ISSN: 2348 – 8352 www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 1

Behaviour of Polyethylene Fibre Reinforced

Concrete Beams Using Marble Dust as

Replacement of Fine aggregate Thilaga.L#1, Amudhavalli.N.K *2

M.E Student1, Assistant professor Sr.Gr, 2, Department of civil engineering,

Tamil Nadu College of Engineering, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

1thilagacivil94@gmail.com

2 nkamudhavalli@gmail.com

Abstract— This paper presents an investigation related to

the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams

produced from marble dust with the addition of polyethylene

fiber. Marble dust is a by-product of marble production

industries and also creates large scale environmental

pollution. Therefore, it could be possible to deter the

environmental pollution by consume fewer natural resource

as well through its utilization in normal strength concretes

as a substitute for the fine aggregate. In this study the

concrete is prepared with marble dust as a partial

replacement of fine aggregate and the test is carried out

using M30 grade of concrete in different proportions of

marble dust (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%).The optimum

percentage of marble dust is 20% and with addition of

varying percentage of polyethylene fiber (0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%,

0.8%, and 1%). Beams of (200×150) mm rectangular cross

section and of span 1800 mm were cast and tested to

determine the flexural behavior of concrete at 28 days of

curing.

Keywords— Marble dust, Polyethylene fibers, flexural

Behavior, utilization

I. INTRODUCTION

Leaving the waste materials to nature specifically can bring

the ecological issue. Hence the reuse of waste material has

been stressed. Marble dust is a waste material acquired from

marble sawing industries. Marble Waste is marble sawing

powder, and marble sludge or slurry is a widespread

byproduct of marble processing industries. The marble wastes

disposed to open land area make land pollution and harmful

to land. Hence the reuse of waste material has to be

highlighted. Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from the

transformation of a pure limestone. The purity of the marble

is responsible for its color and appearance: it is white if the

limestone is composed solely of calcite (100% CaCO3.). A

large amount of waste is generated during sawing, grinding

and polishing process. Disposal of the marble material from

the marble industry is one of the environmental problems

worldwide today. The result is that the marble waste which is

25% of total marble quarried has reached as high millions of

tons. Marble is one of the most important materials used in

buildings since ancient times; especially for decorative

purposes, it causes an effect on environment and people.

When dumped along a catchment area of natural rainwater, it

results in contamination of over ground water reservoir and

also causes drainage problem. Marble is used for building

construction and a decoration purpose, marble is a durable

material, has a lofty appearance, and is consequently in great

demand. Polyethylene fiber exhibits excellent mechanical

properties, including ultra-high breaking strength at fine

diameter, low elongation, and high anti -fatigue strength

Waste marble dust is a material which can be used to replace

fine aggregate. The present study is aimed that utilizing of

Waste marble dust as fine aggregate and adding polyethylene

fiber in concrete. In this research, we prepared beams to

determine the flexural behavior of concrete are to be analyzed

at the curing age of 28 days. Data presented include the

load-deflection characteristics of the reinforced concrete

beams with and without marble dust and polyethylene fiber.

The behavior of the beams is studied by measuring

deflections and observing crack patterns.

II. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

A. Material Properties

The objective of this program is to obtain the properties of the

different constituent materials to be used for making the

specimens for the experimental studies. The data is useful to

classify the properties of cement, sand, coarse aggregate

marble dust, and polyethylene fiber. The various test

performed on the materials and their values are shown in

Table 2 and the mix proportion for 20%of marble dust are

given in table 1.

Table -1: Mix Proportion for M30 Grade of Concrete

Cement Water Fine Aggregate Coarse

Aggregate

420 191.38 597.88 1415.7

1 0.45 1.42 3.37

ISSN: 2348 – 8352 www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 2

Table -2: Physical Properties of Materials

B. Preliminary Investigation

To optimize the percentage replacement of fine

aggregate as marble dust, preliminary Investigations were

conducted on cube specimens with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%,

40%and 50% marble dust. The specimens were tested at 28

days in a compression testing machine. Compressive strength

of concrete with marble dust was greater than the ordinary

concrete specimens when tested at 28 days at 20%

replacement are shown in table 3. Beyond 20% there was a

gradual decrease in the compressive strength of concrete.

