Mechanical Behavior of Concrete Prepared with Waste Marble Powder

Abstract

Marble production and processing generates a large amount of marble powder waste that has great potential for cementitious material. This paper investigates the application of waste marble powder with different replacement ratios of cement in concrete and experimentally studies the physical and mechanical properties of this green concrete type. Artificial marble powder and original marble powder are used at different replacement levels. The effect of different kinds of marble powder and its replacement ratio on the mechanical properties of concrete are discussed. The results show that the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength change significantly when the substitution rate of marble powder exceeds 10%; the strength decreases as the substitution rate increases. The usage of artificial marble powder plays a weakening role on concrete performance due to its resin composition when compared to the performance using original marble powder. The stress–stain curves of the two types of marble powder concrete are compared. For concrete, by using the original marble powder, the variation of strain value is not obvious when the marble powder replacement ratio is less than 20%, but for concrete by using artificial marble powder, the peak and ultimate strain decrease significantly with the replacement ratio of marble powder increase.

1. Introduction

Global warming is a major environmental problem caused by the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) [1,2]. Energy saving and emission reduction have become an inevitable requirement for social and economic development. The consumption of cement is sharply increasing with more and more concrete being used in the construction industry, which causes serious consequences for the environment, mainly due to the massive emission of carbon dioxide [3,4]. About 0.8 tons of CO₂ generates with one ton of cement products [5]. The production of cement is increasing sharply, especially for developing countries. According to the data of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the average annual gross production of cement is about 2.3~2.4 billion tons during the year 2015–2020. To satisfy this huge demand and reduce the impact on the environment, fly ash, silica fume, slag, and metakaolin were studied as supplementary cementitious materials [6,7,8,9,10]. Searching for new materials that can play the role of cement is also very necessary.

Marble resource is rich in the southwest of China, the production and processing of marble produce a large amount of waste marble powder. The continuous exploitation of marble resource not only causes the dumping problem but also threatens the environment. Research has been undertaken to explore the use of waste marble powder in constructions [11,12,13]. The marble powder can be used as filler when entering the gap between cement and particles. Cement pastes were prepared using marble powder with a diameter almost lower than 50 μm by Corinaldesi [14], and about 50% of particles had a diameter lower than 7 μm; the results showed that the maximum compressive strength was obtained at 10% substitution of sand by marble powder. The strength properties increased for the concrete having marble powder as cementitious materials due to its highly reactive silica, and this substance can generate hydrated calcium silicate when reacted with calcium hydrate [15]. Aliabdo [16] investigated the properties of concrete that contained different replacement ratios of marble powder as cement and as sand, and found that the marble powder only showed a filler effect in concrete. The performance of the concrete made with marble powder as a sand replacement was better than that replaced with cement. Supplementary cementitious material in concrete can change the pore structure, and incorporation of marble powder to concrete mixtures can improve the strength with a lower substitution rate. Kumar [17] investigated the microstructure and mechanical properties of concrete by using marble powder partially instead of cement, and found that the pore structure was improved due to the filling effect of marble powder at lower substitution, the strength was also improved by substituting 5% of cement with marble powder. Some studies observed that the mechanical properties of concrete with marble powder as cementitious material depends on the quality of the raw material and the substitution of the powder [18,19]. Different marble sources have different mineral components, which can have positive or negative effects on the hydration process [20,21], the physical property, workability, mechanical property, and durability of concrete can also be affected by the variations of the materials [22,23]. Shamsabadi [24] studied the capability of machine learning (ML) to model the compressive strength of concrete incorporating waste marble powder. Karimipour [25] proposed novel correction factors for the evaluation of compressive and splitting tensile strengths of self-consolidation concrete containing red mud, granite, limestone, and marble slurry powder. In order to better understand the performance of concrete by using marble powder, a combination of various research methods is needed.

It is difficult to obtain a definite understanding of the quality of the concrete using marble powders because the different origin of the marble powder makes differentiated performance, that is why some scholars found that the use of marble powder gives a negative effect on concrete strength, but others found some positive influence of marble powder with the proper rate of substitution on the mechanical properties of concrete. This study reconsiders the use of waste marble powder generated from the local area of Guangxi province. The physical properties of the two types of waste marble powder and their effect on the mechanical behavior of concrete with different replacement ratios are investigated in this study. The target is to produce appropriate concrete with a proper replacement ratio of waste marble powder. This will reduce the use of cement, thus alleiating the pollution to the atmospheric environment and improving the application of recycled resources in the local area.

