Impact of marble sludge powder on the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced concrete: Experimental and ANN prediction

This research investigates the possible outcomes of partially replacing cement in concrete with marble sludge powder (MSP). Both freshly mixed concrete and concrete that had been given time to cure were used in studies to look at various fiber-reinforced (FR) concrete qualities. Two water-cement ratios, 0.35 and 0.40, were used to get the desired results. Marble sludge powder and 0.5% polypropylene 3S fiber were substituted at percentages of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. To assess the samples' quality, a series of mechanical tests were conducted on them after 7, 14, 28, and 56 days of a cure. A split tensile and flexural strength prediction model was developed using an artificial neural network (ANN). Plotting the experimentally recorded split tensile and flexural strengths versus the statistical analysis of regression strength was done after 56 days for the artificial neural network. The results of the studies suggest that employing powder generated from leftover marble might have a positive economic impact and reduce the environmental harm that concrete causes. By substituting up to 15% of the typical aggregate with dry marble sludge powder, the split tensile and flexural strengths increased to 6.42 MPa and 7.98 MPa respectively.