Student Name: VALSA KUMAR P K
Guide Name: Dr.Hema Ramachandran, Assistant Professor, TPLC
Project Area: CONSTRUCTION
Year: 2020 , Duration: 1
Water Hyacinth is an aquatic plant that grow vigorously in water bodies and spread all over the area in a short period. It is found in most of the countries in the world and known to be killer of aquatic life. It is found in many rivers and lakes of Kerala, which obstructs the water way itself. Water Hyacinth are usually found in two types one with long stem and broad leaves and other with short stem and small leaves. Many researches have been conducted to make use of these plants in an innovative way. These include making of handicrafts, furniture, production of biogas, composting, paper and packing materials, feed for animals, organic manure etc. Experiments were conducted to make use of these weeds in construction industry such as fiber board preparation, particle board etc. Also, some experiments were conducted in making use of water hyacinth as partial replacement of fine aggregate, ash of water hyacinth as partial replacement of cement etc. Concrete is one of the important construction materials used world-wide composing of cement, water, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate. There is lot of environmental problems in manufacturing process of cement, the main problem being the release of greenhouse gases in large amount of CO2. The shortening of natural resources due to increase in construction process made researchers to think about alternatives in the conventional building materials. In this study Water Hyacinth were prepared in different forms and concrete mixes were prepared by adding these forms in various proportions as partial replacement of cement. The forms of Water Hyacinth include Water Hyacinth Paper Pulp, Water Hyacinth Paper Pulp Powder, Water Hyacinth Dry Powder, Water Hyacinth Leaf Powder, Water Hyacinth Stem Powder and Water Hyacinth Stem Powdered Ash. Specimen of cubes, cylinders and beams were casted and cured for 7 days and 28 days and the cube compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength were tested. There was an increase in split tensile and flexural strength during the use of Water Hyacinth Stem Powder but an increase in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength were obtained in the addition of Water Hyacinth Stem Powdered Ash. Keywords: Water Hyacinth, compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength
