Building and Em,ironment, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp.

237-240, 1994
~ Pergamon Elsevier Science Ltd.
Printed in Great Britain.
0360-1323/94 $6.00+0.00

Influence of Water/Cement Ratios and

Mix Proportions on Workability and
Characteristic Strength of Concrete
Containing Laterlte Fine Aggregate
F. FALADE*

This paper examines the variation o f workability and characteristic strength o f laterized concrete
(concrete containing laterite fine a#gregate instead o f sand) with different water~cement ratios
and mix proportions. Four mixes o f cement : lateritic soil: crushed granite were considered, namely
1 : 1 : 2, 1 : 1~: 3, 1 : 2 : 4 and 1 : 3 : 6. Two methods--slump and compacting factor tests were used
for the workability while the conventional cube test was used for the compressive strength. Cubes
(100 ram) were made, water-cured at 21 +2°C and tested at 7 and 28 days. The results showed
that the water requirement for a mix increases with increase in laterite/eement ratio. Associated
with slump test are : zero, true, partial collapse and collapse slumps. The strength decreases with
increase in laterite/cement and water/cement ratios. It was further found that the workability
decreases with increase in laterite/eement ratio. The results indicated that the well established
variations o f workability and compressive strength o f normal eoncrete with water/cement ratios
are valid for laterized concrete.

INTRODUCTION soils for both road construction and low-cost housing.

Ola [4] found that less than 50% of the cement required
THE basic and most utilized materials for concrete are
for the temperate zone soils is required for efficient sta-
cement and aggregates (fine and coarse). The use of later-
bilization of lateritic soils for road subgrade work. The
itic soils as building materials is becoming widely
engineering properties of some Eastern Nigeria laterites
accepted among the low-income earners in the rural as
for possible uses as aggregate in concrete have been stud-
well as the urban areas of Nigeria. This class of people
ied by Madu [5, 6] with the results that lateritic aggregates
uses lateritic soils for mud walls, mortars, components
are good materials for road chippings and concrete aggre-
of structural elements and masonry units without much
gates but with slightly inferior results to those obtained
regard for the engineering strength and performance
from igneous aggregates. In a study by Lasisi and Ogun-
characteristics of the materials. Walls of a large per-
jimi [7], it was reported that the location from which
centage of residential houses in rural areas have been
lateritic soils are procured, particularly the topographic
built and continue to be built with 'worked' lateritic soils
conditions, affects the strength properties of laterized
in different forms, with or without cement stabilization.
concrete. Falade [8] established that the differences in
These soils are also used as sub-grade materials for rural
strength values are statistically insignificant irrespective
roads. Their use as a substitute for sand in concrete
of the locations from which the samples are procured.
has been advocated as a welcome idea. This has geared
This report forms part of research efforts being made to
researchers to investigate the engineering properties of
develop the design parameters for the effective structural
both stabilized and unstabilized lateritic soils. Adepegba
applications of lateritic soils in concrete.
[I] established that the strength properties of concrete
in which sand is replaced with laterite fines compare
favourably with those of normal concrete. In another
MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL
study by Adepegba [2], it was reported that water affects
PROCEDURE
the compressive strength of laterized concrete. These
materials, apart from being tropical in nature and readily The lateritic soil used for this research work was col-
available at jobsites, do not require to be washed like lected from a borrow pit along Ife-Ibadan road. The large
sand because they contain little or no organic material lumps were crushed and sieved. The particles passing 2.36
that can affect chemical reaction with cement during the mm and retained on 0.30 mm openings were used. Wet
formation of concrete. Stabilization with cement, lime, sieving and sedimentation tests were carried out to deter-
bitumen, etc. has been found by Ola [3] to be an effective mine the grain size distribution for the laterite. The coarse
means of improving engineering properties of lateritic aggregate is from crushed granite of igneous origin. The
particle size ranged from 10-19 mm. Figure 1 shows the
* Department of Civil Engineering, University of Lagos, particle size distribution curves of the fine and coarse
Lagos, Nigeria. aggregates considered.
237
238 F. Falade

I00 -- / o" concrete is summarized in Fig. 2 and Table 1. Approxi-

mate optimum water/cement ratios of 0.50 for 1:1: 2,
• : Loterite soil
o : Crushed aggregate~
/ 0.62 for 1 : 1 ~: 3, 0.75 for 1 : 2 : 4 and 1.00 for 1 : 3 : 6 were
obtained. The corresponding 28-day characteristic

