Effect of foundry sand and mineral admixtures on mechanical properties

Sand has been used for centuries as a moulding material in ferrous and non-ferrous metal casting industries because of its thermal conductivity. Foundries successfully recycle and reuse the sand many times in a foundry. When the sand can no longer be reused in the foundry, it is removed from the foundry and is termed as USED FOUNDRY SAND (UFS) or WASTE FOUNDRY SAND (WFS). This used foundry sand waste can be utilized for the preparation of concrete as partial replacement of sand. In order to explore the possibility of utilizing the used foundry sand as partial replacement to fine aggregate, an experimental investigation has been carried out. The strength properties such as Compressive, Split tensile and Flexural strengths of M25 grade concrete are studied with different percentage replacement of fine aggregate by used foundry sand for 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The optimum percentage of used foundry sand in concrete corresponding to maximum strength will be identified.