Crushing strength of concrete using maize cob ash cement as binder

Abstract

Maize cob is an agricultural waste, which contain high percentage of silica. Due to this high silica content, an attempt had been made to produce maize cob cement (MCC) by mixing maize cob ash with lime slurry. The dried product was burnt at temperature of 12500C. Four categories of MCC were prepared by varying the lime slurry in the mixture. The fineness, setting time and soundness tests were carried out on the MCC while
workability and strength tests were carried out on the maize cob concrete. For each category of MCC, three 100mm x 100mm concrete cubes were cast and tested for
strength at 3, 7, 28, and 56 days hydration period respectively. All the four categories of MCC showed tendency for expansion but the one with least expansion was adopted. The optimum strength obtained was 22 N/mm2 at 28 days for the cement consisting of one
part maize cob ash and one part lime and this could be used for structural works in construction where low strength is required.