DETERMINATION OF ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SANDCRETE BLOCK USING DIFFERENT GRADE OF CEMENT

The ultimate purpose of this project investigates COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SANDCRETE BLOCKS USING DIFFERENT BRANDS/GRADE OF CEMENT.

Over 90% of physical infrastructures in Nigeria are being constructed using sandcrete blocks making it a very important material in building construction. It is widely used in Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries as load bearing and non-load bearing walling units. For a long time in Nigeria, sandcrete blocks are manufactured in many parts of the country without any reference to suit local building requirements or good quality work. The Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) developed a reference document which prescribed the compressive strength and water absorption properties standard requirements for different kinds of sandcrete blocks. The objective of this research Is to carry out test on fine aggregate, To carry out test on properties of various brands/grades of cement, To determine the various properties such as density, moisture content, wet and dry compressive strength of sandcrete blocks. Sandcrete blocks have been in used in many nations of the world including Nigeria, playing a major role in the building industry. The material constituents, their mix, presence of admixtures and the manufacturing process are important factors that determine the properties of sandcrete blocks

The tests carried out are sieve analysis, specific gravity, Bulk density , water absorption test and compressive strength of the individual blocks were done on the selected samples of Sandcrete blocks. Test results indicate that the aggregates are relatively suitable for block making. On crushing the Sandcrete blocks it was discovered that the compressive strength of the blocks are below the standard recommended by Nigerian Institute of Standards (NIS) 87.2000. The compressive strength of the individual blocks was between 1.8N/mm2 and 6.1N/mm2. A careful selection of the constituent materials and proper curing was suggested to improve the quality of Sandcrete blocks.