Mechanical and thermal properties of sawdust concrete

Abstract

Sawdust is the by-product of wood. It is considered as waste material but nowadays this waste material is utilized in the construction of the building as sawdust concrete. It is utilized to make light-weight concrete and possess long duration heat transfer. In this research sawdust concrete was made at three different mix proportions of cement to sawdust of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 by volume. At these proportions mechanical and thermal properties like density, workability, strength, elastic modulus and heat transfer were investigated after, 7 , 28 and 56 days of air curing. It was found that with the increase in the amount of sawdust, the workability and strength decreased however, in terms of thermal conductivity concrete with higher amount of sawdust performed very well. It was also found that the heat transfer of sawdust concrete decreased. Considering the overall physical and mechanical properties, sawdust concrete can be used in building construction.