CIVIL ENGINEERING

MATERIALS LAB
III SEMESTER
3CE4-24
 PROPERTIES OF
HIGH VOLUME
FLY ASH
1
CONCRETE
2 OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION
PROPERTIES OF FRESH HVFA CONCRETE
PROPERTIES OF HARDENED HVFA
CONCRETE
CONCLUSION
3
INTRODUCTION

Fly ash concrete is an eco-friendly construction

material in which fly ash replaces a part of
Portland cement.

But IS:456 – 2000 and ACI:318 allows

replacement of OPC by Fly ash up to 35%
only as binding material.

High volume fly ash concrete is a

concrete where a replacement of
about 35% or more of cement is made with
4 WHAT IS FLY ASH?
Fly ash is a finely divided byproduct resulting
combustion
from the of coal in power
plants.
It contains large amounts of silica, alumina and
small amount of unburned carbon, which
pollutes

environment.
It is grey in colour and alkaline in nature.
The particle size ranges between 1-100
microns.
The specific gravity of FA lies between 1.9
5

The surface area is typically 300–500 m2/kg,

although

some FA can have a surface area as high

as 700 m2/kg ( around 330 m2/kg for
Cement )

The mass per unit volume including air

between particles ( density ) can vary from
540 to 860 kg/m3.
6 Classification of Fly Ash

Two classes of fly ash are defined by ASTM

C618:
Class F fly ash
Class C fly ash
This classification is based on the chemical
composition of FA i.e. the sum of silica,
alumina and iron oxide percentages in the FA,
being :
 minimum of 70% for a Class F
 minimum 50% for a Class C
7

SOURCE:
www.caer.uky.edu/kyasheducation/flya
SOURCE: sh.sht
www.gradjevinarstvo.rs ml
8 ISSUES WITH OPC

 Conventional Portland Cement is the most consumed

commodity in the world after water.
 It is also the most energy intensive material
 Cement production leads to high carbon-dioxide
emission.
 CO2 is the primary green house gas that causes global
warming
 manufacturing of cement accounts for 6 to 7% of the
CO2 that humans produce.
 It is produced by calcination of limestone and burning of
fossil
fuels
9 WHY TO USE FLY ASH?
 being a pozzolanic, it can actually replace a
part of Portland cement
 results in more durable concrete
 high ultimate strength
 improves workability
 improves cost economy of concrete
 reduction in heat of hydration
 decreases density of concrete
 more environment friendly concrete.
1 EFFECT OF HIGH VOLUME OF FLY
0
ASH ON PROPERTIES OF FRESH
CONCRETE

1. WORKABILITY
2. SETTING TIME, BLEEDING AND
SEGREGATION
3. HEAT OF HYDRATION
4. DENSITY
1 WORKABILITY
1

The inclusion of high volume of fly ash

increases the workability as the content of
FA is increased.

The increment in the slump height is

about 40% and 54% with the inclusion of
45% and 50% FA, respectively.
generally higher substitution of Portland
cement by fly ash reduces the water
requirement for obtaining a given
workability
1
2

. Effect of fly ash fineness &

% on water demand of
concrete
1 WORKABILITY
3
 reduction in water requirement is mainly due to three mechanisms:

 Fly ash gets absorbed on the surface of

oppositely charged cement particles and prevent them
from flocculation, releasing large amounts of water,
thereby reducing the water-demand for a given
workability.

 The spherical shape and the smooth surface of fly ash

particles
help to reduce the interparticle friction and thus facilitate
mobility

 Due to its lower density and higher volume

per unit mass, fly ash is a more efficient void-filler than Portland
1 Contributions of enhanced
4
workability:
Light weight concrete is easier to pump as
pumping requires less energy.
Improved finishing
Reduced segregation and bug holes
Reduced Bleeding
Less sand is needed in the mix to produce
required workability.

Back
1 SETTING
5
TIME
High volume of fly ash extends both the
initial and final setting time of concrete
The impact of fly ash on the setting
behavior of concrete is dependent on:
composition and quantity of fly ash used
amount of cement
water - to – cementitious material ratio
concrete temperature
1
6

Effect of FA content on penetration

resistance of setting concrete
mixture
1 Bleeding and
7
Segregation
The inclusion of high volume of fly ash in
the mixture reduces the bleeding and
segregation.
Reason:
the rate and amount of bleeding decreases
due to the reduced water demand.
The reduction of bleeding and segregation may
be related to the lubricating effect of the
glassy spherical FA particles.

