Preliminary studies on brown coal fly ash as a cement replacement for geopoly- mer brick applications

Author(s): Muhamed Khodr, David Law, Chamila Gunasekara and Sujeeva Setunge
Paper category: Proceedings
Book title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures (SMSS2019) New Generation of Construction Materials
Editor(s): Marijana Serdar, Nina Štirmer, John Provis
ISBN: 978-2-35158-217-6,
Vol 1. ISBN: 978-2-35158-223-7
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-218-3
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2019
Pages: 582-589
Total Pages: 8
Language : English

Abstract: The continued use of Portland Cement (PC) as the main binder in concrete has raised economic and environmental concerns due to PC production being a pivotal contributor to the growing CO2 emissions. Thus, research into alternatives using industrial by-products has become well established in recent years, with much attention being focussed on Ground Granulated Blast Furnace (GGBS) and Fly Ash (FA). The studies have shown that 100% Class F FA concrete can produce similar strengths to that achieved by from PC concrete, but unlike Class F FA, Brown Coal Fly Ash (BC FA) has high Sulphur and Calcium content and low aluminosilicate content which are detrimental to the strength that can be achieved. However, the opportunity may exist to use BC FA as a geopolymeric material for low strength application such as geopolymer concrete bricks. This paper reports a preliminary study conducted to investigate the feasibility of using Yallourn BC FA for geopolymer concrete brick production. The physical and chemical characteristics of the BC FA have been identified, and an optimum mix design has been generated by varying both the activator modulus (AM) and the Na2O dosage. Compressive strength results were obtained at 7, 14 and 28 day intervals. Moreover, a standard flow table test was conducted for each mix design to understand the impact of flowability of this new material, which is essential in concrete casting.

Online publication : 2019
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros) : 0.00