2. Materials

2.1. Cement and Marble Powder

Three cementitious materials were tested in this investigation, including 1 kind of cement and 2 types of waste marble powder. The cement was Ordinary Portland cement. The waste marble powders were obtained from the marble processing industry, 2 types of waste marble powder were selected for this study. One was identified as an artificial waste marble powder, and the other was identified as an original waste marble powder. Cement and the 2 types of marble powder samples as shown in Figure 1. The major difference between the 2 powders is that the artificial marble powder contains resin, and this component will make some changes in the concrete performance.

2.1.1. Cement

Ordinary Portland cement of P.O 42.5 was used as key cementitious materials in this study, physical and chemical properties of cement were tested, and the results are shown in

Table 1. Physical and mechanical properties of cement.

ρd/gcm−3	SSA/m2∙kg−1	P/%	Setting Time/min		Flexural Strength/MPa		Compressive Strength/MPa
			Initial	Final	3d	28d	3d	28d
3.11	327	27.6	158	208	5.4	7.4	26.3	43.3

Note: ρ_d = apparent density, SSA = specific surface area, P = water consumption of cement standard consistency.

and

Table 2. Chemical properties of cement.

SiO2	Al2O3	Fe2O3	CaO	MgO	SO3	LOI
21.8	5.2	3.4	66.3	1.4	1.99	2.76

, respectively.

The microstructure of the cement was studied using the powder samples by SEM. Figure 2 demonstrated that the cement particles were irregular, and the sizes of the particles were approximately 20–25 μm.

2.1.2. Artificial Waste Marble Powder

The composition of artificial marble was complex, which consisted of marble, feldspar, glass, and organic unsaturated resin adhesive. The marble powder used was formed by the waste slurry produced in the cutting process with precipitation, dehydration, and drying. The physical and chemical properties of artificial waste marble powder are demonstrated in

Table 3. Physical properties of artificial marble powder.

	ρd/g∙cm−3	SSA/m2∙kg−1	d(4,3)/μm	d(3,2)/μm	d/μm				n	De/μm
					d10	d50	d90	d97
AMP	2.61	772	6.42	2.10	0.86	3.50	17.42	24.28	0.95	5.90

and

Table 4. Chemical element of artificial marble powder.

C	O	Ca	Mg	Cl	Al	Na
31.25	47.77	17.67	1.65	0.63	0.38	0.62

, respectively.

Figure 3 shows the microstructure of the artificial waste marble powder. Calcium carbonate was the main component, and the organic matter made up 4 to 6% of the total mass of the artificial waste marble powder. Moreover, 3% of resin was contained in the powder. Lamellar particles were distributed in the observation unit, micro-pores were filling in the particles.

2.1.3. Original Waste Marble Powder

The original waste marble powder was sourced from the white marble during mechanical cutting process, and formed by precipitation, dehydration, and drying. The physical properties are illustrated in

Table 5. Physical properties of original marble powder.

	ρd/g∙cm−3	SSA/m2∙kg−1	d(4,3)/μm	d(3,2)/μm	d/μm				n	De/μm
					d10	d50	d90	d97
AMP	2.70	685	9.27	2.29	0.96	5.53	23.41	31.50	0.91	9.04

. The average volume size of the particle was 9.27 μm, a little larger than that of artificial marble powder. The chemical properties of the original waste marble powder are shown in

Table 6. Chemical properties of original marble powder.

Fe2O3	MgO	CaO	TiO2	Al2O3	SiO2	K2O	Na2O	Loss
0.004	9.311	46.437	0.099	0.042	0.019	0.053	0.125	43.22

. The microstructure of the original waste marble powder is shown in Figure 4. The structure particle was mainly composed of lamellar particles.

2.2. Fractal Geometry Model

2.2.1. Particle Distribution

The prepared particles were characterized by laser particle size analyzer; the particle size distribution of cement, artificial marble powder, and original marble powder are shown in Figure 5. A range of particle sizes varying from 20 μm to 30 μm was the main distribution for cement. Different from cement, the particle distributed in 1–10 μm accounted for the majority of the 2 types of waste marble powder, especially for the artificial marble powder. The particle size of artificial marble waste powder and original marble waste powder was about 0.3–0.5 times the cement particle size.

