Study of Concrete Characteristics

River sand is one of the important constituent in concrete. Due to lack of availability, high cost and its demand in construction sector, it is being replaced with different materials. In thermal power plants when pulverized coal is fed in to a furnace with a temperature of 1300-1500 0C, the unburnt coal that is left is known as bottom ash. Silica fume which is also known as micro silica or condensed silica fume is by-product in the manufacturing of silicon metal. An experimental study has been done in order to reduce the fine aggregate content in concrete by replacing it with the industrial waste by-product like bottom ash in various percentages i.e., (5-40%) along with addition of 5% of Silica fume by weight to cement for M30 & M40 mix to determine the compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength and durability of concrete and are compared for both grades and results are tabulated and the optimum percentages are concluded.