An Experimental Investigation on the Properties of Concrete Using Natural Soil Deposit

A natural soil deposit, named Kaolin having major ingredient kaolinite mineral, is usually mined for centuries and used for multi-purpose applications. In order to increase the sustainability of mortar, numerous studies have focused on alternate materials like kaolin to reduce the consumption of cement. As results, it has drawn a great attention for evaluating its performance in concrete as well. This study focuses on determining the suitability of using the natural soil deposit of kaolin, very fine particle clay, as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in concrete. In this research work, kaolin is planned to be used to manufacture concrete mixes at the level of 10 and 20% in two different ways; one as the replacement of cement by weight and another is addition in concrete by volume of cement. Physical (workability), mechanical (compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength), and non-destructive properties (rebound hammer and UPV) were investigated in order to determine the performance of the concrete mixes containing this natural soil deposit of kaolin. Results showed reduction in workability for all the concrete mixtures, Depending on the mixes where kaolin was added by the volume of cement or used as a partial replacement for cement by weight. Weight slightly increased or decreased, respectively, and concrete quality improved, i.e., compaction was good as compared to conventional concrete for the mixtures where kaolin was added as a supplement. All characteristics of the destructive and non-destructive tests showed that the mixture, in which kaolin was used as a 10% addition to the volume of cement, indicated the best results.