Hence beam specimens were cast with 20% marble dust.

Table -3: Compressive Strength of Marble Dust with

Replacement of Fine Aggregate

C. Reinforcement Details

The reinforced conventional concrete beams and marble dust

added with polyethylene fiber concrete beams was cast. The

beam specimens are of size 1800mm X 200mm x 150mm,

reinforced with 2 numbers of 10mm diameter HYSD bars in

tension and 2 numbers of 8mm diameter HYSD bars in

compression zone as hanger rods. The specimen is also

provided with shear reinforcement in the form of 6mm

diameter mild steel bar two- legged stirrups at 100mm center

to center. The typical reinforcement details are shown in fig.1

all the specimens were cured for 28 days in open curing tank

under ambient conditions.

Figure: 1 Typical Reinforcement Details

III. TESTS FOR BEAMS

The specimen was placed in position and simply supported

boundary conditions were made. The effective span was kept

1600mm. The specimens were tested under two point loading.

Two rollers served as load point and were kept on the beams at

a distance of 530mm. The load was applied in increments. The

deflection at mid span was measured using deflectometer for

every increment of load. Load was measured using proving

ring. Load at the formation of first crack and ultimate load

were noted. Typical test set up is shown in Fig.1. Deflections

of the beam were measured by three LVDTs placed at the mid

span, one third span and one fourth spans.

Figure: 2 Typical Beam set up under Simply Supported

Conditions

1 Cement

1. Specific gravity

2. Consistency

3. Initial setting time

3.15

31.25%

35-40 minute

2 Fine Aggregates

1. Specific gravity

2. Fineness modulus

2.62

3.8

3 Coarse Aggregate

1. Specific gravity

2. Fineness modulus

2.7

5.91

4 Marble Dust

1. Specific gravity

2. Fineness modulus

3.06

2.26

5 Polyethylene Fiber

1. Specific gravity

2. Melting point

0.97

115-1350C

SI No

Type of Mix

Compressive Strength

in N/mm2 28 Days

1 0% of MD 36.21

2 10% of MD 36.89

3 20% of MD 37.96

4 30% of MD 36.3

5 40% of MD 33.54

6 50% of MD 28.87

ISSN: 2348 – 8352 www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 3

IV. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Flexure Behaviour of Beam

A. Deflection:

The distortion of a beam is usually expressed in

terms of its deflection from its original unloaded position. The

deflection is measured from the spontaneous neutral surface of

the beam to the neutral surface of the deformed beam. When

the maximum load was reached, the concrete cover on the

compression zone started to crack. Figure 3 shows the failure

pattern of the test specimens. Crack formations were marked

on the beam at every load interval at the tension steel level. It

was noticed that the first crack always appears close to the mid

span of the beam. The crack widths at service loads for marble

dust with PEF concrete beams ranged between 0.16mm to

0.2mm

Fig: 3 Beam set up under simply supported

conditions

B. Load-Deflection Curve

The experimental load-deflection RC beams for

conventional concrete (cc) and 20% marble dust with

polyethylene fibre (MD20+%PEF) of 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6%

are tested at 28th day are shown in Figure4, 5, 6 & 7

respectively.

Figure: 4 Comparison of Deflection between CC and

MD20+0.2%PEF Beams

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 2 4 6 8 10

Lo

ad

kN

Deflection mm

CC

MD20 + 0.4%PEF

Figure: 5 Comparison of Deflection between CC and

MD20+0.4%PEF Beams

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 2 4 6 8 10

Lo

ad

kN

Deflection mm

CC

MD20 + 0.6%PEF

Figure: 6 Comparison of Deflection between CC and

MD20+0.6%PEF Beams

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 2 4 6 8 10

Lo

ad

kN

Deflection mm

CC

MD20 + 0.8%PEF

Figure: 7 Comparison of Deflection between CC and

MD20+0.8%PEF Beams

It is noticed that for control concrete mix CC, the first crack

appears at a load of 30.8 KN and the ultimate load carrying

capacity of the mix CC was found to be 57.2 kN. More

deflection was also observed for this mix during first crack

appearance as well as during ultimate load due to the large

ISSN: 2348 – 8352 www.internationaljournalssrg.org Page 4

quantity of micro fines present in the marble dust which leads

to a harsh and more porous concrete mix. For all other mixes,

the ultimate load capacities were found to be 57.2KN, 61.6kN,

65.78kN and 66KN respectively for 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8%