Back
…
1 HEAT OF HYDRATION
8

Both the maximum rate of heat evolution and

the cumulative heat evolution decrease with
the inclusion of 45% FA during the first 72
hours.
The inclusion of 45% FA results in 36%
reduction in the cumulative heat evolution.
In addition, the time of reaching the maximum
rate of heat evolution delays.
1
9
Effect of fly ash on heat of
hydration

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-
concrete – by Michael Thomas
(www.cement.org)
2 Effect of fly ash on
0 temperature rise

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-concrete – by
Thomas
Michael
(www.cement.org) Back
2 DENSITY
1

Inclusion of high volume of fly ash in the

mixture decreases its density which leads
to a reduction in the dead weight of the
constructed element.
Reason:
This reduction in the density could be attributed
to the lower specific gravity of FA (1.9 to 2.8) as
compared to cement (3.15)

Back
…
2 EFFECT OF HIGH VOLUME OF FLY ASH
2
ON PROPERTIES OF HARDENED
CONCRETE

1. COMPRESSIVE
STRENGH

2. DURABILITY
2 COMPRESSIVE STRENGH
3

TEST
5 mixtures were considered , 3 of them with
OPC and varying FA content, and 2 control
pastes using 100% OPC or 100% BC.
conducted using 40%, 60% and
80% FA replacement by volume of
cement
 maintaining the w/b by mass
constant at 0.42
 MIXTURE PROPORTIONS OF THE PASTES
2
4

Cement Fly ash Fly ash Water

Mixture ID
(kg/m3) (%) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)

OPC 1359.7 0 0.0 571.1

BC 1307.5 0 0.0 549.1

40-F 864.4 40 434.5 545.5

60-F 594.0 60 671.7 531.6

80-F 306.4 80 924.0 516.7
SOURCE: Felipe Rivera, Patricia Martínez, Javier Castro, Mauricio López “Massive
volume fly ash concrete”, Cement and Concrete Composites, Volume 63, October
2015
2 The cement pastes were prepared in a
5
mechanical mixer

50-mm cube specimens were cast (3 specimens

per age)
At the age of 24 h, the specimens were
demolded and placed in vacuum sealed plastic
bags in a moist room, (95 ± 3)% RH and (23 ±
2)˚C, until the age of testing.
 The compressive strength gain after 3 d, 7 d, 28 d and 90 d for
each mixture
2
6

SOURCE: Felipe Rivera, Patricia Martínez, Javier Castro, Mauricio López “Massive
volume fly ash concrete”, Cement and Concrete Composites, Volume 63, October
2015
2
7

The compressive strength of the 40-F paste is

similar
to that of the OPC paste at any age
while that of the 60-F paste is very similar to
the BC paste at early ages (3 d and 7 d) and
higher at 28 d and 90 d.
The compressive strength of the 80-F paste is
lower than that of the BC paste at any age;
its strength can reach up to 22 MPa at 28 d
and 35 MPa at 90 d.
2
8

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-concrete – by Michael

Thomas
2 Rate of strength
9
gain
The rate of strength gain in the FA-F
pastes increases with the
replacement level.
Between 28 d and 90 d, the strength gain of
OPC paste is similar to that of the BC paste
but lower than that of the 80-F paste
(≈0.21 MPa/d).
For the 40-F and 60-F pastes, the strength
gains are the lowest (≈0.07 MPa/d and 0.08
MPa/d, respectively), between 28 d and 90 d.
Back
3 DURABILITY
0
Abrasion Resistance
 The mix containing 70% FA exhibits a slightly lower
abrasion value than the concrete containing 50% FA
and OPC concrete
 although 70% FA exhibits a higher abrasion value
below a certain compressive strength.
 The abrasion resistance is mainly dependent
on the compressive strength of concrete.
 It is assumed that C-S-H of 50% FA or OPC provide
better cohesion to the aggregate-sand-paste and
therefore better resist the action of surface shear
forces.
3 Permeability and Resistance to Penetration of
1
Chlorides
Fly ash reduces permeability of concrete to water
and gas provided
refinement the concrete
in the pore is adequately
structure.
cured, due
Through to a
pozzolanic activity, fly ash chemically
combines with water and CaOH2 – forming
additional cementitious compounds, therefore :
it is not subject to leaching
it decreases bleed channels, capillary channels
and void spaces and thereby reduces
permeability.
3
2
With the use of fly ash, concrete becomes nearly

