EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE CONTAINING SULFUR

Abstract

This research is an exploratory experiment into sulfur concrete used not as a complete replacement of cement but as an additional material in percentage of the cement content. The aim of this research was to explore the possible appreciation of mechanical and physical properties of concrete containing sulfur with percentages of 1%, 5% and 10% of the cement content. The sulfur used here was not heat-activated, hence the binding effect in sulfur was absent. The experimental results revealed that concrete containing sulfur did not perform better in their strength properties, both compressive strength and flexural strength. The physical properties such as water penetration and water absorption for concrete containing sulfur also showed poor performance in comparison to ordinary Portland cement concrete. Such phenomena are very likely due to the sulfur not being activated by heat. Carbonation test did not show good results as a longer term of testing is required. Drying shrinkage property was found to be encouraging in that concrete containing 10% sulfur had quite significant reduction in drying shrinkage as opposed to ordinary Portland cement concrete.