Engineering, 2013, 5, 943-947
Published Online December 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/eng)
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/eng.2013.512115
Open Access ENG
The Implementation of Waste Sawdust in Concrete
Yong Cheng, Wen You, Chaoyong Zhang, Huanhuan Li, Jian Hu
Sichuan Agriculture University, Ya’an, China
Received September 26, 2013; revised October 26, 2013; accepted November 5, 2013
Copyright © 2013 Yong Cheng et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, sawdust has been widely regarded as a sand replacement material to produce sawdust concrete. This thesis
uses orthogonal test to analyze the mechanical and heat preservation as well as heat insulation property with the saw-
dust replacement ratio of 0%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%, respectively, to get an optimal sawdust replacement ratio. Besides, it
also discusses the deficiencies of this research.
Keywords: Waste Sawdust; Concrete; Mechanical Property; Optimal Sawdust Replacement Ratio
1. Introduction
In recent years, China’s urbanization construction is rap-
idly developing. Plenty of construction materials have
been expended every year, which has been increasing
sharply year by year. According to some previous re-
searches, the construction material expending is about
one third of the whole society’s expense [1]. In order to
cut down the exploitation of natural resource and envi-
ronmental damage, it is urgent for us to accelerate the de-
velopment of the environment-friendly construction ma-
terials.
The implementation of waste sawdust can not only
decrease environmental damage, but also can save the
concrete materials. It has many advantages over tradi-
tional concrete, such as low bulk density, better heat
preservation and heat insulation property, and lower pol-
lution for our environmental, etc. And the implementa-
tion of waste sawdust could also be generalized to the
use of straw in countryside, which could create more
environmental saving profit.
2. The Experimental Materials and Methods
2.1. The Experimental Materials
1) Cement: Made from Xinkang Cement factory,
Ya’an, Sichuan. Composite Portland cement 32.5R, the
physical prope rt i e s can be see n in Table 1.
2) Waste sawdust: Collected from an abandoned wood
factory. In terms of fineness, average grade is 0.25 - 0.5
mm after passing the sieves.
3) River sand and Macadam: Both meet the experi-
mental requirements [2].
2.2. The Experimental Methods
Examine the physical properties of cement by GB/T
17671-1999 “The examine method of cement mortar’s
strength”. The initial compressive strength of normal
concrete is 25 MPa. Fabricate the specimens according to
GBT50107-2010 “The strength testing normal of con-
crete”, replacement sand ratio 0%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%.
Every group has three specimens, and these samples
were formed with vibration method. In addition the com-
pressive strength was tested after standard curing. When
tes ting it s 28 d’s heat preservation and insulation propert y,
using the same mixture ratio to fabricate the sample,
which size is 400 × 400 × 30.
To study the monosaccharide’s influence on concrete,
devide the subjects into comparative group and experi-
mental group, the experimental group has been boiled by
distilled water that does not have monosaccharide. Both
experimental and comparative group specimens have
been dry with 170˚C for 3 h. Fabricate specimens with
same mixture ratio that the replacement ratios are: 0%,
3%, 5%, 7%, 10%.
3. Experimental Results and Analyze
3.1. The Influence of Waste Sawdust
Replacement Ratio on the Compressive
Strength
The compressive strength of specimens’ various periods

Y. CHENG ET AL.
944
can be seen in Table 1. And the comparison of mono-
saccharide group and non-monosaccharide can be seen in
Figure 1.
It could be easily drawn that compared with the tradi-
tional concrete, which replacement ratio is 0%, with the
increase of replacement ratio, the compressive strength
gradually decreases. Because the monosaccharide could
decrease the condensation between the cement and other
materials of concrete, the compressive strength of non-
monosaccharide group is higher than monosaccharide
group.
3.2. The Influence of Waste Sawdust
Replacement Ratio on the Thermal
Conductivity
The thermal conductivity of specimens’ various periods
can be seen in Tables 3 and 4.
From Tables 2 and 3, we can find，compared with the
traditional concrete, which replacement ratio is 0%, with
the increase of replacement ratio, the compressive
strength gradually decreases, which means the heat pres-
ervation and insulation property is better and better. Be-
sides, in the same replacement ratio specimen, with the
increase of measurement temperature, the thermal con-
ductivity decrease, then increase. The lowest thermal
conductivity is 15˚C. Therefore, the waste sawdust con-
crete could decrease the thermal conductivity and in-
crease the heat preservation and insulation property.
