Abstract

The authors have designed mud concrete, by replacing cement with Over the past decade the price of construction materials like cement, aggregates, steel etc. have increased many folds, making it difficult for rural people to afford the cost of construction. The biggest problem of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) structures is corrosion of steel, as well as carbon footprint.  Locally available Red soil, Fly Ash and achieved an approximate strength 20 MPa meeting the requirements of IS 456:2000 as the minimum grade suggested for RCC structures. This research paper discusses the viability of using bamboo bars as an alternative to steel reinforcement bars in mud concrete.  In this research five mix design variations are designed as per IS 10262-2009, control mix (M20), 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of partially replaced cement. Each variation comprised of locally available Red Soil (mud), and Fly ash in 2:1 ratio and lime as fixed 5%. Bamboo and steel bars of diameter 12 mm are used. Beam (Prism) of size 500 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm were casted with bamboo and steel reinforcement bars in single and double layers.  These were cured and tested in flexure at 7 and 28 days as per IS 516-2002.The results between the beams of all variations are compared. It is found that the beam with doubly reinforced bamboo bars of 50% cement replacement gave similar results to M20 doubly reinforced steel bars with the added advantage of elimination  of corrosion, decrease in self weight and non brittle breakage.