ABSTRACT

Ecological concrete is mixture of recycled aggregates that uses remains of fan shells
and replace them as aggregates to design our concrete. The aim of this study is to design
an ecological concrete. Samples were prepared to put them in test pieces and cure the
ecological concrete. We find that this does not vary the design of ecological concrete
since additives do not affect the resistance. These examples illustrate that over potential
is better described in terms of resistance and workability of ecological concrete. This
approach can be applied for build areas of medium resistance. Future work should use
more ecological concrete in order to reduce the pollution in the coast of Piura.

INTRODUCTION

The high levels of pollution on the Sechura coasts in Piura have generated considerable
recent research interest this is due to the fact that on the coasts of Piura about 20 tons
of remains of fan shells are thrown per year that could serve as aggregates to design
concrete. For a long time, ecological concrete has been studied to replace common
concrete, different materials have been used such as plastics, tires, etc. Ecological
concrete uses alternative materials in the concrete mix and that it could contribute to
reduce pollution on the coasts of Piura since these materials could be used as fine
aggregate.

Different studies have been done to demonstrate the properties of scallop shells as fine
aggregate for concrete. "Experimental evaluation of the use of a fan shell in replacement
of stone aggregates in hydraulic concrete with Portland cement" (Gaby Ruiz, 2016).
However, this option has not been totally successful due to the fact that there is not
specific method to design concrete mixture with alternative materials.

The purpose of this study is to design a concrete with added shells to contribute with the
care of the environment in Sechura. The prediction is to measure the compression and
tensile strength of ecological concrete.
 METHODOLOGY

The current investigation involved the use of recycled aggregates (remnants of fan
shells) as a replacement for up to 20% of fine aggregate in concrete design. Ecological
concrete is used to build medium structures in the city of Piura such as roads, tunnels,
irrigation systems, etc. Ecological concrete is designed in order to reduce the pollution
caused by fishing activity in the province of Sechura (Piura). The advantage of designing
ecological concrete in the city of Piura is that materials such as fan shells are found on
the shores of the sea and borers that accumulate up to 100 million tons a year. Therefore,
the design of the ecological concrete is very beneficial not only for the environment but
also it is beneficial for reduced of the cost of production.

In the aggregates were used remains of fan shells to replace the fine aggregates,
other equipment and materials were used: Portland cement, clean water, crushed stone,
sieved sand, mixer, matizers, metal mold, electronic balance, specimens for concrete,
thermometer, cone of Abrams. The methodology of this work consisted of six steps: First
step, we washed, dried, crushed and sieved the remains of fan shells, Second step, we
weighed all the materials (water, crushed stone, sifted sand) and these materials were
stirred in the mixer for approximately 10 minutes, In the third step, the concrete was
selected in it is fresh state and this was poured into the Abrams cone to measure the
settlement of the plastic concrete, In fourth step, concrete was selected in plastic state
to make the measurements of temperatures, unit weight and air content, In fifth step, the
plastic concrete was selected to put them in the test pieces and to cure the concrete, In
the final step, compression tests were made at 7, 14 and 28 days according to ASTM
C31 Norm. You have to be careful with the washing of the materials because these
materials come from salty waters that could later deteriorate the concrete.

However, the use of ecological concrete as an alternative to conventional concrete

generates some doubts in the perspective of people, companies because they think that
these products are of low quality and very high cost.
 RESULTS

As outlined in the introduction, the main objective of this project was to design an
ecological concrete. In this work we sought to use remains of fan shells and replace them
as aggregates for the design our ecological concrete. In general, the result obtained by
means of the ACI method to design the ecological concrete fulfilled the expectations
especially the compressive strength of concrete surpassed 210Kg / cm2 at 28 days.

Table 1 shows the results of the different tests made to the concrete in fresh state. The
Abrams Cone test shown in Table 2 resulted in 3 inches.

Physical specifications of Table 1 : Results of the different

Test Results tests(temperature,Slump,Weigth)
design

Temperature 20-30°C
22.6 °C
(ACTM C94 NTP 339.114)

Slump: 3-4 in (ASTM

standard c-138 NTP 3in
339.046)

Unit weight: 2124 kg /m3

(ASTM STANDARD NTP 2249Kg/m3
Source: San Ignacio de Loyola
339.035) University Laboratory 2018)

Table 2 illustrates the results of the resistance to compression of concrete at 7,14 and
28 days. The second column of the table 1 shows the ranges in which the resistance
should be at 7,14 and 28 days while in the third column of the table 1 shows the result
obtained by compression test of the concrete.

Results according to the Laboratory results

Days of the test
technical specifications (compression test)

7 days 140-160 Kg/cm2 135 Kg/cm2

14 days 160-170Kg/cm2 165Kg/cm2
28 days ≥210Kg/cm2 260Kg/cm2
 Table 2: The results of the resistance to compression of concrete at 7,14 and 28 days

Source: San Ignacio de Loyola University Laboratory 2018

However, these results obtained through concrete tests do not allow to verify in full the
quality of concrete in the structure because there are other variables such as durability,
workability, resistance on the carbonation of concrete, among other factors.

Future work should, use more ecological concrete specifically in the city of Piura in order
to reduce pollution on the coasts of this city due to the uncontrolled activity of fishing.

CONCLUSION

Prior work has documented that ecological concrete is a good alternative to replace
conventional concrete because they have similar mechanical properties of resistance. It
was demonstrated that the use of alternative materials to design concrete is more
economical for construction and also reduces the environmental impact.

The resistance of ecological concrete based on fan shells design by the ACI method is
similar to the Peruvian technical standard because the Peruvian technical standard is
based on the ACI standard, this can be better appreciated in the results of the testing of
fresh concrete.

Our results provide compelling evidence that ecological concrete can reduce between
4% to 6% the waste and soil waste of fan shells in Sechura Bay and this contributes to
improve the environment.

Future investigations should do most complex studies of the properties of fan shells to
use in new applications such as geosynthetics, pavements, and other applications in
engineering.