3.3. The Thermal Conductivity Comparison of
Monosaccharide Group and
Non-Monosaccharide Group
From Figures 2-4, it is shown that the thermal conduc-
tivity of monosaccharide group is higher than non-
monosaccharide group. The heat preservation and insula-
tion property of monosaccharide group is better than
non-monosaccharide group. For the non-monosaccharide
group has better condensation between cement and other
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
035710
The replacement ratio n ( %)
The com pressive strength(MP a)
monosacchari de 7d
monosacchari de 28d
non-monosacchari de 7d
non-monosacchari de 28d
Figure 1. The comparison of monosaccharide group and non-monosaccharide.
Table 1. The physical properties of ceme nt.
normal consistency setting time/min stability compressive strength/Mpa bending Strength/Mpa
% initial set permanent set Patters 7d 28d 7d 28d
25 220 360 qualified 19.81 34.51 5.24 8.16
Table 2. The compressive strength of specimens.
The replacement ratio (%) monosaccharide non-monosaccharide
7d 28d 7d 28d
0 18.58 28.15 18.58 28.15
3 16.16 26.13 16.25 26.88
5 15.66 25.15 15.78 25.36
7 14.58 23.03 14.67 23.46
10 12.65 21.55 13.87 22.68
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Y. CHENG ET AL. 945
Table 3. The thermal conductivity of specimens monosacc haride group.
The replacement ratio
(%) Hot plate temperature (˚C)Measurement temperature (˚C)Cold temperature (˚C) Specimens’ thickness (mm) Thermal conductivity (W/m·k)
30 25 20 0.445158
25 20 15 0.443619 0%
20 15 10
30.5
0.450052
30 25 20 0.429392
25 20 15 0.423642
3%
20 15 10
30.5
0.427028
30 25 20 0.413899
25 20 15 0.410792 5%
20 15 10
30.3
0.413567
30 25 20 0.397242
25 20 15 0.391134
7%
20 15 10
31.2
0.396983
30 25 20 0.381023
25 20 15 0.378798 10%
20 15 10
29.9
0.380011
Table 4. The thermal conductivity of specimens non-mono saccharide group.
The replacement
ratio (%) Hot plate temperature (˚C) Measurement temperature (˚C) Cold temperature (˚C) Specimens’ thickness (mm) Thermal conductiv ity (W/m·k)
30 25 20 0.445158
25 20 15 0.443619
0%
20 15 10
30
0.450052
30 25 20 0.421215
25 20 15 0.413665
3%
20 15 10
30
0.426011
30 25 20 0.410853
25 20 15 0.408673
5%
20 15 10
30
0.412037
30 25 20 0.401243
25 20 15 0.392412 7%
20 15 10
30
0.401102
30 25 20 0.379812
25 20 15 0.373242
10%
20 15 10
30
0.378421
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Y. CHENG ET AL.
Open Access ENG
946
Figure 2. The thermal conductivity comparison of monosaccharide group and non-monosaccharide with measurement tem-
perature 15˚C.
Figure 3. The thermal c onductivity comparison of monosacc haride group and non-monosacchar ide group with measur ement
temperature 20˚C.
Figure 4. The thermal c onductivity comparison of monosacc haride group and non-monosacchar ide group with measur ement
temperature 25˚C.
materials. It could reduce the pores of concrete, which
could be harder for heat transferring from hot plate to
cool plate [3].
4. Conclusion and Summary
The paper studies the influence of different replacement

Y. CHENG ET AL. 947
rations on the compressive strength and thermal conduc-
tivity to get the change rule of compressive and thermal
conductivity with the change of sawdust replacement
ratio. And it also studies the influence of monosaccharide
on the condensation property. With the increase of re-
placement ratio, the compressive strength gradually de-
creases [4]. When the replacement ratio is 5%, the com-
pressive strength could meet the C25, and the heat pres-
ervation and insulation property are also highly better
than those of traditional concrete. The 5% could be seen
as an optimal replacement ratio. If the replacement ratio
is much higher, it could also be used as non-bearing com-
ponent.
REFERENCES
[1] W. Zhao, “The Implementation of New Building Materi-
als in Our Country,” The Word Garden, Vol. 4, 2013, p.
20.
[2] H. Z. Zhu, “The Development of Regeneration of Saw-
dust Concrete Blocks,” Building Technique Development,
Vol. 12, 2003, pp. 46-48.
[3] Z. F. Liu, “The Innovation and Development of Thermal
Insulation Material,” Heilongjiang Science and Technol-
ogy Information, Vol. 28, 2009, p. 317.
[4] F. L. Yang, Y. S. Li and Y. Jian, “The Implementation of
Waste Glass in Concrete,” Concrete, Vol. 263, 2011, pp.
81-86.
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