Utilization of Sawdust in Concrete Masonry Blocks: A Review

Abstract

SDC (Sawdust Concrete) was developed in 19th century. It has been well recognized due to its lightweight and cost-effectiveness. Presently, developed countries have created opportunities to use wood waste in the concrete construction to reduce the environmental burden. Although SDC has received little consideration as a lightweight masonry block in building works but it has been intensively investigated in many countries for decades. The aim of this review is to summarize the last five years (2012-2016) research work related to utilization of sawdust in concrete masonry. However, it is important to explore existing ideas and approaches developed by previous researchers as a reference and guidance for the future research. There are lots of opportunities to develop lightweight concrete especially throughutilizing sawdust as a fine aggregate replacement material in concrete. However, this review paper is focusing on utilization of sawdust, as to reduce environmental impacts poses by the waste products of furniture industry and a by-product of wood industry. As a conclusion, this review paper summary the existing important ideas and useful information for the fellow researchers, as to enhance the utilization of sawdust to produce lightweight masonry units. It is recommended that considerable research is required on the sawdust cement blocks, which can deliver more confidence on their utilization as a green building construction material.