impermeable to c h l o r i d e s a n d the rate of

si g n i fic a n tl y .
chloride penetration decreases

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-concrete – by Michael Thomas

(www.cement.org)
 Alkali- Silica Reaction
3  Class F fly ash is capable of controlling alkali – silica
3
reaction in concrete even at moderate levels of
replacement
30%) (20% to
 Reason : concentration of alkali hydroxides is reduced
in the
pore solution when fly ash is present
 The level of fly ash required to suppress
expansion of concrete increases with:
 Increased calcium and alkali content of fly ash;
 Decreased silica content of fly ash;
 Increased aggregate reactivity;
 Increased alkali availability from Portland cement
and
environment
  There is low risk of concrete expansion occurring in
3 when
the fieldvery high volume fly ash concrete with 50% or
4 ash is fly
more
used.

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-concrete – by Michael

Thomas (www.cement.org)
3 Sulfate Resistance
5
HVFA concrete specimens exhibit higher
sulfate
resistance. The specimens containing 60%
FA as
cement replacement exhibited better
performance in lactic/acetic and sulfuric acid
FA induces three phenomena which
improves sulfate resistance:
consumes the free lime resulting it unavailable to
with
react
sulfate,
reduces permeability which prevents sulfate
and
penetration,
by replacing cement, the reactive aluminates are
reduced. reduced.
3 Carbonation and Corrosion Resistance
6
 When concrete specimens are exposed to
different methods of carbonation, the results
show
the a reductionresistance
carbonation in of concrete
the inclusion
specimens of 50% FA as cement replacement.
with
 Therefore there is increase in the carbonation
depth of concrete specimens
 in areas prone to carbonation, particular
attention must be paid to ensure suitable:
concrete mix proportions,
period of moist curing, and
depth of cover
3
7

Source: optimizing-the-use-of-fly-ash-in-concrete – by Michael

Thomas (www.cement.org)
3  Resistance to Cyclic Freezing and Thawing, and Deicer Salt
8 Scaling
 Concrete can be resistant to cyclic freezing and thawing
provided:
 it has sufficient strength
 an adequate air void system
 the aggregates are frost resistant.
This holds true for fly ash concrete
 concrete containing fly ash is less resistant to scaling
when subjected to freezing and thawing in presence
of deicer salts.
 For fly ash concrete structures exposed to de-icing
salts the following observations have been made:
 scaling increases as the w/cm increases
 scaling mass loss increases with fly ash content
 the use of curing compounds reduces scaling
3 CONCLUSION
9
 Use of high volume fly ash concrete in construction is one
big step in natural resource conservation and it needs to
be promoted all over the world.
 In fact, we can call high volume fly ash concrete as a green
concrete, since it can protect the environment from global
warming and at the same time from pollution.
 There may be some negativity attached to it like slower
construction rates as it gains strength slowly and gives
lower early strengths.
 But, the same can be ignored as the later strengths (90
days or more) and durability of high volume fly ash
concrete is much better than plain concrete.
4 Clearly there is no one replacement level best
0 suited for
all applications.
The inclusion of high volume fly ash in the
mixture causes :
Reduced the heat of hydration, bleeding,
segregation, density, but increased workability
and setting time.
Decreased the mechanical strength especially
at early ages with increasing FA content.
Increased durability of concrete
reduced resistance against Deicer Salt Scaling.
Product
Comparisons
 High Volume Fly  Conventional
Ash Concrete Concrete
 Less energy  Energy
intensive intensive
manufacture manufacturing
 Higher ultimate  Weaker
strength ultimate
 More durable strength
 Uses a waste by-  Less durable
product  Uses virgin
 Less global material
warming gases  More global
created
4
3