Effect of Wetting-Drying Cycle on Point Load Index of Concrete Containing Zeolite Powder

Concrete has permanently been widely used in construction and mining projects, which has led researchers to improve its properties. The use of concrete in various environments made it necessary to use pozzolans in its constituents to maintain the strength of concrete. Similarly, concrete can be set in an environment continuously exposed to drying and wetting, as in tidal conditions and their effect on structures. It is essential to calculate the uniaxial compressive strength of concrete and stones during any project. Load Point Testing is more recommended, as it is less sensitive and challenging to measure than uniaxial compressive strength. In this study, the wetting-drying cycle was applied to two different types of concrete, without pozzolan and with zeolite powder. Samples are prepared of each type of concrete and subjected to ۰, ۴, and ۸ wetting-drying cycles. Point load indexes of the samples are computed by performing a point load test. As the number of wetting-drying cycles increases, the point load indexdecreases, and the performance of concrete samples containing zeolite powder is better than samples without zeolite powder.

Keywords:

wetting-drying cycle , point load index , concrete , zeolite powder