STRESS RESISTANCE OF OWA STICK REINFORCED GRANO-PERIWINKLE CONCRETE SLAB SUBJECTED TO POINT LOAD

Ezeh J.C., Ibearugbulem O.M., Inock E.U., Obiekwe M.O.

Abstract: In the continuous quest for low cost housing delivery in the developing countries, Periwinkle shells have been used in the riverine (Niger-Delta) areas of Nigeria to wholly or partially replace granite in concrete, while Owa stick (Jaundea Pinnata) has been used for decades in reinforcing earthen houses. This paper reports the stress resistance of owa stick reinforced grano-periwinkle concrete slab compared to plain and steel reinforced grano-periwinkle concrete slab. The mix ratio of 1:2:2 was used for the concrete; the ratio of 1:1 was used for granite and periwinkle shells with a water-cement ratio of 0.5. Concrete cubes were casted and used in testing for compressive strength. Slabs of 500x500x100mm were also used to test for the maximum flexural stress under point load. The slabs were simply-supported (ssss) on all the sides. The 28-day compressive strength and density of the concrete was found to be 19.932N/mm2 and 2617.48kg/m3. From this study it can be concluded that owa stick has elastic properties which helps in improving the tensile strength of concrete, though in comparison steel is still preferred, but the stress resistance of owa stick reinforced concrete slab was more than that of plain concrete with the gain in stress of about 4.56%. Also, the brittle failure of concrete was checked due to the elastic property of owa stick.

Keywords: Periwinkle, granite, aggregate, concrete, owa stick (Jaundea Pinnata), flexural stress, point load.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0302112