Sustainable materials in the building industry include resources and technologies that decrease environmental effects, enhance energy efficiency, and help to create a healthy ecosystem. They seek to reduce waste and pollution throughout a building’s lifespan, as traditional methods contribute to carbon emissions, resource depletion, and trash creation [16] The industry is crucial in embracing sustainability in order to combat climate change and resource depletion. Concrete is a popular traditional construction material in the building industry, utilized in the construction of roads,buildings,bridges, pipelines, dams, canals, silos, nuclear waste containment plants etc. Since it is affordable, easily available and can be customized into desired shape and size during its fresh state. Concrete can have design flaws, material flaws, construction flaws, corrosion, and chemical reactions that shorten its lifespan. Recent study indicates that microbial mineral precipitation from beneficial bacteria in concrete might improve its performance by transforming soluble organic nutrients into insoluble inorganic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) calcium carbonate. This mechanism is called microbiologically induced calcite precipitation which has the potential to improve the structural qualities of concrete.
Concrete is an essential civil engineering material used in constructions, and cement is an essential component. Cement is made at high temperatures from calcimine, argillaceous, and calcareous minerals, which emit substantial amounts of CO2 into the environment. India is the world’s second-largest cement producing country, and by reducing usage of cement in concrete production, we can save cost and CO2 emissions can be lowered [1]. Dolomite powder, a carbonate substance made of calcium magnesium carbonate, can be used as a partial replacement for cement in concrete up to a certain point. Dolomite is a popular building material due to its wettability, dispensability, and weathering resilience. The strength characteristics of concrete containing dolomite powder should be investigated, as it has the same specific gravity and fineness as cement [2]. Because dolomite powder is high in calcium and magnesium carbonates, they improve the strength and durability of concrete buildings, making them more resistant to environmental forces and large loads [3]. It was also found that the inclusion of Dolomite powder enhances the workability of the concrete mix, making it simpler to handle, place, and finish. This leads to improved consolidation, lesser voids, and a smoother surface finish.
The hydration process in cement combines with dolomite powder addition is investigated in this experimental study. It was discovered that adding powdered dolomite with fine grains speeds up the crystallization of the product and enhances strength development [15]. The percentage of inert carbonate in cement is higher than the relative strength drops. The impact of dolomite powder on heat development during cement and alite hydration was also investigated in this study. It also investigated the relationship between cement's main silicate phases and dolomite [6]. When a dolomite filler is incorporated, hemi- and monocarboaluminate phases are formed, stabilizing ettringite, making dolomite Portland cement a strong, leaching-resistant material. The occurrence of hydrotalcite, which occurs at high temperatures and requires extended hardening, enhances the mortar's pore structure and enhances its compressive strength [11].
To ensure even consistency, ingredients must be brought to room temperature and cement samples must be well mixed before testing. Cement should be kept dry, ideally in an airtight container. Every batch of concrete needs to be completely air dried and graded according to specifications. To get the appropriate grading, aggregates should be divided into coarse and fine aggregates and then blended. Although separate coarse and fine aggregates are needed for grading, sieves can be used to separate the two types of aggregates.[13]
According to the Table1 mentioned below which describes that the dolomite substance's chemical composition consists mainly of CaO (80.21%), with MgO (14.83%) coming in second. SiO2 is prevalent (2.50%), Al2O3 is less common (1.52%), while SO3 makes up 0.85%. CuO and MnO are also found in trace concentrations. Based on the available data from Table 1, we can conclude that the cement and dolomite are rich is CaO(Lime) content, due to rich in CaO content in dolomite it helps in overcoming the contraction action in cement slurry and acts like the “Expanding Agent” in the concrete [16]. And we can also say that the content of MgO is far more in the dolomite than the MgO content in the cement, which results in the decrease in strength of cement that’s the reason why we can’t replace the cement with dolomite in higher percentages.
Table 1
Chemical composition of dolomite
Component | Composition |
CaO | 80.21 |
MgO | 14.83 |
Al2O3 | 1.52 |
Sio2 | 2.50 |
SO3 | 0.85 |
CuO | 0.07 |
MnO | 0.02 |
By considering the data from the above table, we can say that dolomite powder is mostly constituted by calcium and magnesium oxides with small amounts of alumina, silica, and other minerals. Due to the high content of lime in dolomite powder it is rich in attaining the cementing property as well lime imparts the strength to the cement. Important point to be considered basically dolomite powder contains high percent of lime content which can lead to expansion of cement this is the reason why we can only make partial replacement of cement with dolomite powder and complete replacement is not possible [17].
In general, the chemical formula of dolomite powder is written as CaMg(CO3)2. The specific gravity of dolomite powder was found to be 2.85 and basically it is available in white colour and its tenacity was found to be brittle in nature. An important point to be considered is moisture content is nil in dolomite powder and additionally there are some other properties like sieve analysis where dolomite powder lies under Zone 3. And it also noted that the crystal system of dolomite powder was literally found to be Trigonal [4]. Inclusion of dolomite powder will help to enhance the durability properties of the concrete as well as the mechanical properties like compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength of concrete due to its dense microstructure behavior [5].