“INVESTIGATION ON PERFORMANCE OF RED MUD (BAUXITE RESIDUE) BASED CONCRETE”

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 10 Issue: 06 | Jun 2023 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2023, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 8.226 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 685
“INVESTIGATION ON PERFORMANCE OF RED MUD (BAUXITE RESIDUE)
BASED CONCRETE”
Kedar D. Kulkarni1, Mrunmyee N. Deshpande2, Shailesh S. Angalekar3
1M.E. Structures student, Department Civil Engineering, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune, India
2Assistant Professor, Department Civil Engineering, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune, India
3 Professor, Department Civil Engineering, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - Cement is a binder and an essential component
when making concrete. However, the production of it pollutes
the environment by releasing a lot of CO2intotheatmosphere.
This can be avoided by using less cement and partially
substituting waste materials. Industrial waste includes red
mud (bauxite residue). This waste is produced during the
Bayer process, whichseparatesaluminiumfrombauxite. When
making concrete by weigh batching, experimental studies are
done to determine the strength and durability of concrete in
which cement is replaced with red mud (bauxite residue) in
percentages of 5, 7.5, and 10. For the M30 grade, the current
experimental study determines concrete's fresh and hardened
qualities. When 7.5% by weight of red mud(bauxiteresidue)is
used to produce concrete instead of cement, the maximum
compressive strength is attained. Additionally, 7.5%
replacement produced the greatestresultsfortheflexuraltest.
Thus, durability tests such as the rapid chloride penetration
test, and influence of high temperature on concrete's
compressive strengthwerecarriedoutonthesamepercentage
of specimens. The findings of the mechanical test show that
replacing the red mud in concrete has an impact on its
strength.
Key Words: cement, concrete, compressive strength,
durability properties, flexural strength, mechanicalproperties,
red mud, RCPT
1.INTRODUCTION
The most adaptable man-made building material in the
world, concrete is widely used in all kinds of construction
projects. The properties of the materials, the amounts of the
mix, the manner of compaction, and other controls during
placement, compaction, and curing determine the strength,
durability, and other attributes of concrete. Red mud
(bauxite residue) is the by-product of Bayer's process from
the aluminium sector that is produced as waste. It should be
distributed properly because it is a very caustic chemical
material that can contaminate groundwaterandposehealth
risks. For these sectors, disposing of such materials is a
significant issue. Red mud (bauxite residue) is a solid waste
that is produced worldwide in aluminium facilities. In 2020,
there were more than 133 million tonnes of alumina
produced annually, producing more than 175milliontonnes
of red mud (bauxite residue). In the present experimental
work, the red mud (bauxite residue) is used in concrete as a
partial replacement of cement. For that purpose, weigh
batching is done and red mud (bauxite residue) is replaced
in concrete in variations of 5%,7.5% and 10% replacement
of cement. The Mechanical testing’s and durability testing’s
were performed to assess the performance of red mud
(bauxite residue) placed concrete.
1.1 Objectives
The aim of this research is to investigate the performance of
red mud (bauxite residue) concrete on strength and
durability of concrete by conducting series of tests by
replacing cement in various percentages by red mud
(bauxite residue).
Some other objectives are
 The objective involves using industrial by-products as
building materials to improve waste management.
 Comparison of various properties of conventional
concrete with Red mud (bauxite residue) replaced
concrete.
 Performing various mechanical and durability tests on
red mud (bauxite residue) concrete.
 Defining the optimum percentage replacement of
cement with Red mud by the weight of cement.
2. METHODOLOGY
In the present study, propertiesofconcretesuchasfreshand
hardened properties were determined for M30 grade. Also,
M30 grade of concrete with Red mud with various
percentage were also determined. Mechanical properties are
limited to compressive, tensile and flexural strength tests.
Various tests were conducted and the test results are
compared. Rapid chloride penetration test wasconducted to
test the durability properties of the specimens under
study.M30 grade concrete is prepared under the guidelines
of IS 10262–2019.Specimen cast with only OPC is taken as
control mix. Concrete mixtures were thenmade byreplacing
cement with 5%, 7.5% and 10% of Red mud by the weight of
cement.

