Use of Natural Pozzolanic Material As Partial Replacement Ordinary Portland Cement Opc in Concrete
Use of Natural Pozzolanic Material As Partial Replacement Ordinary Portland Cement Opc in Concrete
Use of Natural Pozzolanic Material As Partial Replacement Ordinary Portland Cement Opc in Concrete
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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 1 0 , No. 9, 2020, E-ISSN: 2 2 2 2 -6990 © 2020 HRMARS
Abstract
Fly ash is a powder material of burned coal from thermal power stations which produces
cementitious and pozzolanic material. Commonly use of fly ash in concrete for building construction
contributes conducive environmental and also reduces the effect of pollutant in site project.
Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the use of fly ash as partial replacement of cement
in concrete as a mean of producing more environmental friendly concrete. The content of fly ash as
partial replacement of ordinary portland cement(OPC) is investigated by weight accordingly in range
0%(without fly ash), 10%, 20% and 30% for grade 25. The chemical composition of fly ash was
determine using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used
to determine particle size, shape and texture of fly ash. The mix proportion of concrete was
determine using mix design method according to British Standard. The workability of the fresh
concrete mixture was evaluated using slump test while compressive strength of cubes concrete was
evaluated at 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. A total of 48 cubes concrete with size 100mmx100mmx100mm
were made. The optimum compressive strength at all ages of testing was obtained at 10%
replacement. Workability decreased with an increased in replacement percentage of fly ash. The
results therefore show that fly ash as pozzolanic materials can be used to partially replace ordinary
portland cement in production of concrete.
Keywords: Pozzolanic Material, Fly Ash, Compressive Strength and Workability
Introduction
The rapid development of the construction industry in Malaysia requires the use of very high
materials, especially concrete building materials. Continuous and uncontrolled use of materials
eventually leads to running out of raw material stocks for example non-renewable materials such as
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aggregates and cement materials. Beside that, Production of Portland cement is energy intensive and
accounts for 2.4% of the total global CO2 emission from industries (Falayi, Okonta, & Ntuli, 2017)
One of the most significant activities stressed by the engineers and scientists related to concrete
industry aims at a high percentage of replacement of clinker in cement with secondary raw materials,
with the possibility of improvement of cement characteristics and durability of concrete.(Kanojia,
Dholia, & Rao, n.d.). Replacement materials are usually available in large quantities and can be used
to replace Portland cement in green concrete, which include Fly Ash (Fly Ash is a solid waste product
dumped in large quantities by thermal Power Plants in Malaysia).
Fly ash is a fine powder which is an industrial waste that is produced from of burning
pulverized coal in electric generation power plants. Fly ash is a pozzolanic material that containing
aluminous and siliceous material that forms cement in the presence of water. Fly ash forms a
compound similar to cement when existing of lime and water. Fly ash can be classified as class F and
class C according to ASTM C618 and grade I and grade II according to I.S. 3812 (Gourav & Venkatarama
Reddy, 2014). Gourav et al, (2014) said the classification of Fly Ash were depending on lime content
and focused on lime reactivity. These value indicates the reactivity of pozzolanic materials measures
by testing a standard cube specimen for compressive strength following the guidelines of I.S. 3812
code.
Choure et al, (2017) reported that using fly ash in concrete mix as replacement of cement,
increase its compressive strength. Abu Bakar et al, (2012) stated the compressive strength of bottom
ash and cement blended with fly ash showed that the result was lower compared to that of the
control concrete. Fly ash can be classified in class C and F. The class F has a low lime (CaO) content
and its content of SiO2 + Fe2O3 + Al2O3 is greater than 70 (ASTM C 618). Yazici et al, (2012) mentioned
concretes in containing fly ash that is used at the same rate instead of cement shows compressive
strength of the produced concretes increase as fineness of fly ash increases.
Englehard et al. (1995) mentioned pozzolana is a siliceous and aluminous material that in itself
possesses little to no cementitious value. However, in finely divided form and in the presence of
moisture, it is able to chemically react with calcium hydroxide (lime) at ordinary temperatures to
form compound having cementitious properties. Malhotra, et al, (2000) stated fly ash as one of the
potential material in reducing the use of cement in construction as it possesses similar binding ability
as of cement while containing little to no hazardous chemical substances, making it a more viable
and environmentally friendly alternative. However, the study on chemical composition, compressive
strength and workability of concrete containing fly ash is still considerably limited in Malaysia.
Therefore, this study aims to investigate fly ash to partially replace cement. The fly ash used in this
work was provided by Jimah Energy Ventures Power Plant. Therefore, the proposed admixture will
be a perfect component of green concrete and its utilization will be a valuable resource for recycling.
