INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY (IJRT)
2394-9007
Vol. V, No. II, April 2018
Study of Utilization of Neutralized Red Mud for
Improvement of Concrete Strength
Vivek Birajdar, Ashish Arikar, Dnyaneshwar Dhamale, Prashant Ghutukade, Vinayak B. Kale
Abstract— Rapid industrialization leads to the maximum
discharge of waste products which in turn causing the
environmental hazards. These wastes can be a substitute for
conventional material, when utilized in a best way. Red Mud is a
waste generated by the aluminum industry (an average of
3million tons per year) in a Bayer’s process and its disposal is a
major problem for these industries as this is highly caustic and
causes ground water contamination, leading to health hazards.
By taking cementations behavior of the red mud into account, an
experiment was carried out to partially replace the cement by red
mud in concrete for different percentages like 0%, 10%, 20%,
25% 30% and 35% also its effects on the strength and other
properties of the concrete.
Keywords: Red Mud, Compressive strength, Flexural test, Split
Tensile test, Compaction factor test.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cement in general sense of the word, can be describe as the
material with an adhesive and cohesive properties which make
it capable of bonding mineral fragments into a compact mass.
This definition encompasses a large variety of cementing
material. For constructional purposes the meaning of the term
cement is restricted to bonding material used with stones, and,
brick, blocks etc. cement is the most important material in
structural construction at it is used at different stages of
construction in form of concrete block and concrete.
In the last decade , the production of aluminum in spite of
some stagnancy and set back periods have shown a study rise
of about 1℅. The ecological consequences of aluminum
production are well known; threatening of surface and
underground water and air pollution by waste gases from
aluminum electrolysis plant and rolling mills.
Manuscript received on April, 2018.
Vivek Birajdar, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. D.
Y. Patil Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Ashish Arikar, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. D.
Y. Patil Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Dnyaneshwar Dhamale, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering,
Dr. D. Y. Patil Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pune, Maharashtra,
India.
Prashant Ghutukade, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering,
Dr. D. Y. Patil Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pune, Maharashtra,
India.
Prof. Vinayak B. Kale, Asst. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Dr.
D. Y. Patil Institute of Engineering & Technology, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
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The degree of damage inflicted to ground water and air during
the single production stages from bauxite to aluminum
depends on a couple of tact of which those connected with the
alumina winning and red mud disposal.
II. RED MUD
Red mud is a by-product which is obtained during the Bayer’s
process of aluminum production. It is basically a waste
material which is highly alkaline in nature and hence cannot
be disposed off easily. If it is disposed in agricultural lands
then that land becomes infertile for many years. Thus to
protect our environment from the ill effect of red mud it is
necessary to turn this waste into wealth. Red mud is composed
of a mixture of solid and metallic oxide bearing impurities and
presents one of the aluminium industries most important
disposal problems. The red color is caused due to the oxidized
iron present which can make up to 60% of the mass of red
mud. The use of red mud with partial replacement of cement
proves to be economical because red mud on being a by-
product of alumina industry free of cost. Red mud increases
the mechanical properties of concrete and as a result of which
it is a good cementations material Red mud; a solid- waste
generated at the Aluminum plants all over the world. Red mud
comprises of oxides of iron, titanium, aluminum and silica
along with some other minor constituents. Presence of
Alumina and Iron oxide in red mud compensates the
deficiency of the same components in limestone which is the
primary raw material for cement production. Experiments
have been conducted under laboratory condition to assess the
strength characteristics of the aluminum red mud. our project
work focuses on the suitability of red mud obtained for
construction. We can conduct a experiment by a replacing the
cement with 0%, 10%, 20%,25%, 30%, 35% of red mud by
using different test like slump test ,compressive test ,split
tensile strength.
A. Composite of Red Mud:
Red mud is composed of a mixture of solid and metallic
oxide-bearing impurities, and presents one of the aluminium
industry's most important disposal problems. The red colour is
caused by the oxidized iron present, which can make up to
60% of the mass of the red mud. In addition to iron, the other
dominant particles include silica, unleached residual
aluminium, and titanium oxide. Red mud cannot be disposed
93
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY (IJRT) ISSN No. 2394-9007
Vol. V, No. II, April 2018 www.ijrtonline.org
of easily. As a waste product of the Bayer process the mud is III. MATERIAL USED
highly basic with a pH ranging from 10 to 13. A. Cement ( OPC 53 grade Cement):
TABLE I: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE DRY RED MUD Ordinary Portland Cement (53 Grade) is being used
throughout the project. Different tests were performed on the
Compound Weight (%)
cement to ensure that it confirms to the requirements of Indian
Al2O3 14.14 standards.
SiO2 11.53
B. Fine aggregate (Locally available):
Fe2O3 48.50
Locally available sand is used as fine aggregate in the cement
TiO2 5.42
mortar. The sand here used is that which is passed through
CaO 3.96 1.18mm and retained on 90microns.
V2O5 0.116
C. Red mud (locally available):
MgO 0.049
The red mud is collected from the nearby fields. The red mud
ZnO 0.027 here used is that which is passed through 90 microns. The red
Na2O 7.50 color is caused by the oxidized iron present, which can make
P2O5 0.297 up to 60% of the mass of the red mud.
MnO 0.17 In addition to iron, the other dominant particles include silica,
K2O 0.058
unleached residual aluminium, and titanium oxide.
L.O.I 7.25 D. Water:
The water used in the mix design was potable drinking water,
TABLE II: CHARACTERISTICS OF RED MUD locally available and it’s free from organic materials and
suspended Solids, which might have affected the properties of
the fresh and hardened concrete.
E. Coarse Aggregate:
When the aggregate is sieved through 4.75mm sieve, the
aggregate retained is called coarse aggregate. Gravel, cobble
and boulders come under this category. The maximum size
aggregate used may be dependent upon some conditions. In
general, 40mm size aggregate used for normal strengths and
20mm size is used for high strength concrete.
IV. CONCRETE MIX
With constant water cement ratio mix of grade M25 was
prepared and is concrete mix design was studied for
B. Objective of Study: compressive strength.
Basically this project is based on the dissertation work carried TABLE III: CONCRETE DESIGN MIX PROPORTIONS
out to overcome the problems created due exhaustion and Cement Sand Aggregate w/c ratio
obsolescence of raw material required for manufacturing of 1 1 2 0.45
conventional building material and also minimize the thrust of
Industrial by product on the environment by utilizing the same TABLE IV: PERCENTAGE REPLACEMENT OF RED MUD
in the Construction Industry. Some other objectives are: 0 10 20 25 30 35
 The use of industrial by product in place of conventional
raw materials will help to decrease the environmental V. TEST & RESULTS
pollution and also conserve our natural resources
 The development of alternate low-cost and ecologically A. Slum Cone Test:
suitable building materials from agricultural and The vertical settlement of the fresh concrete is known as slump
industrial by product is an economic necessity .The slump is a measure indicating the consistency or
workability of cement concrete. It gives an idea of water
 To identify various industrial by product suitable for
content needed for concrete to be used for different works.
utilization in cement manufacture
 To examine the constraints related to utilization of
industrial waste. Current demand of cement is far in
excess of production and is rapidly increasing.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY (IJRT) ISSN No. 2394-9007
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TABLE V: SLUMP CONE TEST
Percentage Slump
Replacement of value(mm)
Red Mud
0 100
10 90
20 80
25 75
30 65
35 55