o
g
o
50 -- /
•
strengths at those ratios are 22.8 N m m 2 for 1 : 1 : 2, 17.5
N m m 2 for 1:1~:3, 15.0 N m m 2 for 1 : 2 : 4 and 8.7
N m m 2 for 1 : 3 : 6. The slump is zero for all the mixes at
the same w/c ratios while the compacting factor values
are 0.62 for 1:1:2, 0.62 for 1:1~:3, 0.59 for 1 : 2 : 4 and
11.
0.56 for 1 : 3 : 6 (Table 1). In Fig. 2 for 1:1 : 2 mix, at w/c
ratio lower than the optimum, reduced strength, zero
o .rC" I i
oo, I o, ,o I ,o,o ,oo slump and higher compacting factor values were ob-
siLtfraction-',~'~sondfraction ~ gravel fraction tained. At w/c ratios higher than the optimum, strengths
Sieve opening (mm) decreased while slump and compacting factor values
Fig. 1. Results of sieve analysis of the laterite soil sample and increased. The trend is also observed in other mixes
crushed aggregate. (Table 1). When the w/c ratio is lower than the lower
limit for each mix (0.4 for 1 : 1 : 2, 0.52 for 1 : 1 ~: 3, 0.65
The cement is Ordinary Portland Cement from the for 1 : 2 : 4 and 0.90 for 1 : 3 : 6), a too dry mix that could not
West African Portland Cement Company, Ewekoro in be compacted successfully with the tamping rod rec-
Ogun State of Nigeria whose properties conform with BS ommended for the standard method of preparing con-
12 [9]. crete test specimens results. When the upper limit (0.9
Four mix proportions (by weight) of cement : lateritic for 1:1:2, 1.12 for 1:1~:3, 1.35 for 1 : 2 : 4 and 1.80 for
soil : crushed granite were considered, namely 1 : 1 : 2, 1 : 1 : 3 : 6) is exceeded, the mix obtained is too wet, resulting
1½: 3, 1 : 2 : 4 and 1 : 3 : 6. The water/cement ratio varied in segregation. At collapse slump, the value of com-
with each mix, for 1 : 1 : 2 from 0.3-0.90, 1 : 1 ~: 3 from pacting factor is close to unity. This can be attributed to
0.52-1.12, 1 : 2 : 4 from 0.65-1.35 and 1 : 3 : 6 from 0.90- the fact that gravel displaced the cement/laterite grout
1.00. after falling down into the cylinder and since gravel has
Cubes (100 mm) were made in accordance with BS higher specific gravity than the grout, the weight of the
1881 [10], water-cured at 21 _+2°C and tested at 7th and concrete that fell into the cylinder was thus closer to the
28th days. The specimens were tested on 600 kN Avery weight of the fully compacted concrete. The increase in
Denison, using a loading rate of 120 kN/min. The slump slump is due to excess water in the mix. The decrease in
and compacting factor tests were carried out on fresh strength may be attributed to increase in the quantity of
concrete immediately after mixing. water entrained in the hardened cube specimens (Falade
[11]).
The results indicate that laterized concrete mixes con-
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
taining high aggregate content require more water to
The effect of water/cement ratio and mix proportion attain the same level of workability than those with less
on the characteristic strength and workability oflaterized aggregate content. For example 1:1 : 2 mix attained a

/ -- 20(
CoLLapse---/
slump +./

mp
150 12

E
E 125

/
F +1 Compacting - -

P 2o IO0 08 .~
~6
o
E
75 06 o

E
o
cO
50 04

25 02

0 0
04 05 0.6 07 08 09 I0

Fig. 2. Variation of compressive strength slump and compacting factor with water/cement ratios
(1:1:2 mix).
 Concrete Containin# Laterite Fine Ay#reyate 239

Table 1. The results of workability and compressive strength tests

7 day 28 day
Mix Water/cement Slump Compacting strength strength
proportions ratio (mm) factor (N/mm 2) (N/mm 2)

0.40 0.00 0.66 9.7 12.3

0.50"t" 0.00 0.62 14.2 22.8
1: 1:2 0.60 10.50 0.72 12.0 18.3
0.70 45.00 0.98 10.2 15.2
0.80 119.00 0.98 8.7 12.6
0.90 185.00" 0.99 7.4 10.6
0.52 0.00 0.66 8.0 11.0
0.62t 0.00 0.62 11.8 17.4
0.72 5.50 0.65 10.5 15.6
1: 1½:3 0.82 21.00 0.79 9.1 13.9
0.92 60.00 0.98 7.9 I 1.8
1.02 121.00 0.99 6.6 9.8
1.12 183.00" 0.99 5.5 7.9
0.65 0.00 0.66 6.5 9.8
0.75t 0.00 0.59 9.2 15.0
0.85 4.00 0.60 8.5 12.0
1: 2 :4 0.95 15.00 0.68 7.3 10.7
1.05 33.00 0.80 5.9 9.6
1.15 70.00 0.95 4.9 7.2
1.25 129.00 0.97 4.5 6.1
1.35 184.50" 0.99 3.3 5.6
0.90 0.00 0.59 4.0 5.9
1.00t 0.00 0.56 6.5 8.7
1.10 1.50 0.58 5.4 7.7
1.20 6.00 0.64 4.5 6.3
1.30 13.50 0.76 3.8 5.8
1: 3 :6 1.40 30.00 0.86 3.2 5.3
1.50 54.00 0.93 2.6 4.6
1.60 93.00 0.97 2.4 4.3
1.70 141.00 0.98 2.3 4.0
1.80 185.00" 0.99 2.1 3.7

* Collapse slump.
] Approximate optimum water/cement ratio.

