FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
371–377
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE
USING BOVINE FAECES ASH AND NON-DEGRADABLE
PLASTIC WASTE MATERIALS
EKSPERIMENTALNO RAZISKOVANJE SUROVEGA BETONA Z
UPORABO PEPELA IZ GOVEJIH ODPADKOV IN
NERAZGRADLJIVE ODPADNE PLASTIKE
Fehlberg J.
1*
, Ravi Kumar M. S.
2
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu – 629180, India
2
Department of Civil Engineering, PSN College of Engineering, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627152, India
Prejem rokopisa – received: 2024-03-16; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2024-04-15
doi:10.17222/mit.2024.1135
Concrete is widely used in all kinds of construction and it is composed of cement, fine and coarse aggregates. To make the
eco-friendly and economical construction, this research partially replaces cement with cow-dung ash to prepare the concrete.
Non-biodegradable plastic trash is thus added to the concrete as an admixture to increase the tensile and compressive strengths.
Super plasticizers are also added to the concrete to increase its strength. In this study, the cement was partly substituted with
cow-dung ash in the proportions of 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 % while non-degradable plastic waste materials were used as an admix-
ture in the proportions of 1 %, 1.5 %, and2%tocreate green concrete. To evaluate the performance and strength of the manu-
factured concrete samples (cube and cylinder), they were subjected to split tensile, flexural, and compressive strength tests after
curing for (7, 14 and 28) d. For all the M20 grade of concrete mixes, the addition of 15 % cow-dung ash as a replacement for ce-
ment and 1.5 % of non-degradable plastic waste material gives the maximum compression and tensile strength when comparing
the control mix concrete. Hence this proves that partial replacement of cement with cow-dung ash and the addition of
non-degradable plastic waste material as a admixture gives better results than normal M20 grade concrete, which has better
strength and is eco-friendly in nature.
Keywords: Bovine faeces ash, compressive strength, cow-dung ash, green concrete, plastic waste
Beton se vsestransko uporablja v gradbeni{tvu pri izdelavi vrste razli~nih konstrukcij. Sestavljen je iz to~no dolo~enih dele`ev
cementa ter agregatov. Avtorji v ~lanku opisujejo okolju prijazen beton v katerem so del cementa nadomestili s pepelom, ki je
nastal pri se`igu govejih odpadkov. Poleg tega so prime{ali {e nerazgradljivo plastiko in super plastifikatorje zato, da bi pove~ali
natezno in tla~no trdnost betona. Avtorji tega ~lanka so izbrali 5 %, 10 %, 15 % in 20 %-tne dele`e pepela, ki so nastali pri
se`igu govejih odpadkov in s katerimi so delno nadomestili cement.Za izdelavo surovega betona so bili izbrani {e dele`i dodanih
delcev odpadne nerazgradljive plastike 1 %, 1,5 % in 2 %. Sledilo je ovrednotenje lastnosti iz betona izdelanih preizku{ancev (v
obliki kock in valjev). Avtorji so dolo~ili cepilno natezno, upogibno in tla~no trdnost preizku{ancev po (7, 14 in 28) dneh
utrjevanja betona. Beton vrste M20 s 15 %-tnim dodatkom pepela govejih odpadkov in 1,5 %-nim dodatkom odpadkov
nerazgradljive plastike je imel od vseh vzorcev najve~jo tla~no in natezno trdnost in tudi ve~jo kot kontrolna me{anica betona
M20. Avtorji v zaklju~kih poudarjajo, da so s preizkusi dokazali, da ima beton z delno zamenjavo cementa s pepelom govejih
odpadkov in dodatkom odpadne nerazgradljive plastike bolj{e mehanske lastnosti kot normalni beton vrste M20. Tako izdelani
beton naj bi bil tudi bolj prijazen do okolja.
Klju~ne besede: pepel iz se`iga govejih odpadkov in kravjega blata, tla~na trdnost, surovi beton, plasti~ni odpadki
1 INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the globally preferred building material.
Though concrete has several ingredients, cement is con-
sidered as the key ingredient that gives it a binding prop-
erty.
1
In recent years, the cement production has grown
very rapidly all over the world due to the huge require-
ment of cement for many construction purposes. World-
wide, Portland cement production increases 9 % annu-
ally. India stands second in the world cement production
and produces 6.9 % of world’s output.
