Bentonite Clay Modified Concrete

*Metta Achyutha Kumar Reddy and Veerendrakumar C. Khed*

### **Abstract**

Replacing cement with pozzolanic materials to some extent in construction is found to be one of the sustainable approaches in the construction industry. Pozzolanic materials of industrial origin like fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag will have to be replaced with natural pozzolanic materials once the world moves towards renewable energy sources. Bentonite is one such pozzolanic clay material that is rich in SiO2 content. A little research was made to assess the performance of bentonite modified concrete. Based on those, an improvement in the fresh, hardened, durability properties was reported. This chapter presents the current scenario on the development of bentonite modified concrete. It also reviews the literature about the physical & chemical properties of bentonite, bentonite blended cement mortar, bentonite modified cement concrete, and reinforced concrete. The history and development of Bentonite modified concrete were also briefly presented in this chapter.

**Keywords:** bentonite clay, bentocrete, workability, strength, durability

### **1. Introduction**

A developing country like India must cater to the construction activity of buildings, bridges, transport facilities, industrial units, and many more on a vast scale. The spiraling costs of such building materials as cement and reinforcing steel hurt the development activity [1].

Cement and construction industries were generating 7–8% of CO2 emissions globally by manufacturing cement and production of concrete [2]. The utilization of industrial wastes as pozzolanic materials in concrete to enhance workability, strength, and durability emissions became a trend since the early 1980s [3]. The generation of industrial wastes would not have happened if the industries had been shut down [4]. The Discovery of alternatives to the pozzolanic materials generated from industrial wastes was needed. Bentonite is clay, contains a rich amount of SiO2 [5]. It could be used natural pozzolanic material instead of industrial wastes if the generation was shut down permanently [6]. There have been a few experiments in the past to see if bentonite could be used in concrete. The investigations began in Pakistan and were later expanded by several countries [7, 8]. The use of bentonite in concrete was shown to have favourable benefits in terms of strength and durability [9, 10].

This chapter presents a review of available and related published literature on the properties of bentonite. It also reviews the literature about the physical & chemical properties of bentonite, bentonite blended cement mortar, bentonite modified

cement concrete, and reinforced concrete. The history and development of Bentonite modified concrete were also briefly reviewed in this chapter, **Figure 1** shows the overview.