2.2.2. Fractal Theory

The marble powder with a smaller particle size partially replaced the cement, which can improve the compactness of cement-based materials. The particle size distribution and microstructure characteristic of marble powder has an impact on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete. According to the power-law of fractal dimension, it is necessary to establish the fractal geometric model of powder particles based on volume distribution. The specific derivation is described as follows:

$$N\left(d\right)={\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$1$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$d$}\right.\right)}^D=d^{-D}$$

(1)

Assuming that the particle size of marble powder conforms to the self-similar rule:

$$N\left(ad\right)=a^{-D}N\left(d\right)$$

(2)

$a^{-D}$ is regarded as a constant in the expression, therefore, its general equation can be expressed as:

$$N\left(d\right)\propto d^{-D}$$

(3)

Combined with the particle size distribution curve of the tested samples, the distribution function of the powder can be defined as:

$$F\left(x\right)=N\left(x\right)/N_0$$

(4)

$F\left(x\right)$ is the particle distribution function, $N\left(x\right)$ is the total number of particles whose size is no larger than the specific size $x$, $N_0$ represents the total number of particles.

The fractal dimension expression of marble powder can be expressed as:

$$N\left(x\right)=a^{-D}\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$x$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$x_{max}$}\right.\right){ }^{-D}$$

(5)

Substitute Equation (5) into Equation (4):

$$F\left(x\right)=\frac{a^{-D}}{N_0}\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$x$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$x_{max}$}\right.\right){ }^{-D}$$

(6)

When $x=x_{max}$,$F\left(x\right)=1$, it can be deduced that $a^{-D}=N_0$.

Then the fractal dimension function of marble powder becomes:

$$F\left(x\right)=\left(\frac{x}{x_{max}}\right){ }^{-D}$$

(7)

The cumulative curve in the analysis results is determined based on the volume percentage of the test sample; the volume distribution function of marble powder can be expressed as:

$$P\left(x\right)=V\left(x\right)/V_0$$

(8)

where $P\left(x\right)$ is the volume distribution function, $V\left(x\right)$ stands for volume of powder whose particle size is less than dimension $x$, and $V_0$ stands for the total volume of the test sample.

The above equation can be converted by differentiation as:

$$dV\left(x\right)=V_{0}dP\left(x\right)=V\left(x\right)dN\left(x\right)$$

(9)

From the SEM results, it can be found that the micromorphology of the powder is not spherical or regular shaped particles. An approximate method is required to calculate the volume of a particle under a certain size condition. Therefore, the volume coefficient is introduced:

$$V\left(x\right)={\gamma }_V{x}^3$$

(10)

Equations (4) and (5) can be converted by differentiation as:

$$dN\left(x\right)=N_{0}dF\left(x\right)$$

(11)

$$dF\left(x\right)=D{x}_{max}^D{x}^{-1-D}dx$$

(12)

Substitute Equation (12) into Equation (11):

$$dN\left(x\right)=D{N}_0{x}_{max}^D{x}^{-1-D}dx$$

(13)

Then, substitute Equation (13) into Equation (10) and Equation (9):

$$dP\left(x\right)=-{\gamma }_{V}D{N}_0{x}_{max}^D{V}_0^{-1}{x}^{2-D}dx$$

(14)

Integrate the above formula:

$$P\left(x\right)=\frac{-{\gamma }_{V}D{N}_0{x}_{max}^D}{V_0\left(3-D\right)}{x}^{3-D}+C$$

(15)

where C stands for integral constant. When $x=x_{max}$, $P\left(x\right)=1$; $x=x_{min}$, $P\left(x\right)=0$, the equation can be transformed as:

$$P\left(x\right)=\frac{x^{3-D}-x_{min}^{3-D}}{x_{max}^{3-D}-x_{min}^{3-D}}$$

(16)

The minimum particle size of most powder is very small, assumed $x_{min}\approx 0$, the equation can be simplified as:

$$P\left(x\right)=\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$x$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$x_{max}$}\right.\right){ }^{3-D}$$

(17)

Take the natural logarithm on both sides of the equation, combined with the analysis of the test results, the corresponding fractal dimension D of the powder can be obtained by its curve slope. The calculation results are listed in

Table 7. Calculated data.

Item	3-D	D	R2
C	0.601	2.399	0.989
AMP	0.675	2.325	0.887
OMP	0.659	2.341	0.936

.

