International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 11, November-2012 1
ISSN 2229-5518
Engineering Classification of Shari Ghat River
Bed Sand and Prospect of its Utilization M. Farhad Howladar, Chowdhury Quamruzzaman, A.K.M Fayazul Kabir, B.M. Rabby Hossain, A.S.M. Golam Hossain, M. Omar Faruque
Abstract— Sand is a natural resource can be used as an engineering material which plays an important role in engineering constructions.
Generally sand is used as a fine aggregate in mortar, plaster, concrete and finishing works. It also used for filling under floor, basements. Sand should be pure silica (SiO2), but all types of sand are not suitable for such work.From this point of view, the present study assesses some engineering properties for understanding their suitability for construction works. The properties such as Fineness Modulus (FM), Specific Gravity, Silt & Clay content and Compressive Strength have been estimated in laboratory and the results revealed that the sand is best for mortar and concrete work and suitable for plastering and finishing work. Results also suggest that this sand can be used for filling up the roads and brick soling gap area.
Index Terms— River Bed Sand, Fineness Modulus (FM), Specific Gravity, Sieve Analysis, Compressive Strength, gradation curve, Utilization prospect.
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AND deposits are located mostly in the Sylhet area in Bangladesh. The studied area belonging to the Jaintapur Thana in Sylhet district that about 45 km NNE direction of Sylhet town and is also about 189 km NNE of Dhaka. Shari river is located about 7 km from Jaintapur Thana parisad in
the east direction.
In the Shari river bed, vast amount of Sands will be deposited.
This type of sands will be used in different construction sec- tors without any assessment.
This studies aim that, proper utilization of sands in different construction sectors.
Natural sand is available from local river beds or pits. An ex-
amination should be made on the fineness of the available
sands. Based on this fineness, it should be considered to be used for the different sectors of construction. Sand is a loose,
fragmented, naturally occurring material consisting of very small particles (fine to medium sized particles between 2 mm
& 0.06 mm) of decomposed rocks, corals, or shells. In concret- ing work it is usually termed as fine aggregate.
Sand is form of silica (SiO2) and may be of argillaceous, sili- ceous or calcareous according to its composition. Sand is usu- ally obtained from pits, shores, river beds, & seas. It mainly three kinds of sands in use: Pit Sand, River bed Sand & Sea Sand. Sand should be of pure Silica (SiO2). It should free from clay, silt, organic matter, shells & salts. Very good variety of sand is available in the districts of Dhaka, Mymensingh, Syhet. Sand is available here and there, but all sand is not suitable for every sand related work. In this study, it is aimed that which sand are suitable for which purpose. It is preferable that sand should be washed before use in all engineering construction.
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A.K.M Fayazul Kabir is currently pursuing masters degree program in
Geology in University of Dhaka,Bangladesh, E-mail:fayaz.du@gmail.com
In order to conduct this study steps like field observation, sample collection, analysis and laboratory test etc measures are considered. Methods for this investigation are composed of the following activities:
Sample was collected from Shari Ghat river of Jaintapur. Dis- turebed samples are taken from river bed. After collecting the sample we perform various tests. For performing test, samples should have normal condition. As samples are collected the source, so it was not ready for test. At first it dried in room temperature for one week.
Sieve analysis is one of the oldest methods of size analysis and is accomplished by passing a known weight of sample materi- al successively through fine sieve to determine the percentage weight in each size fraction (shown in figure 2.1)
This test was performed to determine the percentage of differ- ent grain sizes within sands. Fineness Modulus (FM) is factor which is computed using the sieve analysis results. Lower FM indicates fine particle and Higher FM indicates coarse size particle.
Fineness Modulus (FM) gets from a equation:
IJSER © 2012
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 11, November-2012 2
ISSN 2229-5518
FM
Cumulative % retained on standred ASTM sieves No. 4, 8, 16,
100
30, 50, 100
GT = Specific gravity of water at temperature T⁰C, Temperature, T0 C =28
Fig.1. Sieve analysis test
Specific gravity of the sand is defined as the ratio of the mass of a given volume of sands to the mass of an equal volume of
water at 4⁰C. The specific gravity of sand is 2.65 – 2.68. The
specific gravity is generally two types. Determine the specific
gravity by Pycnometer method, shown in figure 2.2 Specific
gravity depends on temperature so it has to be measured.
