An Experimental Study on Stone Dust and EPS Beads Based Material

In India, enormous quantity of stone dust is produced from the crushing of stone at quarry sites. In the direction of sustainable development, it is desirable to use stone dust to the maximum extent in the construction activities. A series of compressive strength tests have been performed on newly developed construction material (NDCM) prepared using stone dust, expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads and binder material such as cement. Two different densities of EPS beads 22 kg/m³ and 16 kg/m³ were used in the study. The mix ratio percentages used in the study are 0.25, 0.75, and 1.25. The compressive strength of material was evaluated for curing periods of 7, 14, and 28 days. For a particular mix ratio value, compressive strength of material increased with increasing curing period and for a particular curing period value it decreased with increasing mix ratios. The density of NDCM was found to be decreased with increasing mix ratios for both the densities EPS beads. For a particular mix ratio, NDCM prepared using EPS beads of density 16 kg/m³ shows lower density that that of prepared using density 22 kg/m³. For a particular mix ratio and for each curing days, NDCM prepared using EPS beads of density 22 kg/m³ shows higher compressive strength than EPS beads of density 16 kg/m³.