1 st International Conference on Infrastructure Development, UMS Surakarta, 1 – 3 Nov 2013 ISBN: 978-979-636-154-4 Page-276 Properties of Granite Powder Concrete Dr.T. Felix Kala Professor and HoD, Department of Civil Engineering, Dr.M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute University, Maduravoyal, Chennai, Tamil nadu, India - 600095 kalastrut@yahoo.co.in Abstract Experimental Investigation on locally available granite powder as a replacement of sand and partial replacement of cement with admixtures in the production of concrete is presented in the paper. The intention of the research is to find the alternate source and fulfil the scarcity of river sand. To study the effect of Granite Powder (GP) on concrete properties, the percentage of granite powder added by weight was 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% as a replacement of sand used in concrete and cement was replaced with 7.5 % silica fume, 10% fly ash, 10% slag and the dosage of superplasticiser added 1% by weight of cement. The investigation proved that granite powder of marginal quantity as partial sand replacement together with admixtures in concrete mixture has beneficial effect on concrete properties. Therefore, it can be concluded that the granite powder concrete will boon to the construction sector with strength augmentation. Keywords - Concrete industry, Strength properties, granite powder, HPC and admixtures I. INTRODUCTION Sand is an essential component of concrete. The global consumption of natural river sand is very high due to the extensive use of concrete. In particular, the demand for natural river sand is quite high in developed countries owing to infrastructural growth. In this situation some developing countries are facing a shortage in the supply of natural sand. The non-availability of sufficient quantity of ordinary river sand for making cement concrete is affecting the growth of the construction industry in many parts of the country. Therefore, the construction industries in developing countries are under stress to identify alternative materials to reduce the demand on river sand. Some alternative materials have already been used in place of natural river sand. For example, fly ash, slag and lime stone, siliceous stone powder, rock dust and quarry waste were used in concrete mixture as a partial replacement of natural sand [1]. Hence the assumption is granite powder aggregate could be an alternative to natural sand in preparation of concrete. Granite powder, one of the by-products in granite stone crushing process, not being used for any applications other than filling-up low lying areas is identified as a replacement material for river sand in concrete. The utilization of granite powder in high performance concrete could turn this waste material into a valuable resource with the added benefit of preserving environment. Therefore, this study focused on the possibility of using locally available granite powder and admixtures in the production of HPC, with 28 days strength to the maximum of 60 MPa. The admixtures can be added to cement concrete as a partial replacement of cement along with superplasticiser as a water reducer to get the high performance. A partial replacement of cement by mineral admixtures, such as fly ash, slag, silica fume, metakaolin, rice husk ash or fillers such as lime stone powders in concrete mixes would help to overcome these problems and lead to improvement in the durability of concrete [2]. A research [3] reported that the compressive strength of concrete incorporating the combination of fly ash and finely ground granulated blast furnace slag is higher than that of individual concrete. Therefore, based on the above observation, to check the possibilities of improving the performance of concrete, admixtures were also considered as a partial replacement of cement in this study. However, the selection and dosage of mineral and chemical admixtures are an important consideration for higher concrete performance. Also, for a better performance of mixture proportions it is required to study scientifically the properties of proposed concrete. Thus, this research was conducted to evaluate the potential use of granite powder as sand replacement together with admixtures as a partial replacement of cement in the production of high performance concrete..