Potential of Fly Ash Polymerized Sand as an Alternative for River Sand in Concrete- A State of the Art Report

The depletion of the natural resources and the growing demand for the natural river sand in both developing countries and developed countries paved way for the evolution of new trends in the complete and partial replacement of the natural sand as the fine aggregate. Many natural admixtures and by-products were so far analyzed for the feasibility of the replacement of the natural sand. Some of such traditional sources suggested by the researchers were foundry sand, M-sand, quarry dust, I- sand and treated sea sand. Among which M-sand tend to meet the standards and in practice too for construction in India (Author's native) and other countries without any ordeal. However, a new technique for the complete replacement of the fine aggregate was introduced which incorporates the polymerization technique in the byproducts (Fly Ash). Though the first introduced technique was quite tedious, the consequent authors proposed much simpler methodologies that develop fine aggregates with characteristics similar to that of the natural sand which is also lightweight, eco-friendly and economical as discussed in this article. These geopolymerized fine aggregates set a new era in the construction industry which in turn conserves the balance of the ecosystem.