Experimental study of some structural properties of concrete with fine aggregates replaced partially by pulverized termite mound (PTM)

Expansion of infrastructures in built environment and establishment of new ones especially where conventional construction materials are not readily available require that such materials be brought to the site. This will not result in affordable infrastructures in the built environment because of extra costs involved in bringing such materials from a long distance. The need to use non-conventional materials that are available for construction in the vicinity of construction sites, if found suitable, ought to be explored in a quest to deliver affordable civil infrastructure. This paper presents the preliminary results of investigation conducted to assess the structural potential of concrete with the fine aggregate partly replaced by pulverized termite mounds (PTM). The properties examined at this stage included physical and chemical composition of PTM sample. The influence of PTM on workability, density, compressive and tensile strength of concrete specimens with fine aggregate partly replaced with PTM also investigated. The replacement values were limited to 50% by weight at interval of 10%. The results revealed that: (i) PTM has chemical properties that are pozzolanic in nature, (ii) low workability of concrete specimens resulted with the PTM (iii) the densities of the concrete specimens, ranged between 2109 and 3636 kg/m3, suggested usages as normal weight to heavyweight structural concrete (iv) the compressive and tensile strengths of concrete specimens with PTM, in relation to the control, not only increased with curing ages, but also increased with PTM at all the replacement values. From the results of this preliminary investigation, it can be concluded that the use of PTM as partial substitute for fine aggregate up to 50% in concrete, will not diminish the structural capacity of the resulting infrastructure. © 2019 The Authors