Citation :

Kolar Dinesh Singh, M. Purushothaman, "Mineralogical, Microstructural, Fresh-State and Mechanical Performance Evaluation of Cement Mortar Incorporating Processed Overburden Sand as a Sustainable Fine Aggregate Replacement," International Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 24-50, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488352/IJCE-V13I8P102

Abstract

The present study explores the potential of replacing natural river sand with processed Overburden Sand (OBS) from lignite mines for sustainable production of cement mortar by means of mineralogical, microstructural, fresh properties, and mechanical investigation. SEM, and EDS analysis revealed that both river sand and OBS consisted mainly of silica, with OBS having some alumina, iron, and alkali constituents, thus affecting the surface characteristics and chemical activity of OBS. Tests using flow table, marsh cone test, and fresh density method were carried out on diverse water-cement (w/c) proportions between 0.4 and 0.8 to examine workability property. Flow characteristics improved for RS from w/c proportion of 0.5, while OBS had lower spread diameters till w/c of 0.6. The maximum compression strength obtained for river sand mortar was 31.8 MPa at 0.5 w/c ratio, and 27.1 MPa for OBS mortar at 0.6 w/c proportion. From substitution study carried out at a proportion of 0.6 w/c, a gradual decrease in strength was observed with increasing OBS amount. This study shows the feasibility of utilizing processed overburden sand as an alternative fine aggregate in mortar while maintaining satisfactory mechanical performance.

Keywords

Cement mortar, Compressive strength, Fine aggregate replacement, Processed Overburden Sand, Fresh-state properties, SEM-EDS.

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