of polyethylene fiber. The capacities of mixes MD20+0.2PEF,

MD20+0.4PEF, MD20+0.6PEF, and MD20+0.8PEF increased

about 4, 8, 9, and 13% respectively when compared to the

control mix. From the above observations, it is seen that the

ultimate load of the beam with 20% marble dust with addition

of polyethylene fiber up to 0.6% replacement after which it

decreases. For the combination of 20% replacement of fine

aggregate by marble dust and addition of 0.6% polyethylene

fiber, the load carrying capacity is found to be very high

compared to control beam (about 13%).Figs. 4 to 7 presents

graphical representation of comparison of control concrete and

marble dust with addition of polyethylene fiber concrete for all

the beams respectively.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1

Ult

ima

te L

oa

d k

N

Mix ID

CC

MD20+0.2%

PEF

MD20+0.4%

PEF

MD20+0.6%

PEF

MD20+0.8%

PEF

Figure: 8 Graphical representation of visible first crack

load

0

10

20

30

40

Fir

st C

ra

ck

Lo

ad

kN

Mix ID

CC

MD20+0.2%

PEF

MD20+0.4%

PEF

MD20+0.6%

PEF

MD20+0.8%

PEF

Figure: 9 Graphical representation of ultimate load

Maximum ultimate load carrying capacity and the least

deflection is obtained for the optimum concrete mix

MD20+0.6PEF. These mixes showed higher load carrying

capacity when compared to the control concrete beam. In

general, it is noted that the visible first crack is noticed at

about 20% of the ultimate load for all the beams.

V. CONCLUSION

Flexural behaviour of marble dust and polyethylene fiber

concrete mixes has been studied. First crack load, ultimate

load and corresponding deflections have been noted from the

experiments. It is found that the visible first crack is at about

20% of the ultimate load for all the beams.

1. The result revealed that ultimate load carrying

capacity of marble dust 20% with 0.6% PEF thus

gives better % than that of conventional concrete.

2. Economy and saving of materials

3. The measured crack width at service loads ranged

between 0.17 to 0.2 mm and this is within the

allowable limit prescribed by IS 456-2000.

4. To save the environment.

5. Marble dust is the best substitute as a replacement of

sand in concrete.

REFERENCES

[1] Omar M.Omar A, Ghadad.Abdelhameed B, Mohameda.Sherif A,

HassanA.Mohamadien -‘Influence Of Limestone Waste As partial

Replacement (2012)Material For Sand And Marble Powder For Concrete Properties’ 1,2University of Science and Technology, Built Environment Res.

Lab. (LBE), Algiers, Algeria University of Boumerdes, Algeria (2012).

[2] Suntharavathanan MahalingamA, BahijjaTolulopeRaimi-Abraham B,

Duncan Q.M. Craig (2013)’Solubility–Spinnability Map and Model for The

Preparation of Fibers of Polyethylene (Terephthalate) Using Gyration and

Pressure’ University College London School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick

Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK (2013).

[3] Shaban E. Ghazy, Abdullah H.M. Gad (2014)’ Lead Separation By

Sorption Onto Powdered Marble Waste’ Chemistry Department, Faculty of

Science, Mansoura University, P.O. Box 66, Mansoura, Egypt (2014).

[4] TalahF.Kharchi, R.Chaid’Influence of Marble Dust on High Performance

Concrete Behavior’ Department of Civil Construction and Architecture, Faculty of Industrial Education, Suez, Egypt (2014).

[5] Wei Wua, WeideZhanga, GuoweiMaa (2014)’Optimum Content Of Marble Powder as a Fine Aggregate in High Strength Concrete ’a School of

Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University,

GPO Box 2476 Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia(2014).

[6] Delsye C. L. Teo1, Md. Abdul Mannan2 and John V. Kurian3‘Flexural

Behavior of Reinforced Lightweight Concrete Beams Made With Oil Palm Shell (Ops)’(2006).

[7] S.P.Sangeetha#1, P.S Joanna#2 (2014) ‘Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced

Concrete Beams with Partial Replacement of GGBS