Author(s)

Patrick Bame Che¹, Yamb Bell Emmanuel¹, Ndigui Billong²

¹Laboratoire de Mécanique, Ecole Doctorale des Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquée, Université de Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
²Mission de Promotion des Matériaux Locaux (MIPROMALO), Yaounde, Cameroon.

In recent years, the rationalization of concrete mix ratios which batches equal volumes of sand and gravel in building projects has been gaining grounds in the Cameroon construction industry. The main objective of this study is therefore to investigate if the concrete produced with rationalized mix ratio can be adopted as conventional mix ratio in terms of minimum required compression strength of concrete for buildings. Specifically this work compared the conventional mix ratio of 350 kg of cement: 400 liters of sand: 800 liters of gravel for a cubic meter and the rationalized batch of 350 kg of cement: 600 liters of sand: 600 liters of 5/15 gravel, 15/25 gravel and a combination of 5/15 + 15/25 gravel. Average compressive tests’results for both the conventional and the rationalized mix ratios were found to meet the minimum compressive strength of 65% at 7 days, 90% at 14 days and 99% at 28 days for gravel size combination 5/15 + 15/25. Single size gravel of 5/15 and 15/25 did not meet the minimum required compressive strength of 20 N/mm² for the rationalized mix ratio at 28 days curing based on the minimum compressive strength required, this study arrives at the conclusion that the equal volumes of sand and gravel mix ratio of 350 kg/m³ of cement: 600 liters of sand: 600 liters of gravel mix ratio can be adopted as a conventional concrete mix ratio for gravel size 5/15 + 15/25.

Conventional Concrete, Rationalized Concrete, Mix Ratio, Compressive Strength, Equal Volumes of Sand and Gravel

Che, P. , Emmanuel, Y. and Billong, N. (2022) Equal Volumes of Sand and Gravel Concrete Mix Ratios in Cameroon and Its Effect on Concrete Compressive Strength. World Journal of Engineering and Technology, 10, 539-549. doi: 10.4236/wjet.2022.103034.