Enhance the Strength of Concrete Using Arabic Gum as an Admixture

The objective of this paper is to reduce the use of expensive chemical admixtures in construction materials and to increase the use of natural and sustainable materials for the users' health and well-being. The gum produced from Acacia trees is chosen in this study, crushed into a fine powder, and added with cement as a dry mix to examine its effects on the properties of concrete. Acacia trees are the most commonly grown in Middle East Northern Africa (MENA) and are known as Arabic Gum (AG). The effect of Arabic gum is studied on mortar cubes of size 5cm x 5cm with 1% and 2% of Arabic gum with respect to the weight of the cement and on concrete cubes of size 15cm x 15cm with 1% and 2% of Arabic gum with respect to the weight of the cement. It is found that mortar cubes with 1% AG perform better than cubes with 2% AG. However, in concrete cubes, 2% AG perform better than conventional cubes and 1% AG. The compressive strength of 2% AG is higher by 3% than conventional concrete. It is found that concrete cube with 2% AG shows high workability and less voids compared to conventional concrete cubes. Concrete cube with 2% AG enhances the compressive strength of concrete and hence it is recommended to be used for load bearing applications and due to low density and self-weight, it is also recommended to be used in non-load bearing applications.