Browsing by Author "Meseret, Simachew"

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    Study on Application of Portland Pozzolana Cement for Structural Concrete
    (Addis Ababa University, 2021-05) Meseret, Simachew; Ephraim, Senbetta (PhD)
    In recent years, sustainability has become a very important issue in the cement manufacturing sector as well as the construction industry as a whole. This leads to seeking the possibility of using alternative materials as a substitute for conventional raw materials used for cement production.It is known that ordinary Portland cement is an expensive and energy-intensive material. Using alternative materials like pozzolans and other industrial by-products as a partial replacement, energy consumption, and cost can be substantially saved. This is because these materials are generally available at significantly lower costs [8, page 22].In Ethiopia, cement types namely:ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Portland pozzolana cement (PPC), and recently Portland limestone cement (PLC) are available in the market. Ordinary Portland cement is the most widely used type of cement in Ethiopia for structural applications. Portland pozzolana cement can be alternatively used with additional benefits like cost reduction, better durability, and positive environmental impacts because of less CO2 emission in the production process. However, as a trend in the construction industry of Ethiopia, this cement is not being widely used for structural concrete.Therefore, this research mainly focused on studying the application of PPC for structural concrete. A questionnaire and laboratory examination were used for data collection. The purpose of the survey is to assess the current application of PPC for structural concreteand if it is not being widely used, to find out the reason.The result from the survey shows that, currently, PPC is not being widely used for structural concrete. In this study, concrete samples were made for C-25 and C-30 concrete grades, which are the concrete grades mosly used for structural concrete. Concrete mixes were prepared and laboratory tests were conducted.Concrete samples were made with OPC, PPC, and PPC with water-reducing admixture. Water-reducing admixture was used to improve the compressive strength of concrete. Slump and compressive strength tests were conducted and cost comparison was done between concrete mix made with OPC and PPC with water-reducing admixture.The laboratory test result shows that, without affecting the desired slump and compressive strength, the cost of concrete mix made with PPC and water reducing admixture can be reduced by 224br/m3 and 259br/m3 for C-25 and C-30 respectively.