The particle size distribution of the cementitious material reached the state of dense packing with D between 2.5 and 2.67. The fractal dimension D of cement and the other 2 marble powders were less than 2.5; it illustrated that none of the 3 types of powder reached a close packing state. The D of cement was slightly higher than the marble powder. From the results, it can be confirmed that the compactness of powder increased with the increase of fractal dimension D.

3. Concrete with Marble Powder

3.1. Materials and Methods

The coarse aggregate with size varying from 5 mm to 25 mm has specific gravity 2.71, and the fine aggregate with fineness modulus of 2.8 has specific gravity 2.78. The bulk density was measured by the volumetric cylinder method, and the apparent density was determined by the drainage method. The general formula can be expressed as $\rho =\raisebox{1ex}{$m$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$v$}\right.,$ for bulk density, $v$ represents the bulk volume of the material, but for apparent density, $v$ represents the solid volume plus closed pore volume of the test material. The physical properties of coarse and fine aggregates are separately listed in

Table 8. Physical properties of coarse aggregates.

Gradation (mm)	Bulk Density (kg/m3)	Apparent Density (kg/m3)	Mud Content (%)	Water Absorption (%)	Crush Index (%)
5~25	1460	2717	0.98	0.7	11

and

Table 9. Physical properties of fine aggregates.

Apparent Density /kg·m−3	Bulk Density /kg·m−3	Fineness Modulus	Sediment Percentage/%
2781	1420	2.7	1.4

.

Refer to

Table 10. Mix proportions.

Item	γ/%	Specimen	W/C	Materials Per Volume (kg/m3)
				Water	Cement	Marble	Sand	Aggregate
M0	0	0	0.55	190	345.47	0	651.93	1212.6
AMP	5	AMP-1	0.58	190	328.20	17.27	651.93	1212.6
	10	AMP-2	0.61	190	310.92	34.55	651.93	1212.6
	15	AMP-3	0.65	190	293.65	51.82	651.93	1212.6
	20	AMP-4	0.69	190	276.38	69.09	651.93	1212.6
	25	AMP-5	0.73	190	259.10	86.37	651.93	1212.6
OMP	5	OMP-1	0.58	190	328.20	17.27	651.93	1212.6
	10	OMP-2	0.61	190	310.92	34.55	651.93	1212.6
	15	OMP-3	0.65	190	293.65	51.82	651.93	1212.6
	20	OMP-4	0.69	190	276.38	69.09	651.93	1212.6
	25	OMP-5	0.73	190	259.10	86.37	651.93	1212.6

, different mixes were prepared by using a different percentage of marble powder (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%), namely AMP and OMP, as a partial replacement in the concrete. AMP and OMP represent the samples with artificial marble powder and original marble powder as cementitious material, respectively. The reference group M0 stands for the concrete with cement. Ordinary tap water was used for mixing.

The marble concrete properties were studied by conducting compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strength tests. These mechanical properties were tested according to GB/T 50,081 [26]. Compressive strength test was conducted at the ages of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days. Cubes of 150 mm were cast to perform the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of both artificial marble powder concrete and original marble powder concrete. Prisms of 150 × 150 × 550 mm and 150 × 150 × 300 mm were conducted to test the flexural strength and stress–strain curve of the marble concrete, respectively. A displacement sensor was used to measure the deformation of the specimen during the loading process. The loading rate for the compressive strength test was 0.5 MPa/s; for the tensile and flexural strength test, the loading rate was 0.05 MPa/s. The test specimens were cured at conditions of 23 ± 2 °C and 95% relative humidity until the age of the tests.

3.2. Physical and Mechanical Properties

3.2.1. Density, Porosity, and Compactness

The pore structure of concrete has a great influence on its strength and physical properties such as apparent density, porosity, and compactness are directly related to the mechanical properties of concrete. Adding marble powder as a mineral admixture in this experiment can change the pore structure of concrete. The physical properties of concrete at different replacement ratios of marble powder is shown in Figure 6.

The apparent density, porosity, and compactness are related properties that are hugely affected by the replaced marble powder with different substitution rate. Observing the results of the apparent density, it can be seen that for the 2 types of marble concrete, the density was higher than that of the corresponding cement concrete at a level of 5%. For artificial marble concrete, the apparent density was decreasing with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio changing from 5 to 25%. For original marble concrete, there was a continuous increase with the replacement ratio varying from 5 to 10%. This indicates that the replacement ratio of marble powder affected the apparent density of the concrete. The increased value of apparent density was due to the smaller size of marble powder, which disperses and fills between cement particles. When the replacement ratio is higher than 10%, only part of the marble powder plays the role of filling, while other powders give the particle support, which makes the density decrease.

