Effect of marble waste fines on rheological and hardened properties of sand concrete

Faced with the growing needs of material resources and requirements of environmental protection for achieving sustainable development, it has become necessary to study and investigate all possibilities of exploring crushed and dune sand, reusing industrial wastes and by-product, and also applying new technologies including sand concrete which can replace the conventional concretes in certain structures to surmount the deficit on construction materials, conserve natural resources, lessen the burden of pollutants to protect the environment and reduce the consumption of energy sources. This experimental study is a part of development and valorization of local materials project in Skikda region (East of Algeria). It aims at studying the effects of partial replacement of sand with marble waste as fines on several fresh and hardened properties of sand concrete in order to reuse these wastes in the concrete manufacturing, resolve the environmental problems caused by them and find another source of construction materials. To achieve these objectives, an experimental program has been carried out; it was consisted to incorporate different percentages of marble waste fines (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12%) in the formulations of sand concrete and study the development of several mechanical and rheological properties. We are also trying to find the optimal percentage of marble waste fine replaced in sand concrete that makes the strength of the concrete maximum. Obtained results showed that marble waste fines improve the properties of sand concrete and can be used as an additive material in sand concrete formulation.