Document Type

Report

Publication Date

8-1-2019

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) as a partial replacement of cement in concrete for road pavement application. The study explored the pozzolanic activity of SCBA produced from three different processing methodologies (i.e., raw SCBA, controlled SCBA and post-processed SCBA). The experimental results revealed that SCBA produced by the controlled burning of sugarcane bagasse fiber (SBF) at 650°C and grinding (C-650), presented the maximum pozzolanic activity. However, this SCBA production process was deemed challenging for large-scale industrial application due to low SCBA yield (i.e., 3 to 6%). On the other hand, post-processing of raw SCBA, by burning at 450°C and grinding (P-450), produced a similar pozzolanic activity to that of SCBA C-650. Moreover, since post-processing of raw SCBA produced a significantly higher SCBA yield (i.e., 85 to 90%) than that of controlled burning of SBF, SCBA P-450 was selected for further investigation in concrete mixtures. The effect of different dosages of P-450 (i.e., 20, 30, and 40% cement replacement by weight) on concrete properties was evaluated. It was determined that concrete mixtures utilizing substitutions of 10% and 20% of cement with SCBA exhibited a similar compressive strength to that of control after 90 days of curing for Class-A and Class-B concretes, respectively. At higher levels of cement replacement, the compressive strength of concrete mixtures decreased proportionally at both, 28 and 90 days of curing; yet, the relative strength gain from 28 to 90 days increased. Furthermore, at 90 days of curing, surface resistivity of SCBA admixed concrete mixtures was superior to that of control for all cases. Finally, a cost analysis showed that a 10% cement replacement with SCBA in concrete could yield a reduction of per lane-mile cost of 0.75%.

Comments

Tran-SET Project No. 18CLSU03

Download
COinS