2
One ton of ce-
ment production emits equal amount of CO
2
to the atmo-
sphere. Carbon dioxide is a primary greenhouse gas
(GHG) that contributes to global warming.
3
Cement
companies contribute8%ofallGHGemissions to the
environment and are the third greatest source of such
emissions.
4
GHG emission causes a serious threat to the
environment. In this world, nearly 12 billion tons of con-
crete are produced every year. Owing to the huge re-
quirement of concrete this quantity may increase in the
forthcoming years. Over-exploitation of natural re-
sources and unused industrial waste by-products causes
serious jeopardy to the environment.
5
So an alternate
technology should be used in construction, which re-
duces the usage of cement in concrete. Using geo-
polymer concrete is a good way to make use of industrial
waste materials and completely do away with cement.
6
Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) concrete is made using
fly ash, waste glass, powdered granulated blast furnace
slag, and washed glass is suggested due to its improved
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377 371
UDK 625.821.5:628.477.7 ISSN 1580-2949
Original scientific article/Izvirni znanstveni ~lanek MTAEC9, 58(3)371(2024)
*Corresponding author's e-mail:
fehlbergj@gmail.com (Fehlberg J.)

strength and durability. It is highly advantageous to em-
ploy these wastes and they should be replaced with sea-
shell ash. The use of rice husk ash, coal fly ash, or coal
bottom ash as a substitute are examined for Portland ce-
ment in concrete.
7
In order to produce cement-free paver
bricks, the use of plastic waste as a binding component
by-products as an alternative element in concrete.
8
Sev-
eral types of seashell debris are used as cement substi-
tutes in concrete.
9
Studies suggest that 5–10 % of cement
to completely replace cement.
10
M-sand, which is created
by crushing aggregates, loses its angularity.
11
A signifi-
cant percentage of the exploratory investigations were
focused on replacing M-sand with silica sand.
12
There
have not been many studies on employing eco-sand in
cement concrete in place of fine aggregates. Silica sand
is a granular mineral made up of quartz, coal, and clay in
small proportions. Silica is widely used as a caulk or
sealer due to its weather, wear and corrosion resistance.
This research focuses on the morphological and mineral-
ogical configurations of cement, cow-dung ash and plas-
tic waste; to enhance the tensile, flexural as well as com-
pressive strength; to strengthen the concrete by adding
super plasticizers; to assess the performance and strength
of the prepared concrete samples (cube and cylinder) and
to compare the green concrete made of M20 grade mix
with conventional concretes with and without plastic.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PART
The proposed concrete is prepared by replacing the
cement with bovine faecal ash (cow-dung ash) in
amounts of 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 %. Then add 1.5 %
of plastic waste materials (typical bottle trash) as an ad-
ditive. The control mix (standard concrete) is made using
M20 design mix. The admixture (plastic waste) is kept as
1.5 % (constant) in all the trials to find the optimal mix
proportion. A 15 % replacement of cement with bovine
faeces ash along with 1.5 % of plastic waste will give the
optimum mix value. To find the optimal mix proportion
replacing cement with cow-dung ash and adding
non-degradable plastics as admixture, prepared conven-
tional concrete in M20 design mix by adding 1 %, 1.5 %,
2 % of non-degradable plastic waste in the concrete and
find the percentage where a high strength is obtained.
Then replaced cement with cow-dung ash in the ratio
5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 % and add non-degradable plastic
waste materials in the ratio 1.5 % along with super
plasticizer in M20 mix design of cube and cylinder and
test the compression, flexural and tensile strengths. The
specimens are labelled to classify the concrete mixtures
such as mix-3 (M3), Cement content 85 % (C85),
Cow-dung ash 15 % (CDA15) and Admixture-plastic
waste 1.5 % (PW1.5). The microstructural properties of
cement, cow-dung ash, and plastic trash are examined
using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dis-
persive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDAX). X-ray diffraction
analysis (XRD) is used to investigate the mineralogical
compositions of the cement, cow-dung ash and plastic
trash. The fine aggregates employed in this study are
shown in Figure 1.
The various mix proportions are shown in Table 1.
The concrete mixtures are prepared and they are cast in
conventional moulds in accordance with IS 10262: Plas-
tic Waste (PW) and Cow-dung ash (CDA) could reduce
the workability of concrete because of the increased sur-
face area of waste ash particles.
