Strength characteristics of crushed mosaic as aggregates in concrete

Increase in demand and decrease in supply of natural aggregates for the production of concrete has resulted in the need to identify new sources of aggregates. At the same time, in Urban and City areas, disposal of increasing amount of demolished wastes from deteriorated and obsolete structures creates a big problem. Thus, it would be desirable if demolished waste could be processed to yield quality aggregates for the production of new concrete. Hence, in the present study the physical and the mechanical properties of crushed mosaic aggregates, are determined to ascertain its suitability for making concrete. After ascertaining its suitability, the compressive and tensile strengths of concrete (M20 grade) produced using crushed mosaic aggregates are experimentally determined and then, the results obtained are compared with that of natural aggregate concrete. The results indicate that the physical and the mechanical properties of crushed mosaic aggregates arc similar to that of natural aggregates and that the crushed mosaic aggregates can be confidently used to produce an acceptable quality of concrete, for actual use in construction sites.