Utilization of natural and industrial mineral admixtures as cement substitutes for concrete production in Jordan

Several materials such as tuff and Tripoli which is naturally occurring and industrial by-products wastes as high calcium ash and slag were investigated as cement substitutes in this paper. Compressive strength of various standard mortar samples have been tested at 7 and 28 days. The obtained results show that these materials have improved the properties Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete. It was found that an increased compressive strength of 22% were attained at an optimum of 10% addition of ash. Meanwhile, the compressive strength increases by 30% when the content of Tripoli is of 10%. The slag and Tuff have adverse effect on the strength. The reason may be attributed to the mode and original of crystals. The finding of this research work also show that using these materials will reduce the use of OPC. This reduction will reduce some of the adverse environmental effect due to OPC production and consequently, reduces the consumption of energy in Jordan.