Table 1: Cement, cow-dung ash, plastic-waste mix proportions
Design grade mix
Cement
(%)
Cow-dung
ash (%)
Plastic
waste (%)
admixture
M1-C95-CDA5-PW1.5 95 5 1.5
M2-C90-CDA10-PW1.5 90 10 1.5
M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 85 15 1.5
M4-C80-CDA20-PW1.5 80 20 1.5
2.1 Experimental procedure for the preparation of con-
ventional concrete, green concrete cubes and cylin-
ders
In conventional concrete preparation, the amounts of
coarse aggregates and water remained constant, the
amount of cement dropped as the amount of cow-dung
ash and plastic-waste ash increased. On a weight basis,
the ratios of cement, cow-dung ash, and plastic garbage
were estimated. Samples of the cubes and cylinders were
made, and they were subsequently cured for (7, 14, and
28) d in the curing tank. The samples were removed
from the curing tank after (7, 14, and 28) d, and a com-
pression test, a tensile test, and a tensile test were then
FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
372 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377
Figure 1: a) Cow-dung ash, b) plastic waste, c) sieve examination of the fine aggregates

performed on the cube, cylinder, and cylinder. Beam
samples were cast and the flexural test was made for the
beam after (7, 14, and 28) d.
The experimental process for creating green concrete
cubes and cylinders is by adding admixture in the
amounts 1 %, 1.5 %,2%innormal concrete in the M20
design mix to find the constant admixture proportional
percentage value. Cube samples were prepared for 1 %,
1.5 %, 2 % and cured for (7, 14, 28) d. The cube samples
were tested in a compression-testing machine and the op-
timal mix was found. The strength of the concrete in-
creased in 1.5 % as per the results and decreased in 2 %.
Hence the 1.5 % of admixtures was taken as a constant
value for the experimental procedures. Then replacing
the cement with cow-dung ash in the amounts 5 %,
10 %, 15 %, 20 % and adding non-degradable plastic
waste materials in the amount 1.5 %. Also, we added
super plasticizers to the concrete so that the cluster for-
mation could be avoided and to improve the workability
of the concrete. The M20 design mix standards were fol-
lowed in the concrete’s preparation. The samples of cube
and cylinder were prepared and cured for (7, 14, 28) d.
The aggregates, cementitious material and half of the
water were added to the mixer and mixed for two min-
utes to make the concrete samples. The remaining water
and super plasticizer were then progressively added
while the mixing proceeded for another 3 min. The
mixes were then subjected to the slump test. To measure
the compressive and tensile strengths, the freshly mixed
concrete was then poured into 100-mm cubic moulds.
The specimens were removed in accordance with the
ASTM C192 standard after 24 h and kept at 23±2°C
until the compressive strength test. Using varying
amounts of cow-dung ash (5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 %)
and constant plastic waste of 1.5 % (admixture), conven-
tional moulds were used to cast green concrete cubes and
cylinders with dimensions of (150 × 150 × 150) mm
3
.A
compaction rod gave green concrete 25 hits at each inter-
val to compress it. Following the third break, the cubes
underwent a one- to two-minute vibratory treatment on a
machine before having their top surfaces polished with a
trowel. The moulds were then dried for 24 h. The cubes
were taken out of the moulds after 24 hours and placed
in water tanks to cure. Preparation and curing of the con-
crete cylinders and cubes are shown in Figure 2. The
cubes and cylinders are made using various ratios of ce-
ment, cow-dung ash, and plastic waste. The compressive
strength of the samples after curing for (7, 14, and 28) d
was assessed using a 40-tonne universal testing appara-
tus. The sizes prepared are 45 Nos. of 100 mm ×
100 mm × 500 mm concrete beams, 90 Nos. of 150 mm
diameter by 300 mm high cylinders, 135 Numbers of
(150 × 150 × 150) mm Cubes ,135 concrete cubes were
tested with dimensions of (150 × 150 × 150) mm and 90
Concrete cylinders are tested with 150 mm diameter
× 300 mm height.