2.1 Materials
Grade 53 Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in accordance
with IS 12269–2013 is used for the preparation of test
samples. Physical properties of cement are determined by
conducting tests. The sand is used as fine aggregate
confining to zone-II (as per IS 383–1970) as that of river
sand and the size of naturally crushed coarse aggregate
adopted is 20mm and 12mm partially. Coarse and fine
aggregates are tested using IS 383–1970 code guidelines.
The specific gravity of the fine sand is found to be as 2.65
kg/m3. The specific gravity of coarse aggregateisfoundto be
2.67 kg/m3.
In this study, red mud (bauxite residue), a by-product of the
aluminium manufacturing industry, is used to partially
replace cement by weight. Red mud (bauxiteresidue),which
is a by-product of alumina refinery plants, is a slurry that
contains more than 55% solid material. Red mud produced
using Bayer's method is a robust waste material that shares
many chemical characteristicswithregularPortlandcement.
Iron oxides and aluminium were the red mud's main
chemical components.
Fig -1: Red mud (bauxite residue) sample
Table -1: Chemical composition of red mud
Sr.
No.
Parameters Unit
Result
(%)
Permissible
limit (%)
1 Fe2O3 - 35.04 30-60
2 AL2O3 % 20.20 10-20
3 SiO2 % 13.50 3-50
4 Na2O % 9.40 2-10
5 CaO % 5.30 2-8
6 TiO2 % 4.00 Trace-25
2.2 Mix Calculations
M30 grade concrete is prepared under the guidelines of IS
10262–2019.Specimen cast with only OPCistakenascontrol
mix.
Unit Cement
Fine
aggregate
Coarse
aggregate
Water
Quantity
477
kg/m3
620 kg/m3
1133
kg/m3
197 lit
Ratio 1 1.4 2.5 0.45
3.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The obtained results are discussed under following
categories.
3.1 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST
Compressive strength test is mechanical test measuring the
maximum amount of compressive load a material can bear
before fracturing. Concretecubespecimens werecuredfor7,
14 and 28 days. The cubes were tested as per Indian
Standards (IS 516–1959). Theaveragecompressivestrength
of concrete partially replacedwithvariouspercentageof Red
mud (bauxite residue) is then compared with the
conventional concrete values. Cubes were tested for normal
concrete and concrete with 5%,7.5% and 10% cement
replacement by red mud each for 7, 14 and 28 days curing.
Fig -2: Compressive strength testing

Chart -1: Compressive strength
3.2 SPLIT TENSLIE STRENGTH TEST
Tensile strength test is done in order to find out the amount
of stretching stress that a material can withstand before
yielding. In this test, a standard cylindrical specimen is laid
horizontally, and the force is applied on the cylinder radially
on the surface which causes the formation of a vertical crack
in the specimen along its diameter. The specimens were
cured for 28 days are considered for testing and the test
cylinders are prepared as per the Indian Standards (IS 516–
1959). The concrete specimen having 150mm diameter and
300mm length were casted.
Fig -3: Split tensile strength testing
Chart -2: Split tensile strength
3.3 FLEXURAL STRENGTH TEST
Flexural testing measures the force required tobenda beam
of plastic material and determines the resistance to flexing
or stiffness of a material. Flexural strengthtestswerecarried
out on 28 days cured beams as per the Indian Standard
guidelines (IS 516–1959). Beam specimen of 15x15x70 cm
was casted. Four beams were casted for normal
concrete,5%,7.5% and 10%redmudreplacementbycement
in concrete. The beams were kept inpotable waterforcuring
period of 28 days. Three-point flexural test was adopted.
Fig -4: Flexural strength testing
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
OPC OPC+5% RM OPC+7.5% RM OPC+10% RM
COMPRESSIVE
STRENGTH
N/mm
2
MIXPROPORTION
7 DAYS
14 DAYS
28 DAYS
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
SPLIT
TENSILE
STRENGTH
N/mm2
MIX PROPORTION
28 DAYS

