<![CDATA[This study investigates the influence of fine aggregate characteristics, particularly the use of stone dust as a substitute for natural sand, on the workability and compressive strength of normal concrete. An experimental laboratory approach was employed to compare concrete mixtures incorporating natural sand and stone dust. The evaluation included fine aggregate gradation, slump testing, and compressive strength measurements at 7, 14, and 28 days. The results revealed differences in the physical characteristics of the fine aggregates, with fineness modulus values of 2.66 for natural sand and 2.86 for stone dust. In terms of workability, the stone dust concrete achieved a slump value of 10 cm, exceeding the 8 cm recorded for normal concrete. However, this higher slump did not correspond to greater compressive strength. At 7, 14, and 28 days, normal concrete attained compressive strengths of 20.65, 23.48, and 30.61 MPa, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for stone dust concrete were 18.80, 21.89, and 24.33 MPa. At 28 days, normal concrete exceeded the design strength of 25 MPa, reaching 122.4% of the target, while stone dust concrete achieved 97.3%. These findings indicate that, under the mixture proportions examined, the use of stone dust improved the measured slump but resulted in lower compressive strength than the natural sand mixture. Therefore, the suitability of stone dust as a fine aggregate substitute should be assessed by considering both fresh and hardened concrete properties.]]>
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