3 RESULTS
The slump test is used to determine the workability
of newly mixed concrete mixes before casting the speci-
mens in moulds. The density of the concrete and com-
pacting factor test as per the IS 1199: (1991). After 24 h,
the specimens are de-moulded and cured inside the cur-
ing tank. After (7, 14 and 28) d, the concrete’s hardened
properties we examined. The split tensile capacity and
compressive capacity of the cylinders and cubes were
measured by compression testing machine (CTM) with a
FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377 373
Figure 2: Preparation of: a) conventional concrete, b, c, d, e) green concrete cubes and cylinders, f) Concrete cylinders and cubes cured in a cur-
ing tank for (7, 14 and 28) d

capacity of 2000 kN. A 400-kN capacity universal test-
ing machine (UTM) was utilized for gauging the con-
crete beam’s flexural strength.
3.1 Fresh characters of concrete mixtures
During the experiment, the significance of the plastic
waste and the cow-dung ash on the new concrete was de-
tected using the same percentages of cow-dung ash and
plastic waste in concrete mixtures. The slump values and
compacting factor test are shown in Table 2 accordingly.
The slump value is presented in Table 4 as a result of the
increase in concrete mix design grade. The highest
slump value was found in M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5, dem-
onstrating the best workability. Adding cow-dung ash in-
creased from 15 % to 20 %, the compacting feature re-
duces from 0.94 to 0.86. With the addition of 15 % of
cow-dung ash and 1.5 % of plastic waste to the concrete
mixture, M1-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 demonstrated better
compacting ability with higher density of concrete
(2,611 Kg/m
3
) when related to all the other concrete
mixtures.
Table 2: Fresh properties of the CDA-PWA green concrete mixes
Design grade mix
Slump
value
(mm)
Density of
concrete
(kg/m
3
)
Compaction
factor (-)
M1-C95-CDA5-PW1.5 101.00 2,454.00 0.88
M2-C90-CDA10-PW1.5 112.00 2,595.00 0.92
M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 115.00 2,611.00 0.94
M3-C80-CDA20-PW1.5 98.00 2,564.00 0.86
3.2 Compressive Strength Testing
The control mix, according to IS 10262: (2019), was
created for the M20 Grade. The result is 60.12 N/mm
2
for the M20 grade mix used as the control. For cube and
cylinder specimens, data on the compressive strength of
concrete mixes prepared from plastic waste and
cow-dung ash are shown in Table 3 for the M20 grade.
The cube specimens had compressive strengths of
15.6 MPa after 7 d, 19.7 MPa after 14 d, and 28.4 MPa
after 28 d The findings show that the compressive
strength of the concrete mixture rises to 15 % and then
begins to decline as the amount of cow-dung ash in-
creases. This implies that the optimum compressive
strength may be obtained by adding the right amount of
non-biodegradable plastic waste materials (1.5 %) and
cow-dung ash (15 %) to the concrete mixture. Addi-
tionally, the compressive strength rises as the number of
curing days increases, peaking at 23.1 for M3-C85-
CDA15-PW1.5 after 28 d of curing and a CDA of 15 %.
In cylinder specimens for cure times of (7, 14, and
28) d, conventional concrete (control mix) has compres-
sive strengths of 2.32 MPa, 4.92 MPa, and 6.2 MPa, re-
spectively. The compressive strength of the concrete re-
duces to 1.9 MPa, 4.8 MPa and 7.4 MPa after (7, 14, and
28) d of curing when5%c o w-dung ash and 1.5 %
non-biodegradable plastic trash are added to the concrete
mixture. The compressive strength improves marginally
to 8.2 MPa for 28 d of curing when 10 % of cow-dung
ash and 1.5 % of non-biodegradable plastic waste materi-
als are added. The compressive strength improves further
when 15 % cow-dung ash and 1.5 % non-biodegradable
plastic trash are added, reaching 3.78 MPa, 7.5 MPa, and
9.5 MPa for (7, 14, and 28) d of curing, respectively. The
compressive strength drops to 3.05MPa for7dofcuring
when 20 % of cow-dung ash and 1.5 % of non-biode-
gradable plastic debris are added.
