Investigation of the Effect of Laterite on the Water Absorption Capacity and Dimensional Stability of Concrete for Use in Hydraulic Structures

Laterite over the years, in Nigeria especially, has been utilized for building construction only in far rural environments. Although research has shown that laterite can suitably replace sand in concrete, still, its acceptability in the urban environment as a concrete material for buildings is almost non-existent, leading to low utilization of the resource. Since laterite is a suitable replacement for sand in concrete and offers good cost advantage, but faces low acceptability in the building construction industry, it raises a question and a possible solution; What other way can laterized-concrete be utilized in construction? Can laterized-concrete be used for construction of hydraulic structures? Its water absorption capacity then becomes a concern due to the residual clay constituent of laterite. Hence, this study investigates the water absorption capacity of laterized-concrete and its resulting effect on dimensional stability, focusing on mixture design optimization, material performance, and predictive modelling. The research established appropriate mixture proportions by incorporating laterite at varying levels into 35 concrete blends. Laterite at 8.1% achieved a volumetric change of 0.5%. Water absorption rates were evaluated, with results showing compliance with the ≤ 5% guideline, affirming its suitability for hydraulic applications. Predictive modelling was conducted using linear regression and artificial neural networks (ANN). The linear regression model demonstrated superior performance, with an RMSE of 0.645 mm, over the ANN model (RMSE of 6.2824 mm), reflecting limitations imposed by the dataset size. Correlation analysis highlighted that laterite and water content significantly influenced dimensional stability. This research provides insights into optimizing laterized-concrete for structural applications, demonstrating the material’s potential for sustainable construction and validating the suitability of predictive models in predicting concrete’s dimensional stability.