Rheological, Mechanical and Structural Performances of Crushed Limestone Sand Concrete

The crushed limestone sand is an abundant material in Tunisia, which induces many environmental problems. Indeed, available stocks of siliceous sand drastically decrease because of its massive use in hydraulic concrete. Some recent research works, carried out in Tunisia, concluded that crushed limestone sand may be used in concrete manufacture instead of siliceous sand traditionally used. In this context, an experimental study was achieved in order to quantify the influence of a partial or total substitution of siliceous sand by crushed limestone sand on hydraulic concrete performances. Preliminary chemical and physical tests on crushed sand indicated that it presented the minimum requirement for its use as aggregate in hydraulic concrete. 79 concretes were then prepared with siliceous sand, crushed limestone sand and a mix of the two sands. Their slump value and compressive strengths were measured on plain concretes. Complementary structural tests on reinforced concrete beam were also performed. The results proved that crushed limestone sand concretes showed workability and mechanical performances closed to those of siliceous sand concretes.