Table 3: Compressive strength values of cube and cylinder specimen
for various curing times in days
Design mix
Compressive strength
of cube (MPa)
Compressive strength
of cube (MPa)
7d 14d 28d 7d 14d 28d
Control mix
(M20)
15.6 19.7 28.4 2.32 4.92 6.2
M1-C95-CDA5-
PW1.5
15.2 19.2 29.9 1.9 4.8 7.4
M2-C90-CDA10-
PW1.5
16.52 20.4 31.6 2.8 6.3 8.2
M3-C85-CDA15-
PW1.5
18.69 21.6 33.5 3.78 7.5 9.5
M4-C80-CDA20-
PW1.5
17.4 20.8 32.8 3.05 6.9 8.4
3.3 Split tensile test
BS1881-117 was followed in performing this test.
Concrete cylindrical and cubical specimens were formed,
and after (7, 14, and 28) d of water curing, their tensile
splitting strength was evaluated. The automated universal
testing device was used to perform the test. For every
mix percentage employed, samples of identical size were
created. 90 cylinders and 135 cubes were constructed
and put through the testing. Each mould was filled with
new concrete mixtures in two layers that were around
150 mm thick to create the casting. A total of 35 strokes
of a steel tamping rod with a 25 mm diameter were used
to manually compress each layer. Then, to hold the sam-
ple horizontally, hardened concrete cubes and cylinders
were placed on the universal testing equipment with
carefully placed hardboard packing sheets inserted at the
top and bottom of the axis of loading. Prior to the appli-
cation of a load without shock at a rate of 400N/s, the
sample was placed in the middle. Based on BS
1881-117, the tensile splitting strength was estimated.
The tensile strength of M1-C95-CDA5-PW1.5, which
contains 1.5 % of non-biodegradable plastic waste and
1.5 % of cow-dung ash, is 3.14 MPa after 7 d, 3.54 MPa
after 14 d, and 3.86 MPa after 28 d as shown in Table 4.
The M2-C90-CDA10-PW1.5 Mix 2 has a tensile strength
of 3.45 MPa at 7 d, 3.74 MPa at 14 d, and 4.12 MPa at
28 d for cube specimen. It contains 1.5 % of non-biode-
gradable plastic waste and 10 % of cow-dung ash. The
tensile strength of M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5, which con-
tains 15 % cow-dung ash and 1.5 % non-biodegradable
FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
374 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377

plastic waste, was 3.76 MPa, 3.92 MPa, and 4.57 MPa at
(7, 14 and 28) d, respectively. The tensile strength of
M4-C80-CDA20-PW1.5, which contains 20 % cow-dung
ash and 1.5 % non-biodegradable plastic waste, is
3.56 MPa after 7 d, 3.68 MPa after 14 d, and 4.32 MPa
after 28 d. It is evident that as the amount of cow-dung
ash rises, the tensile strength of the concrete mixture first
drops for mix-1 compared to control mix, mirroring the
results of the compression test. However, for mix-2, the
tensile strength rises, peaking for mix-3 with 15 % CDA,
before beginning to fall. This implies that the highest
tensile strength may be achieved by adding the right
amount of non-biodegradable plastic debris (1.5 %) and
cow-dung ash (15 %) to the concrete mixture. Tensile
strength rises as curing time in days increases, peaking at
4.57 MPa for mix-3 and 15 % CDA in 28 d.
Table 4: Tensile strengths of cube and cylinder specimen for various
curing time in days
Design mix
Tensile strength of
cube (MPa)
Tensile strength of
cube (MPa)
7d 14d 28d 7d 14d 28d
Control mix
(M20)
3.58 3.81 4.01 2.23 2.84 2.98
M1-C95-CDA
5-PW1.5
3.14 3.54 3.86 2.33 2.92 3.04
M2-C90-CDA
10-PW1.5
3.45 3.74 4.12 2.54 3.03 3.14
M3-C85-CDA
15-PW1.5
3.76 3.92 4.57 2.85 3.21 3.37
M4-C80-CDA
20-PW1.5
3.56 3.68 4.32 2.46 3.09 3.02
F or7dofcuring in cylinder specimen, the control
mix (M20) has tensile strength of 2.23 MPa. The ten-
sile-strength values of Mix-1 (with5%CDAand1.5%
PW), and Mix-2 (with 10 % CDA and 1.5 % PW) are
2.33 MPa and 2.54 MPa, respectively. For 14 d of curing,
control mix (M20) has tensile strength of 2.84 MPa. The
tensile-strength values of Mix-1 (with 5 % CDA), and
Mix-2 (with 10 % CDA) are 2.92 MPa and 3.03 MPa, re-
spectively. When 1.5 % of non-biodegradable plastic
trash and 15 % of cow-dung ash are added, the tensile
strength rises to 2.85 MPa, 3.21 MPa, and 3.37 MPa for
cure times of (7, 14, and 28) d, respectively. The tensile
strength decreases for all curing times when 20 % of
cow-dung ash and 1.5 % of non-biodegradable plastic
debris are added. The findings show that the tensile
strength of the concrete mixture rises to 15 % with an in-
crease in cow-dung ash percentage (with a 1.5 % admix-
ture of plastic waste), and subsequently decreases with
an increase in CDA of 20 %. This implies that there is a
perfect blend of non-biodegradable plastic trash and
cow-dung ash that can be put to concrete to have the op-
timum tensile and compressive strength. The design mix
M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 with 15 % of cow-dung ash and
1.5 % of non-degradable plastic waste materials has the
highest tensile strength among the design mixes. Greater
mortar strength, as a result of coarser particles intercon-
necting with mortar paste that is perfectly strong, in-
creased the split tensile capacity of the concrete mixes of
the studied specimens.
