Effect of jackfruit starch as concrete admixture

Abstract

This research paper focuses on finding an environmentally friendly, cost-effective admixture that is also easily and abundantly available in the country. Admixtures are known for being the modifiers of the properties of concrete that can alter the results depending on the mix proportions. Starch admixture is a retarding admixture. This study examines the properties of concrete, such as compressive strength, workability, and time setting, by adding jackfruit seed starch by weight of cement at 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%. Concrete's workability was tested through the slump test method before casting fifteen samples 8" long with 4" in diameter of concrete cylinders in every concrete mix batch. The compressive strength test was performed after 28 curing days. Vicat apparatus was also used to determine each percentage's initial and final setting time. The results showed that the workability of concrete decreases as the percentage of admixture increases due to the starch's ability to thicken solutions. The results also showed that the 2% admixture obtained the highest mean compressive strength amongst all mixes, and at 2%, admixture started to decrease in compressive strength as the admixture increased. The time setting of cement is increasing with respect to every addition of the jackfruit starch. And in conclusion, the 2% admixture is the most effective among all concentrations due to being the smallest amount of admixture needed to have the highest concrete compressive strength and second highest for being a workable concrete that still has a great amount of time before the concrete will initially set.