Fig. 2: Compaction Factor Test

C. Compressive Strength Test:

Compressive strength of red mud design mix was checked by
casting and testing of cubes (150mm*150mm*150mm*) after
the curing period 3 days, 7 days, 28 days . Following gives the
overall result of compressive strength of red mud concrete
mix. The compression strength is calculated by using the
formula
fc = P/A

Where
fc = Cube Compressive strength in N/mm2
Fig. 1: Slump Cone Test
P = Cube Compressive load causing failure in N
A = Cross sectional area of cube in mm2
B. Compaction Factor Test:
The compaction factor is defined as the ratio of the mass of
the concrete compacted in the compaction factor apparatus to
the mass of fully compacted concrete.
COMPACTION FACTOR =Wt of partially compacted
concrete to the wt of fully compacted concrete.
Table shows the compaction factor results for % replacement
shows the workability value.
TABLE VI: COMPACTION FACTOR TEST
Percentage Compaction factor
Replacement of Red
Mud
0 0.85
10 0.89
20 0.94
25 0.95
30 0.94
Fig. 3: Compressive Strength Test

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TABLE VII: THE COMPRASSIVE STRENGTH RESULTS

The compressive strength results showed that the up to 20%

red mud replacement with cement gives ultimate strength.
Fig. 4: Split Tensile Test
D. Split Tensile Test:
Split tensile strength is one of the basic and important E. Flexural StrengthTtest:
properties of concrete. The concrete is not usually expected to The flexural strength corresponding to failure of the specimen
resist the direction of tension because of its low tensile is calculated using the formula.
strength and brittle nature. However, the determination tensile Fb=PL/(bd2)
strength of concrete is necessary. The split tensile strength Where,
corresponding to failure of the specimen is calculated using Fb = flexural strength of concrete in N/mm2
the formula P is the load at failure in N.
b is the diameter of the specimen in mm.
fst= 2P/ΠDL d is the depth of the specimen in mm.
TABLE IX: FLEXURAL STRENGTH FOR RED MUD CONCRETE
Where, Percentage Ultimate flexural Deflection
fst = Split tensile strength of concrete in N/mm2, replacement of Strength(kN) (mm)
P is the load at failure in N. Red mud
D is the diameter of the specimen in mm,
0 74 5.12
L is the length of the specimen in mm
The table shows the 28 days tensile strength of red mud 10 80 5.33
concrete cube
TABLE VIII: 28 DAYS TENSILE STRENGTH OF RED MUD
20 81 4.99
CONCRETE CUBE 25 75 5.20
Grade of Percentage 28 Days
Concrete replacement of compressive 30 72 5.90
Red mud strength
35 69 6.00
0 2.6
VI. CONCLUSION
10 2.8
Based on the experimental study the following conclusion has
M25 20 2.8 been drawn.
1. Optimum percentage replacement of red mud with cement
25 2.5 by weight is found to be 20%, it is due to the red mud in
30 2.2 case of M25 concrete.
2. Strength results of 20% red mud replacement concrete
35 1.4 shows almost same results of conventional concrete of
respective M25 Grade concrete.
3. After 20% replacement of red mud, the increased quantity
of red mud decreases all the strength parameters and
workability of the concrete for M25 grade concrete.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY (IJRT)
Vol. V, No. II, April 2018
4. Water absorption of concrete increases with increased
percentage of red mud.
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