Observing the results of the porosity and compactness, it can be seen that there was a completely opposite trend for the two characteristics. With the increased replacement ratio of marble powder, the porosity was increased, and the compactness was reduced. The use of marble powder in replacement ratios ranging from 0 to 10% has little effect on the porosity and compactness of concrete; the obvious increment was observed at a replacement ratio up to 10%. The observed larger variation of porosity and compactness of artificial marble concrete was mainly due to the use of artificial marble powder, which has an agglomeration effect, and this effect can absorb other small particles in the concrete to form a large particle group. Therefore, the internal pores of the concrete increase considerably when the replacement ratio of artificial marble powder increases. Compactness is closely related to porosity; the value reduces with porosity increases.

3.2.2. Compressive Strength

Table 11. Compressive strength.

Item	γ/%	Compressive Strength (MPa)
		3 d	7 d	14 d	28 d
M0	0	23.8	29.8	33.1	35.0
AMP	5	23.8	29.5	32.7	34.7
	10	22.5	28.0	29.0	32.8
	15	21.6	25.1	27.1	30.5
	20	15.1	18.9	21.4	22.9
	25	16.4	19.0	20.1	21.6
OMP	5	22.1	28.3	31.4	34.3
	10	22.2	28.3	32.5	35.4
	15	20.3	26.0	30.9	32.0
	20	18.8	22.9	26.2	29.9
	25	17.0	20.9	24.4	27.6

shows the compressive strength results of different concrete mixtures at the ages of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days.

The subsequent use of marble powder leads to a drop in the compressive strength of the marble concrete with different replacement ratios. The compressive strength of artificial marble powder concrete at 28 days with marble powder replacement ratio from 5 to 25% was 34.7 MPa, 32.8 MPa, 30.5 MPa, 22.9 MPa, and 21.6 MPa, respectively, which were approximately 0.85, 6.28, 12.85, 34.57, and 38.28% smaller than that of cement concrete. Compressive strength with replacement ratios at 5, 15, 20, and 25% of original marble powder concrete was 2, 8.57, 14.57, and 21.14% smaller than that of cement concrete, respectively. The compressive strength of original marble powder concrete was 1.14% higher at the marble powder replacement ratio of 10% than that of cement concrete.

The strength development during the curing age is presented in Figure 7. It can be seen that the compressive strength of artificial marble powder concrete with marble powder replacement ratio at 20 and 25% was much lower than the other replacement levels, and the strength value of artificial marble powder concrete at 28 day was lower than that of the original marble powder concrete, this may be due to the higher porosity of the concrete by using artificial marble powder.

3.2.3. Splitting Tensile and Flexural Strength

The splitting tensile strength and flexural strength of the 2 types of marble concrete are shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9 for the age of 28 days.

Observing the results of splitting tensile strength in Figure 8, it shows that the tensile strength of concrete with a marble powder replacement ratio of 5 and 10% was higher than that of the control concrete. Splitting tensile strength of original marble powder concrete were only 0.77 and 3.89% smaller than that of cement concrete at replacement ratio 20 and 25%. The effect of the marble powder replacement ratio on splitting tensile strength for artificial marble concrete was greater than that for original marble concrete. Splitting tensile strength of artificial marble concrete at replacement ratios of 15, 20, and 25% were 3.5, 9.72, and 19.45% smaller than that of control concrete. The variations of tension to compression ratio of the 2 types of concrete with different marble powder replacement ratios are shown in Figure 8b. The tension to compression ratio increased with the increased replacement ratio of marble powder, and the value of tension to compression ratio was about 7~10%.

The flexural strength results of different concrete mixes at the age of 28 days are shown in Figure 9. There is little change to the flexural strength of original marble concrete with different marble powder replacement ratios. The strength value of artificial marble concrete begins to decrease at a marble powder replacement ratio of 10%, the strength value at replacement ratio 15, 20, and 25% were 10.78, 15.05, and 29.36% smaller than that of cement concrete, respectively. The ratios of flexural strength to the compressive strength of the 2 types of concrete with different marble powder replacement ratios are shown in Figure 9b. It can be seen that ratio of flexural strength to compressive strength was between 14 and 20%, a little higher than that of ordinary concrete.