3.4 Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dis-
persive X-Ray Analysis (SEM-EDAX) Analysis
SEM-EDAX were used to analyse the microstructural
characteristics of the cement, cow-dung ash, and plastic
trash. For the identification of C-S-H, three elements
must be present: oxygen (O), silica (Si), and calcium
(Ca). The Ca:Si ratio can be calculated using an auto-
FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377 375
Figure 3: SEM-EDAX of M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 specimen on: a) 7
th
day ,b)14
th
day and c) 28
th
day, d) Ratio (Ca:Si) for various grades of
mixtures on various days

mated table of atomic counts (in percent) that is typically
created after the SEM EDAX analysis, as shown in Fig-
ure 3. According to the EDAX study, pozzolanic reac-
tions occur at different ages and have an impact on the
C-S-H quantities on all combinations. A lower atomic
Ca:Si proportion indicates that a large portion of the ce-
ments interacted with portlandite (CH). Research from
the past reveals that the Ca:Si ratio for a thoroughly hy-
drated C-S-H phase varies from 1.5 to 2.0 since C-S-H is
a hyphenated and ill-defined molecule. The Ca:Si ratio
for all four classes of concrete mixes is between 1.5 and
1.7 after 28 d. The ideal combination M3-C85-
CDA15-PW1.5, which makes sure that the whole
hydration process has occurred on all concrete mixes,
yielded the greatest results.
3.5 XRD analysis
In order to analyse the phase nature of the materials
and identify the primary reactive chemicals, such as
ettringite, (Ca(OH)
2
), and C-S-H, XRD characterization
were performed on M20 grade mixed concrete mixes at
(7, 14, and 28) d, as shown in Figure 4. The XRD analy-
sis can be used to quantitatively determine C-S-H. C-S-H
structurally changes from short-range order to
long-range order in 16 h. The short-range ordered inter-
mediate phase completely changes within 24 h. Ettringite
is formed when sulphatic fluids attack concrete. Ca(OH),
CH, and C-S-H are the principal substances that XRD
can identify. The strength of the C-S-H peaks has in-
creased, whereas that of the other peaks has decreased.
In general, peak width or widening grows as crystallite
size decreases. The XRD results for the ideal mix per-
centage M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 were supported by
SEM-EDAX findings. The decrease of Ca(OH)
2
-(CH) in
all mixes is advantageous to the quality of concrete
strength, which significantly impacted by the high inten-
sity counts of C-S-H compounds when compared to the
production of the Ca(OH)
2
compounds. This indicates
that the pozzolanic processes are not halted.
The results of microstructural studies on this new
type of composite material with cow-dung ash and plas-
tic waste ash in the production of green concrete are con-
sistent with the behaviour of traditional concrete materi-
als, and as a result, it has advantages because these two
materials are innovative products made from waste and
renewable resources as sustainable alternative materials.
Additionally, it should be noted that the hardened prop-
erties of concrete made with cement partially replaced
with cow-dung ash in the ratios of 5 %, 10 %, and 15 %
and plastic waste added as an admixture in amounts of
1 %, 1.5 %, and 2 % are higher in all the M20 with
(M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5) grade of concrete mixes.
