Abstract
Supplementary cementitious materials provide economic and environmental advantages in concrete industry. In this study, natural ground dune sand (GDS) was used as cement replacement material to fabricate mortar specimens. Ordinary Portland cement was replaced by GDS at five levels of replacement (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 %) by weight. The cast mortar specimens were cured under normal and autoclave curing conditions. Compressive strength, drying shrinkage and resistance to sulfate attack were investigated. Results showed that the compressive strength under normal curing decreased as the level of replacement increased. However, under autoclave curing compressive strength increased as the content of GDS increased with 30% being the optimum replacement level. Autoclave curing decreased the drying shrinkage of plain and GDS blended mixtures by about 70% compared to control mixture cured under normal curing. Up to 270 days, no sulfate attack was observed on the GDS blended mixtures regardless of the replacement level. The use of GDS to reduce the Portland cement consumption can have a significant impact on the sustainability and economy of concrete construction.