The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength test results of the 2 types of marble concrete mixes shows a similar trend that the strength value decreases at about 10% marble powder replacement ratio, and the value continues to decrease with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio. The strength of artificial marble concrete was lower than that of original marble concrete at the same replacement level.

3.2.4. Stress–Strain Relation

The stress–strain curves of concrete with 2 types of marble powder are illustrated in Figure 10. The tests were conducted in a deformation controlled method. The effect of different levels of marble powder replacement ratio on the stress–strain curves was observed. Similar patterns of the curves were found for different marble concrete mixes. It can be seen that the peak strain for the cement concrete mix was 0.0019, the value of the strain corresponding to the peak stress was lower for marble concrete compared to that of control concrete. A larger variation of peak strain for artificial marble concrete was recorded. Similar trends for both types of marble concrete was that the peak strain value decreased with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio. The peak strain (${\epsilon }_0$) and ultimate strain (${\epsilon }_u$) values are presented in

Table 12. Ultimate strain and reduction coefficient.

Item			Replacement Ratio
		5%	10%	15%	20%	25%
AMP	${\epsilon }_0\left({10}^{-2}\right)$	15.72	11.71	9.50	8.90	5.53
	${\epsilon }_u\left({10}^{-2}\right)$	26.52	21.27	18.36	16.61	11.43
	${\eta }_u$	1.69	1.82	1.93	1.87	2.07
OMP	${\epsilon }_0\left({10}^{-2}\right)$	15.23	14.59	14.50	13.66	10.23
	${\epsilon }_u\left({10}^{-2}\right)$	27.44	27.03	27.58	27.75	21.42
	${\eta }_u$	1.80	1.85	1.90	2.03	2.09

.

The ultimate strain ${\epsilon }_u$ is considered as the strain beyond the peak stress at a stress level equal to 85% of the peak stress. The ultimate axial strain value of artificial marble concrete decreases with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio. The variation degree of ${\epsilon }_0$ and ${\epsilon }_u$ for artificial marble concrete is larger than that of original marble concrete, this is mainly due to the resin in the concrete. There is little change of ultimate strain for original marble concrete at marble powder replacement ratios of 10, 15, and 20%. The ratio between peak strain and ultimate strain can be expressed as:

$${\eta }_u=\raisebox{1ex}{${\epsilon }_u$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{${\epsilon }_0$}\right.$$

(18)

where ${\eta }_u$ stands for strain reduction coefficient.

Observing the results of the calculated ${\eta }_u$, it can be seen that the strain reduction coefficient value of marble powder concrete was greater than that of control concrete, and the value increased with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio. This shows that the energy-absorbing ability of marble concrete was higher than that of cement concrete, indicating that the material toughness and ductility of marble powder concrete were better than that of ordinary concrete.

4. Conclusions

The following conclusions are drawn from this study:

(1) The particle size of both artificial marble powder and original marble powder is smaller than that of cement. The fractal dimension D of cement and the two types of marble powder are all less than 2.5; the compactness of powder increases with the increase of D value.

(2) The apparent density, porosity, and compactness of test concrete are influenced by different levels of marble powder replacement ratio. There is little change in physical properties with a marble powder replacement ratio less than 10%. Beyond this ratio, the apparent density and compactness decrease with the increased replacement ratio of marble powder, but the change of porosity is in the opposite direction.

(3) The compressive strength of the concrete with different types of marble powders decreases as the replacement ratio of marble powder increases, especially if the ratio exceeds 10%. The strength value of artificial marble concrete at replacement ratios of 15, 20, and 25% are 12.85, 34.57, and 38.28% smaller than that of cement concrete, respectively. The reduction rate of compressive strength for original marble concrete is smaller than that of artificial marble concrete, this is mainly due to the resin that prevents the powder diffuse evenly and leads to a deterioration of concrete strength.

(4) The variations of splitting tensile strength and flexural strength are similar, a little higher strength value of concrete at a relatively lower replacement ratio of marble powder than that of cement concrete. The original marble concrete has better strength properties than artificial marble concrete. It indicates that the resin content has a significant effect on the mechanical properties.

(5) The stress–stain curve is influenced by the change of marble powder replacement ratios. For original marble concrete, the variation of strain value is not obvious when the marble powder replacement ratio is less than 20%. Due to the effect of resin, the peak strain and ultimate strain are both decreased significantly with the increase of marble powder replacement ratio.