Optimization of Compressive Strength of Snail Shell Ash Blended Cement Concrete

Abstract

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to optimize the compressive strength and the corresponding values of the mixture proportions of snail shell ash blended cement concrete using Scheffe’s regression method.A computer program written in qbasic language was invoked to quicken the selection of the cheapest mix ratios and the corresponding value of compressive strength of concrete. The mix ratio that optimized the compressive strength was found to be 0.92,:0.08:2.02:4.04 (cement: snail shell ash:sand:granite) at a water-cement ratio of 0.566. The computer program is simple, fast and can predict the cheapest mix ratios with a very high level of accuracy.

Keywords:  Mathematical model, Compressive strength, Snail shell ash blended cement concrete, Cheapest mix ratios,Regression method