Fig.2.2. Specific gravity test
Calculate the specific gravity of the sands using the following formula:
Specific Gravity of Sand Gs = (GT * WO)/{ WO – (WB – WA)} (2) Where,
WO = Mass of dry sample (sand) (gm
WA =Mass of empty clean pycnometer+ water (gm),
WB = Mass of empty clean pycnometer+dry sand+ water
(gm),
Two types of test specimens are used in our country. This test methods covers determination of the compressive strength of Portland cement mortars , using 50 mm cube specimens. For making mortar sample same ratios are maintain for all type of sand particles and the ratios are water: cement: sand =
0.485: 1: 2.75 as a standard value but sometimes additional amount of water was applied to make the paste workable, shown in figure 2.3.
The mortar sample is prepared following the standard pro- cedure and released from the mould. It is placed at a bucket for curing then after the specific duration the mortar is taken out from the bucket and waited for half an hour for removing water and tested by the compression testing machine, shown in figure 3.4. The obtained result is analyzed and then discus- sion is prepared depending on the result obtained and field observant.
Fig.2.3. Compressive strength test
Fineness Modulus of fine aggregate is given tabulated form
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 11, November-2012 3
ISSN 2229-5518
TABLE 3.1
FM 1.1 4.2 32.6 68 88.5 99.6
FINENESS MODULUS OF FINE AGGREGATE
=2.94
100
Fineness Modulus (FM),
FM 0 .1 1.1 4.9 24 98.3
100
=1.28
From percent finer (%) and sieve size can draw particle size distribution curve or gradation curve of fine sand, shown in figure 3.1
Fig.3.1: Gradation Curve of Shari Ghat River Sand (Fine)
Fineness Modulus of medium aggregate is given tabulated form
From percent finer (%) and sieve size can draw particle size distribution curve or gradation curve of medium sand, shown in figure 3.2
Fig.3.2: Gradation Curve of Shari Ghat River Sand (Medium)
From the experiment, Fineness Modulus of fine aggregate is
Fineness Modulus (FM) range (1.24 – 2.94) of shari Ghat river bed sand is nearly similar to the FM range (2.0 – 2.6) of other
area’s sand of Sylhet. The Fineness Modulus (FM) range of shari Ghat river bed sand compared with the different area in Bangladesh as tabulated form:
TABLE 3.3
COMPARE OF FINENESS MODULUS
TABLE 3.2
FINENESS MODULUS OF MEDIUM AGGREGATE
From the Gradation Curve, it is observed that this sand is not well graded and there is a gap grade between #4 to #100 sieve. In this sand all particle are similar size.
Gs = (GT * WO)/{ WO – (WB – WA)}
= 2.84
Specific gravity of Fine sand at 280C is tabulated bellow:
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 11, November-2012 4
ISSN 2229-5518
TABLE 3.4
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF FINE SAND
Specific Gravity of medium aggregate
Gs = (GT * WO)/{ WO – (WB – WA)}
= 2.49
Specific gravity of Medium sand at 280C is tabulated bellow:
TABLE 3.5
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF MEDIUM SAND
The Specific gravity of Fine sand is 2.88 and Specific gravity of Medium sand is 2.51. The Specific gravity of sand decreasing from fine to medium aggregate. The average specific gravity of Shari Ghat river bed sand is 2.695
The compressive strength of mortar with increasing curing period is tabulated bellow:
TABLE 3.6
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SAND–CEMENT MORTAR
The Experimental compressive strength compared with the standard requirement of minimum compressive strength. The effect of age on compressive strength of sand is shown in fig- ure 5.1. It is shown that, the experimental compressive
strength of sand is substantial deviated from the standard val- ue. This deviation takes place due to impurities of sand, lack of lab facilities, experimental error, Instrumental error and effect of Portland cement and so on.
Fig.3.3: Effect of age on compressive strength
3.3 Utilization Prospect
This studies aim that, proper utilization of sands in different construction sectors. Sand size between 4.75mm and 0.15mm is called as fine aggregate. It is used for making concrete, mor- tar and plaster. It is also used for filling under floor, base- ments. It is also better to use for fill up the roads and brick soling gap area. Natural sand is available from local river beds or pits. An examination should be made on the fineness of the available sands. Based on this fineness, it should be consid- ered to be used for the different sectors of construction such as plastering and finishing works, Mortar, Concrete & Filling sand. River bed Sand generally contains earthly impurities like gravels, pebbles etc. These impurities should be screened and washed before the sand is used.
It is necessary to use perfect sand for any purpose with due properties. From the study it is evident that fine to medium sand found in Shari Ghat river bed, which is good for plaster- ing and finishing work. It is most suitable for fill up the roads and brick soling gap area. It is also better to use for Mortar and Concrete work. For stabilization purpose cement can be used as stabilizing agent. For economical purposes the per- centage of cement should be used as much strength as re- quired for construction. The compressive strength increases with the curing period.
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[3] P. C. Varghese (2005) “ Building Material ” Meenakshi Art Printers, delhi,
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