Utilisation of Cow Dung Ash and Ceramic Waste in Concrete: A Strength-Based Study

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Chennai Institute of Technology, Chennai - 600069, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Department of Civil Engineering, Dr M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai - 600095, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, SRM TRP Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli - 621105, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, Kampala International University, Bushenyi District, Uganda

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

As the demand for river sand increases and its availability decreases, there is an urgent need to identify sustainable alternatives. This study investigates the viability of using cow dung ash (CDA) as a partial replacement for cement and ceramic waste (CW) as a fine aggregate substitute in concrete. The experimental program included incorporating 5% CDA by weight of cement and varying the CW content to 15 %, 30 %, and 45 % by weight of fine aggregate. The physico-mechanical properties were assessed, and the combination of 5 % CDA and 30 % CW produced the best compressive and tensile strength results. Higher CW contents resulted in no significant improvements. The 28-day results confirmed a significant long-term improvement, with mixes containing CDA and ceramic waste achieving 6.9 % to 17.2 % higher compressive strength than the control. Gains in split tensile strength of 8 % to 16 % show how CDA and ceramic waste work together to improve the microstructure of concrete. These improvements demonstrate ceramic waste as an innovative and sustainable partial replacement that offers advantages in terms of strength and durability.