Mechanical properties of concrete made with the partial replacement of cement, with Fly Ash
concrete were studied in this work.
and complied to BS 882:1996. Clean water was also added in the mixing of concrete. Grade 25
concrete was produced using a water binder ratio of 0.55. Four different mixes were used for this
study according British Standard (Department of Environment) mix design method of concrete. An
attempt is made by partial replacement of Cement.These four mixes includes a control mix using OPC
without of fly ash and other three mixes with fly ash replacement 10%, 20% and 30% by mass of OPC
as in the control mix. When compound admixture with Fly Ash is mixed with concrete, the
performance of concrete can be improved further due to the synergistic effect and activation of each
other.
Experimental Tests
The chemical composition of fly ash was conducted using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) at Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia. The particle size, shape and texture of fly ash was determine using scanning
electron microscope (SEM). The mix design of concrete was done according to British method of
concrete mix design for grade 25. The slump test was used to evaluate the workability of the mix of
concrete. Workability depends on water content, aggregate (shape and size distribution) and
cementitious content. The specified size of cube concrete moulds 100mm×100mm×100mm was
used. A total of 48 cubes were made. The specimens were made in accordance to BS 1881-116:1983.
Demoulding was done after 24 hours and the specimens were placed in a curing tank. The
compressive strengths were determined by compressing the concrete cubes at 7, 14, 28 and 56 days
using a 2,000kN Matest compression testing machine at Concrete Laboratory, Politeknik Melaka in
accordance to BS 1881-116:1983. The specimens were taken out of the curing tank and placed in
open air about 2 hours before compress.
converted into calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) which is the strongest and durable portion of the
concrete. According to Glassy and spherical particles may help to reduce internal friction between
aggregates thereby concrete containing fly ash increase consistency and allow mobility for longer
pumping distances.
The British method of concrete mix design was published by the British Department of the
Environment (DOE) and commonly known as “DOE Method”. The details of mix proportions are
shown in Table 2. DOE mix design engaged several following stages.
=190kg/m3
Water content
Cement content =
Water cement ratio
190
=
0.55
= 345.45 kg/m3
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The details of coarse aggregate sieve analysis shows in Table 3 while Figure 2 shows the semi log
graph of coarse aggregate sieve analysis. The coarse aggregate used in experiments were purchased
from local market in Melaka. From the results, sample of coarse aggregate in all sizes within the
limitation and complied to BS 882:1996
90
80
70
Passing Percent(%)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 10 100
Seive Size(mm)
Upper Limit Lower Limit Sample
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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
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Table 4 shows the details of fine aggregate sieve analysis while Figure 3 shows the semi log graph of
river sand analysis. The river sand used in experiments were purchased from local market in Melaka.
From the results, sample of river sand in all sizes is within the limitation and complied to BS 882:1996.
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.1 1 10
Seive Size(mm)
Sample Lower Limit Upper Limit
Slump Test
The results of workability tests shows in Table 5 while graph of workability of fresh concrete
containing a partial of fly ash shows in Figure 4. Generally, it is observed that the percentage of fly
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ash in mix of concrete increased, the workability of concrete decreased. Therefore, increasing
replacement of cement with fly ash will be increased water demand in fresh concrete mix.
Slump (mm)
64
63
62
Slump(mm)
61
60
59
58
57
56
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Percentage of Fly Ash(%)
Compressive Strength
The relationship between compressive strength and difference percentage of fly ash at age 7 days,
14 days, 28 days and 56 days shows in Figure 5 while Table 6 shows the results of compressive
strength of concrete with partial replacement of fly ash. The compressive test was conducted to
determine the compressive strength of concrete at the age of 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. The compressive
strength of concrete also increases with age. The maximum compressive strength (43.57 N/mm 2) was
seen at 10% replacement of OPC with fly ash at 56 days and exceed target mean strength
(38.12N/mm2) but lower than control concrete (40.61N/mm2). The increased in compressive
strength at 56 days may be due to slow hydration process when increased of fly ash in concrete which
is slow reactive pozzolans causes delay the hydration process at 28 days.
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40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30
Percentages of Fly Ash
Figure 5: Relationship between compressive strength and difference percentage of fly ash at age 7
days, 14 days, 28 days and 56 days
Conclusion
In this study, fly ash was used as partial replacement of OPC in difference percentage of 0% (control),
10%, 20% and 30%. From the XRF test shows calcium oxide (CaO) is less than 10% can be concluded
that fly ash as class F and has a little cementitious properties. Thus, from the SEM, the shape of fly
ash is spherical. The spherical shape of fly ash can reduce internal friction thereby increasing the
concrete consistency and allow mobility for longer pumping distances. Based on this study, the
replacement of cement with fly ash significantly decrease the compressive strength of concrete. From
Table 6, it is deduced that fly ash replacement of 10% of the weight of cement achieved the optimum
value of compressive strength and considered the best ratio of cement replacement in a concrete
mix at 56 days. From the slump test, the increase in fly ash content in concrete decreases the slump
height, thus indicating that there is a decrease in the workability of concrete. Therefore, from this
study, the partial replacement of cement by fly ash definitely more economical alternative and
potential utilize in the field of construction industry with reducing environmental impact to
surrounding. However, further study needs to be done on wide range of characteristics of concrete.
References
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