Pitroda et al.

, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology

E-ISSN 0976-3945

Research Paper

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON PARTIAL

REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT WITH FLY ASH IN DESIGN
MIX CONCRETE
Prof. Jayeshkumar Pitroda1, Dr. L.B.Zala2, Dr.F.S.Umrigar3
Address for Correspondence
1
Assistant Professor & Research Scholar, 2Head & Professor, Civil Engineering Department, B.V.M.
Engineering College, Vallabh Vidhyanagar-Gujarat India
3
Principal, B.V.M. Engineering College, Vallabh Vidhyanagar Gujarat India
ABSTRACT:
The advancement of concrete technology can reduce the consumption of natural resources and energy sources and lessen the
burden of pollutants on environment. Presently large amounts of fly ash are generated in thermal industries with an
important impact on environment and humans.In recent years, many researchers have established that the use of
supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash (FA), blast furnace slag, silica fume, metakaolin (MK), and rice
husk ash (RHA), hypo sludge etc. can, not only improve the various properties of concrete - both in its fresh and hardened
states, but also can contribute to economy in construction costs.This research work describes the feasibility of using the
thermal industry waste in concrete production as partial replacement of cement.The use of fly ash in concrete formulations as
a supplementary cementatious material was tested as an alternative to traditional concrete. The cement has been replaced by
fly ash accordingly in the range of 0% (without fly ash), 10%, 20%, 30% & 40% by weight of cement for M-25 and M-40
mix. Concrete mixtures were produced, tested and compared in terms of compressive and split strength with the
conventional concrete. These tests were carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties for the test results for compressive
strength up to 28 days and split strength for 56 days are taken.
KEY WORDS: Fly Ash, Compressive Strength, split strength, thermal industry waste, supplementary cementitious
materials

INTRODUCTION:
Leaving the waste materials to the environment
directly can cause environmental problem. Hence the
reuse of waste material has been emphasized. Waste
can be used to produce new products or can be used
as admixtures so that natural resources are used more
efficiently and the environment is protected from
waste deposits. These industrial wastes are dumped
in the nearby land and the natural fertility of the soil
is spoiled.
Fly ash is the finely divided mineral residue resulting
from the combustion of ground or powdered coal in
electric power generating thermal plant. Fly ash is a
beneficial mineral admixture for concrete. It
influences many properties of concrete in both fresh
and hardened state. Moreover, utilization of waste
materials in cement and concrete industry reduces the
environmental problems of power plants and
decreases electricity generation costs.
Cement with fly ash reduces the permeability of
concrete and dense calcium silicate hydrate (CSH).
Research shows that adding fly ash to concrete, as a
partial replacement of cement (less than 35 percent),
will benefit both the fresh and hardened states.
While in the fresh state, the fly ash improves
workability. This is due to the smooth, spherical
shape of the fly ash particle. The tiny spheres act as a
form of ball bearing that aids the flow of the concrete
(Morotta, 2005). This improved workability allows
for lower water-to-cement ratios, which later leads to
higher compressive strengths (Mindess, et al., 2003).
In the hardened state, fly ash contributes in a number
of ways, including strength and durability. While fly
ash tends to increase the setting time of the concrete.
The pozzolanic reaction removing the excess calcium
hydroxide, produced by the cement reaction, and
forming a harder CSH
The present day world is witnessing the construction
of very challenging and aesthetic structures. Concrete
being the most important and widely used material is
called upon to possess very high strength and
sufficient workability properties. Efforts are being
made in the field of concrete technology to develop
IJAET/Vol.III/ Issue IV/Oct.-Dec., 2012/126-129

such concretes with special characteristics. In the

present experimental investigation the fly ash has
been used to study the effect on compressive and split
strength on M25 and M40 grades of concrete.
DESIGN MIX MATERIALS:
a) Supplementary cementitious material: Fly Ash
Fly ash is composed of the non-combustible mineral
portion of coal. Particles are glassy, spherical ball
bearings finer than cement particles. Sizes of particle
are 0.1m-150 m. it is a pozzolonic material which
reacts with free lime in the presence of water,
converted into calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H)
which is the strongest and durable portion of the
paste in concrete. The fly ash is procured from Maize
Products (A division of Sayaji Industries Ltd) Power
plant. This plant is located near kathwada in
Ahmedabad District in Gujarat State. Fig. 1 shows
storage of fly ash in open fields.

Fig.1. Fly Ash stored in open fields

a) Cement
The most common cement used is an Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC). The Ordinary Portland
Cement of 53 grade (Hathi OPC) conforming to
IS:8112-1989 is used. Many tests were conducted on
cement; some of them are specific gravity,
consistency tests, setting time tests, compressive
strengths, etc.