Chart -3: Flexural tensile strength
3.4 EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE ON
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF
CONCRETE
Concrete is also used in structures exposed to high
temperatures. It may cause microcracks and may also result
in porosity. That’s why it should be tested against high
temperature. The concrete cube prepared by 7.5%
replacement of red mud (bauxite residue) in concrete was
tested against high temperature. After curing of 28 days, the
cube was kept in oven for 24 hours (+2 hours or -2 hours) at
a temperature of 1050C. After removal of cubes, it was tested
for compressive strength. The weight of cube before keeping
in oven was found 8.35 kg and after 24 hours of oven drying
it was found 8.10kg. The compressive test wasperformedon
the cube and found out to be 16.9 N/mm2.
Fig -5: Oven drying of concrete cube
3.5 RAPID CHLORIDE PENETRATION TEST
Rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) is widely used test
method to rapidly assess the durability of concrete,
specifically its resistance against chloride ion penetrability.
ASTM C 1202-19 Standard test Method For Electrical
Indication of Concrete's Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration is followed for the experiment. The concrete
cubes prepared by replacing cement by red mud (bauxite
residue) by 7.5% were tested for RCPT. Three cubes were
used to get more precise results.
RCPT is measured in Coulomb. Current is measured in
ampere. A coulomb is an ampere – second which means one
ampere passed through theconcretespecimeninonesecond
is one coulomb, and the charge passed in 60 seconds would
be 60 coulombs. Higher the coulomb, the higher the
permeability and vice versa. The average of the three
readings has taken. The average charge passed is 4275.73
coulombs. This is above 4000.As per ASTM C 1202-19, this
indicates higher Chloride Ion penetration. The table below
gives the results of RCPT.
Table -2: Observations and calculations of RCPT
Cube
No.
Charge
Passed
Corrected
Charge
Passed
Average
Charge
Passed
Chloride
Ion
Penetrabil
ity
1 5315.8 4995.3
4275.73 High
2 4963.6 4664.4
3 3370.7 3167.5
Fig -6: RCPT Apparatus
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
FLEXURAL
STRENGTH
N/mm
2
MIX PROPORTION
28 DAYS

4. CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions obtained from these results can be
summarized as follows:
 The maximumcompressivestrength wasobtainedwhen
cement is replaced by red mud (bauxite residue) by
7.5% was found 27.59 N/mm2.
 The maximum flexural strength was obtained when
cement is replaced by red mud by 7.5% is found 6.12
N/mm2.
 The tensile strength was obtained when cement was
replaced by red mud by 7.5% was found 1.42 N/mm2.
 The optimum percentagefor cementreplacementbyred
mud was found to be 7.5% but that amount of red mud
replacement also does not satisfy the required strength
of normal M30 grade concrete.
 It was found that with replacement of cement by red
mud (bauxite residue) by 7.5% in the concrete gives
nearest results to normal M30 grade concrete. The
compressive strength gets reduced only by 6.9% and
flexural strength reduced only by 5%.
 The environmental effectandsourceoftheredmudmay
affect the concrete strength.
 Red mud can be utilized as a long-term substitute for
cement in the building industry with proper quality
control.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to Asst. Prof. M. N. Deshpande and
Associate professor Dr. S. S. Angalekar for their continuous
support and guidance with constant encouragement during
the course of this work. We are thankful to the Department
of Civil Engineering, SCOE , for providing the laboratory
facilities to conduct these experiments
REFERENCES
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Kumar, A. Sivakrishna, R. Gobinath- Investigation on
performance of red mud-based concrete (2022)
[2] Chava Venkatesh, Ruben Nerella, Madduru Sri,Rama
Chand- Experimental investigation of strength,
durability, and microstructure of red mud concrete
(2019)
[3] Xiangzhou Liang, Yongsheng J- Mechanical properties
and permeability of red mud blast furnace slag based
geopolymer concrete (2020)
[4] Chava Venkatesh, Ruben Nerella, Madduru Sri, Rama
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(2020)
[5] Dongshuai Hou, Di Wu, Xinpeng Wang, SongGao,RuiYu,
Mengmeng Li, Pan Wang, Yanshuai Wang- Sustainable
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[6] I.M. Nikbin, M. Aliaghazadeh, S.H. Charkhtab, A.
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[8] B. Ritish Reddy, Md. Zakir Hussain, S. Keerthi and B.
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