Study on Alternative Materials for Sand in Cement Mortar for Masonry

Abstract

Sand is the most commonly preferred fine aggregate used in construction, which is becoming scares. This scarcity has made it very significant to find an alternative and also to assess its suitability in construction practices. Emphasizing the same, the present work focuses on assessing the various basic properties of alternative materials like Manufactured Sand (M- Sand) and Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GBFS) in comparison with the conventional river sand. This work attempts to evaluate the characteristics of mortar prepared using alternatives materials to the conventional river sand. The effect of the characteristics of mortar on the masonry strength is also assessed. Two proportions of mortars viz. 1:3 and 1:6 are tried. The results make it evident that well-graded M-Sand and GBFS can be effectively adopted as an alternative to the conventional river sand in cement mortar used in masonry structures.