These findings are drawn from mechanical and micro-
structural studies:
4 DISCUSSION
When cow-dung ash and plastic waste ash are used in
lieu of cement, the slump value can drop by up to 14 %.
The maximum slump value for all M20 grade concrete
mixes was M1-C95-CDA5-PW1.5. For all concrete mix-
tures, the increase in compressive strength at7dw a s
rather quick. For grade M20 concrete mixes, the substi-
tution of both5%co w-dung ash and 2 % plastic waste
ash resulted in a 7th day compressive strength that was
about 76 % of the 28
th
day strength. With the exception
of the mix with 5 % replacement, the split tensile capac-
ity of concrete mixes of M20 grade is comparable to or
slightly higher than that of ordinary concrete, whether it
contains plastic waste or not. For M20 grade, the
M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 concrete mix outperformed
other mixes in terms of flexural strength. All three
classes of concrete mixtures have undergone hydration,
according to SEM photos. Therefore, substituting
cow-dung ash and plastic waste ash for cement has no
impact on the conventional cement hydration processes,
independent of the M20 grade of concrete mixtures.
13
According to the EDS study, the ideal mix (M3-C85-
CDA15-PW1.5) guarantees that the whole hydration pro-
cess has occurred on all concrete blends by having a
Ca:Si ratio that is between 1.5 and 2.0 at the end of 28 d
for M20 grade concrete blends. The primary substances
identified by XRD are C-S-H and Ca(OH)
2
(CH). The
XRD results for the ideal mix percentage M3-C85-
CDA15-PW1.5 were supported by SEM and EDS find-
ings.
FEHLBERG J., RAVI KUMAR M. S.: EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF GREEN CONCRETE USING BOVINE FAECES ASH ...
376 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 58 (2024) 3, 371–377
Figure 4: XRD image of M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 specimen on: a) 7
th
day ,b)14
th
day ,c)28
th
day

5 CONCLUSIONS
This study examined how cow-dung ash performed
experimentally when used in various amounts to partially
replace cement in concrete. A 15 % replacement of ce-
ment with bovine-faeces ash along with 1.5 % of plastic
waste will give us the optimum mix value. From the
XRD and SEM-EDAX investigations the principal min-
eralogical and morphological features in cow-dung ash
and plastic waste ash particles are understood. It was
found that for all the M20 grade of concrete mixes,
M1-C95-CDA5-PW1.5 had the maximum slump value.
The concrete mix M3-C85-CDA15-PW1.5 had higher
compression and tensile strength than other mixes for
M20 grade. This study, however, is restricted to just
hardened qualities; as a result, more research is neces-
sary to make conclusive statements on the benefits of
bonding, durability, plastic-drying shrinkage, deflection
characteristics, fractures, and strain compatibility of
structural parts. The proposed research is dedicated to
finding the sustainable and cost-efficient solution to the
concrete building by incorporating cow-dung ash for
some quantity of cement and plastic wastes as an admix-
ture. Nonetheless, cow-dung ash possesses excellent
binding properties, which in combination with the plastic
waste results in greater tensile and compressive strengths
of concrete. This novel method not only improves con-
crete’s mechanical characteristics but also conforms to
environmental sustainability by using waste materials.
The use of bovine dung ash with non-biodegradable plas-
tics as substitution for cement and admixture, respec-
tively, shows some positive outcomes and side effects
which cannot be ignored in actual construction projects,
especially their long-term durability, environmental ef-
fects and scalability. Although laboratory tests show the
material’s good strength parameters, long-term tests are
needed to examine the material’s performance, e.g.
bonding, durability, curing and deflection characteristics
under the action of loads and fractures. Also, scalability
and global diffusion of this method will face some diffi-
culties. The availability as well as the affordability of
cow-dung ash and plastic waste make them potential
waste sources. However, their collection, processing, and
integration into large-scale concrete production require
careful studies and comprehensive planning of infra-
structure development. Also consideration on regulatory
approvals and industry acceptance of the new method
could help it to properly utilized in regular construction
ventures. The resultant confirms the expectation of the
possibility of manufacturing so called "green concrete"
which strength features surpass those of the currently
widely used formulations.
Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge to staffs of Department of
Civil Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Edu-
cation, for supporting the research.
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