Experimental Evaluation of Physical and Microstructural Characteristics of Cement Blended with Pulverized Crab Shell Powder

The rapid growth of the seafood sector has resulted in a high level of crab shell waste that has increased environmental disposal challenges. Meanwhile, cement production is a major contributor to CO2 emissions in the world, and this necessitates the need to seek alternative materials that are sustainable. This experiment evaluated the potential of Pulverized Crab Shell Powder (CSP) as a partial cement replacement at 10 % and 20 % by weight. The tests were conducted according to IS 4031 (Parts 1, 4, and 5) and IS 2720 (Part 3) to determine consistency, setting time, fineness, and specific gravity. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the mineralogical properties of CSP. Findings indicated that the addition of CSP led to a rise in water demand, with standard consistency rising by 40.6 % at 20 % replacement relative to the control mix. The specific gravity was reduced to 2.55 because of the reduced density of CSP. Although 10% replacement did not change the physical performance significantly, 20% replacement changed the setting characteristics considerably, but within the acceptable limits. The XRD analysis revealed that CaCO3 was the dominant filler in CSP, which showed filler behavior. The research concludes that CSP can be successfully used to a maximum of 10 % as a sustainable cement replacement material.