Properties and Application of Sea Sand in Sea Sand–Seawater Concrete
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 12
Abstract
Contradictory results have been published on the effect of sea sand and seawater in concrete as opposed to conventional river sand and freshwater. The majority of studies show equivalent, if not better, results when sea sand and seawater are used in concrete, although some studies concluded otherwise. This paper investigates the variations in the chemical and physical properties of sea sand. It has been found that each sea sand sample is unique, which might be the reason for the contradictory findings in the current literature. Chemical properties of sea sand were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope and the physical properties were observed using an optical microscope. The particle size distribution was measured. The short-term mechanical properties of sea sand–seawater concrete were compared with conventional concrete. The concrete samples were cured in natural marine conditions and atmospheric conditions and tested at 7 and 28 days. Sea sand–seawater concrete had a high early compressive strength at 7 days and remained slightly higher than conventional concrete at 28 days. The experimental procedure used all natural, unaltered, concrete constituents and curing conditions.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This research has been conducted with the support of the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance and approvals provided by the New South Wales (NSW) port authorities, NSW fisheries, Sydney Water, and Wollongong City Council for making this study possible. Technical assistance with the experimental program was provided by the University of Wollongong technical officers, Mr. Travis Marshal and Mr. Ritchie McLean, and the assistance of Dr. Mitchell Nancarrow of the University of Wollongong Electron Microscopy Centre (EMC) is also gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 12 • December 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 28, 2019
Accepted: Jun 5, 2020
Published online: Sep 29, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2021
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