Performance evaluation of dolomite production waste in development of sustainable concrete: hardened properties and ecological assessment

Dolomite production waste is a by-product generated by dolomite mining, causing environmental pollution and other associated issues worldwide. In this experimental study, the use of the dolomite production waste in concrete was investigated, which has not been explored yet in any past literature studies. Natural river sand was substituted with the 0-100% dolomite production waste in concrete mixtures. More specifically, dolomite production waste concrete performance was evaluated by conducting different tests, i.e., slump, fresh density, compressive strength, flexure strength, dynamic elastic modulus, energy absorption capacity, water permeability, wear resistance, drying shrinkage, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The concrete compressive strength, flexure strength, and dynamic elastic modulus were reduced by 3.31, 3.28, and 3.28%, respectively, at the 10% inclusion of dolomite production waste than that of the control mix. The initial and ultimate energy absorption capacity decreased by 4.82 and 4.68%, respectively, at 10% incorporation of dolomite production waste in concrete. Water penetration depth, wear depth, and shrinkage increased by 4.54, 5.12, and 0.50%, respectively, using 10% dolomite production waste than the control mix. The findings of this research suggest that 10% of dolomite production waste could be used to produce sustainable concrete without adversely affecting concrete characteristics.