EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF COMPRESSYVE STRENGTH AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE PRODUCED WITH GROUND BARITE
ABSTRACT In this study, compressive strength test and physical tests were made on concrete which was produced by using ground barite provided from Foreign Trade Inc. in Mu? province. Two different procedures were used in the experiments. In the first, concrete samples were prepared by decreasing the amount of aggregate in concrete mix at the rates of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%, respectively, and by adding ground barite at the same proportions. In the second, the samples were prepared by substituting cement with ground barite in the mixture at the proportions of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%, respectively, in order to understand whether ground barite had binding feature. The results of the first experiment showed that concrete unit weight and Ultrasonic pulse velocity test (PGH) values were increased by the addition of ground barite instead of normal aggregate, whereas surface hardness was decreased. Compressive strength was also increased by the addition of ground barite up to 40%. The second experiment showed that dry unit weight was increased linearly by the increase in the amount of ground barite in the concrete mixture. On the hand, while compressive strength was increased until the addition of ground barite up to 20%, it was observed to decrease by the addition of ground barite at higher proportions.