for the trends observed have been derived from microstructural studies using SEM and EDS test and also the inter-particle behaviour of the ingredients within concrete matrix . It was found that neglecting minor variations the optimum replacement percentage for GCW and MS concrete were 25% and 15% respectively.Abbreviation: GCW- Granite cutting waste; MS – Marble Slurry; w/c – water-cement ratio.