Fig.2. HATHI Cement (OPC 53 grade

Pitroda et al., International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology

E-ISSN 0976-3945

Table 1.Properties of HATHI Cement

(OPC 53 grade)

Fig.5. Grit
Table 2. Properties of Aggregates

c) Aggregate
Aggregates are the important constituents in concrete.
They give body to the concrete, reduce shrinkage and
effect economy. One of the most important factors
for producing workable concrete is good gradation of
aggregates. Good grading implies that a sample
fractions of aggregates in required proportion such
that the sample contains minimum voids. Samples of
the well graded aggregate containing minimum voids
require minimum paste to fill up the voids in the
aggregates. Minimum paste means less quantity of
cement and less water, which is further mean
increased economy, lower shrinkage and greater
durability.
d) Coarse Aggregate
The fractions from 20 mm to 4.75 mm are used as
coarse aggregate. The Coarse Aggregates from
crushed Basalt rock, conforming to IS: 383 are used.
The Flakiness Index and Elongation Index were
maintained well below 15%.
e) Fine aggregate
Those fractions from 4.75 mm to 150 micron are
termed as fine aggregate. The river sand and
crushed sand is used in combination as fine
aggregate conforming to the requirements of IS:
383. The river sand is washed and screened, to
eliminate deleterious materials and over size
particles.fig.-3, 4 & 5 fine aggregate, coarse
aggregate and grit. Table-3 gives the properties of
aggregates

f) Water
Water is an important ingredient of concrete as it
actually participates in the chemical reaction with
cement. Since it helps to from the strength giving
cement gel, the quantity and quality of water is
required to be looked into very carefully. Water
cement ratio used is 0.40 for M25 and 0.30 for M40
concretes.
Design Mix Methodology
a) Design Mix
A mix M25 & M40 grade was designed as per IS
10262:2009 and the same was used to prepare the test
samples. The design mix proportion is shown in
Table 3
Table 3. Concrete Design Mix Proportions

Fig.3. Fine aggregate

b) Compression & Split Test

Standard metallic cube moulds (150*150*150 mm)
were casted for compressive and split strength. A
table vibrator was used for compaction of the hand
filled concrete cubes.

Fig.4. Coarse aggregate

Fig.6. compressive strength testing

IJAET/Vol.III/ Issue IV/Oct.-Dec., 2012/126-129

Pitroda et al., International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology

E-ISSN 0976-3945

The specimens were demoulded after 24 hours and

subsequently immersed in water for different age of
testing. For each age three specimens were tested for
the determination of average compressive and split
strength. Test was performed on compression testing
machine having capacity of 200 MT. figure 6 & 7
show compressive and split strength testing setup on
testing machine.

Fig.8. Compressive Strength of Cubes at 7, 14 & 28

Days for M25

Fig.7. split strength testing

RESULTS
The compressive strength results are compiled in
Table-4 and split strength in Table-5. The
compressive strength vs % replacements of cement
results are graphically shown in figure 8 and 9. The
same for split strength is in figure 9.
28 days for M25 & M40

Fig.9. Compressive Strength of Cubes at 7, 14 & 28 Days

for M40

Table 4. Compressive Strength and % Change of Strength at 7, 14, 28 days for M25 & M40

TABLE 5. Split Strength and % Change of Strength at

56 days for M25 & M40

Fig.10. Split strength of cubes (150X150X150) at 56 Days

for M25 & M40

Table- 6 Cost of Materials

IJAET/Vol.III/ Issue IV/Oct.-Dec., 2012/126-129

Pitroda et al., International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology

E-ISSN 0976-3945

Table-7 Materials for designed M25 & M40 concrete

Cost Impact on concrete

The change in cost due to addition of fly ash
replacing cement is worked out in table 7. The basic
market rates of materials are given table 6. Cost
decrease due to reduction in cement.
CONCLUSION
Based on limited experimental investigation
concerning the compressive & split strength of
concrete, the following conclusions are drawn:
Compressive strength reduces when cement
replaced fly ash. As fly ash percentage
increases compressive strength and split
strength decreases.
Use of fly ash in concrete can save the coal
& thermal industry disposal costs and
produce
a
greener
concrete
for
construction.
The cost analysis indicates that percent
cement reduction decreases cost of concrete,
but at the same time strength also decreases.
This research concludes that fly ash can be
innovative supplementary cementitious
Construction Material
but
judicious
decisions are to be taken by engineers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Authors thankfully acknowledge the support
rendered by B.V.M. Engineering College, Charutar
Vidya Mandal & Jay Maharaj Construction, Vallabh
Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India for providing laboratory
facilities to carry out this work.
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