Fig. 3. Partial collapse slump. Fig. 4. Collapse slump.

collapse slump at w/c ratio of 0.90, 1 : 1 ~: 3 at 1.12, 1: 2 : 4 phenomenon may be due to the cohesive forces between
at 1.35 and 1 : 3 : 6 at 1.80. This may be due to increase the particles o f the lateritic soil. Table 2 shows the range
in specific surface area of the aggregate to be wetted of values for both slump and compacting factor for nor-
before obtaining a workable mix of concrete with high mal concrete work and the use for which each range is
aggregate content. Like normal concrete, four types of suitable. This classification can also be applied to later-
slump are associated with laterized concrete--zero, true, ized concrete work.
partial collapse (Fig. 3) and collapse (Fig. 4). The partial On the average, the compressive strength at 7 days was
collapse is intermediate between true and collapse slump, about 68% of the compressive strength at 28 days.
a position similar to shear slump in normal concrete.
However, rather than any part of the specimen shearing CONCLUSIONS
off, the upper half was seen collapsed and settled on the The results of this study show that :
lower half which appeared to be still intact (Fig. 3). This (i) F o u r types of slump are associated with laterized
240 F. F a l a d e

Table 2. Workability, slump and compacting factor of concrete with 19 or 38 mm maximum size of aggregate*

Compacting factor

Degree of Slump Small Large

workability (mm) apparatus apparatus Use lbr which concrete is suitable

Very low 0 -25 0.78 0.80 Road vibrated by power operated machines
Low 25 -50 0.80 0.87 Road vibrated by hand operated machines, mass concrete foun-
dations without vibration
Medium 50 100 0.92 (1.935 Normal reinforced concrete manually compacted and heavily
reinforced sections with vibration
High 100 175 0.95 0.9 For section with congested reinforcement normally suitable for
vibration

* Properties of Concrete (Neville 1981).

concrete, namely zero, true, partial collapse a n d (iv) The well established variation of workability a n d
collapse. strength with water/cement ratio for n o r m a l con-
(ii) The water requirement increases as laterite/ crete is valid for laterized concrete.
cement ratio increases for a given mix proportion.
(iii) F o r a given water/cement ratio, when laterite/
cement ratio increases strength and workability It is r e c o m m e n d e d that further work be carried out on
decrease. However, with increase in water/cement workability a n d strength to assess the possibility o f pre-
ratio strength decreases and workability increases. dicting 28 day strength from slump test.

REFERENCES
I. D. Adepegba, A comparative study of normal concrete with concrete which contains laterite fines
instead of sand, Bldg Science 10, 2(~28 (19751.
2. D. Adepegba, The effect of water content on the compressive strength of laterized concrete, J. Testing
and Evaluation 3, 1 5 (19751.
3. S.A. Ola, Geotechnical properties and behaviour of some Nigerian lateritic soils. In Tropical Soils
~fNigeria in Engineering Practice (Ed. S. A. Ola), pp. 61 -84, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam (1983).
4. S.A. Ola, Need for estimated cement requirements for stabilizing lateritic soils, Proc. ASCE TE 2,
I00, 279 288 (1974).
5. R . M . Madu, An investigation into the geotechnical and engineering properties of some eastern
Nigerian laterites, Engng Geol. 11, 101 125 (1976).
6. R . M . Madu, The performance of laterite stones as concrete aggregates and road chippings, Bull.
RILEM, Mat. Struct. 13, 403~,11 (1980).
7. F. Lasisi and B. Ogunjimi, Source and mix proportions as factors in the characteristic strength of
laterized-concrete, Int. J.for Dev. Tech. 2, 151 158 (1984).
8. F. Falade, The significance of source of laterite on the strength of cement-stabilized lateritic blocks,
Housing Science 15, 121 131 (1991).
9. BS 12, Portland Cement (Ordinary and Rapid-Hardening), Part 2, British Standard Institution,
London (1971).
10. BS 1881, Methods of Testing Concrete, Part 2, British Standard Institution, London (1970).
11. F. Falade, Influence of method and duration of curing and of mix proportion on strength of concrete
containing laterite fine, BIdg and Environ. 26, 453 458 (199 l).
12. A.M. Neville, Properties of Concrete, 2nd Edition, Pitman, London (1983).