Compressive Strength of Cement & Fly Ash Mortar:-

A Case Study
K. V. Madurwar1, A. N. Burile2, Arti M. Sorte3

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Priyadarshini Bhagwati College of

Engineering, Nagpur-09

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— The use of ash as a cement replacement makes the mortar less leaky to harmful ions

because of its finer particle size distribution and pozzolanic reactions. This ends up in an

increased high performance and additional sturdy mortar. Variety of studies of the results of

the fly ashes on the behavior of cement pastes, mortars, and concretes were additionally

distributed. Paper has examined the impact of ash used as replacement addition to the Ordinary

Portland cement (OPC) on the compressive strength development of cement mortars of

Khaperkheda thermal station. the mix proportion 1:3 of cement mortar within which cement is

part replace with ash as 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by the burden of cement. Compressive

strengths of the mortar specimens were determined at seven and twenty eight days. Results

show that strength will increase with the rise of ash up to an optimum value, beyond which,

strength values begin decreasing with more addition of ash.

Keywords- Fly Ash, Mortar, Compressive Strength

I. INTRODUCTION

Mortar may be a worldwide accepted building construction material altogether civil

engineering structures. Most of the walls of buildings and residential homes are masonry walls,

fabricated from stones, bricks or concrete blocks. Mortar will increase performance of the structure as

very little as percentage of the overall volume of a masonry wall which might play as important role in

concrete structure. (1)

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 In several countries, coal is that the primary fuel in thermal powerhouse and different

industries. The fine residue collected from field is understood as fly ash and regarded as a waste

matter. In India, United State, Poland etc. are manufacturing over 270 million tonnes of ash each year.

it's inflicting hazards to the environment.

Due to the environmental concern and therefore the must conserve energy, varied analysis

efforts are directed toward the use of waste materials, the price of cement is additionally steadily

increasing. With ever-increasing environmental issues because of industrial waste products comes a

great need to use these products in an appropriate manner to reduce health and environmental issues.

For this purpose, experimental investigation is administrated to develop the information on the

compressive strength development of mortar with time and with different % replacement of ash.(2)

In the present study various parameters were studied are:

 To select the Fly Ash mix proportion for cement mortar.

 To investigate change in compressive strength of cement mortar with Fly Ash replacement. The

strengths were measured at the age of 7, 14 & 28 days.(1)

II. MATERIAL USED

A. CEMENT (OPC- 43 GRADE)-

The cement used was Ordinary Portland cement (43 Grade) with a specific gravity of 3.15.

Initial and final setting time of the cement was 23 min and 365 min, respectively, conforming to

I.S-8112- 1989. Ordinary Portland cement consists essentially of compounds of lime (calcium oxide,

CaO) mixed with silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) and alumina (aluminum oxide, Al2O3). The lime is

obtained from a calcareous (lime-containing) raw material, and the other oxides are derived from an

argillaceous (clayey) material. In the case of 43 Grade cement, the initial setting of cement is slower

as compared to 53 Grade cement. In other words, the hydration process and consequently, the release

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of heat is moderate and therefore, occurrence of micro cracking is much less and can be easily

controlled by proper curing of the concrete / masonry work.(2)

TABLE 1: CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CEMENT (OPC)

Ordinary Portland Cement

Constituent Chemical Formula
(% by Weight)
Lime CaO 64.64
Silica SiO2 21.28
Alumina Al2O3 5.60
Iron Oxide FeO3 3.36
Magnesia MgO 2.06
Sulphur trioxide SO3 2.14
Nitrogen Dioxide N2O 0.05
Loss of Ignition LOI 0.64
Lime saturation factor - 0.92

Ordinary Portland Cement OPC 43 grade cement is used for this whole experimental study.

Ordinary Portland cement of 43 grade were tested for different tests and physical test results on OPC

were as follows:

1) Normal consistency =25%

2) Initial Setting time = 25 min.

3) Final Setting Time = 360 min.

4) Specific Gravity = 3.20

B. FLY ASH -

Fly ash were obtained from Khaperkheda Thermal Power Station Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.

Fly ash is an the fine residue in thermal power plants. In India, nearly 120 million tone of fly ash is

produced per year and is mainly responsible for environmental pollution. Indian coal on an average

has 35 % Ash and this is one of the prime factors which shall lead to increase in ash production and

hence, Ash utilization becomes major problem for the country.(1)

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 Fly ash generated from Khaperkheda thermal power plant in 2013-14 is 1428000 ton and total

fly ash is utilized for Bricks, stowing, agricultural, cement, landfills and other purpose. Fly ash is

commonly used to supplement Portland cement in concrete production, where it can bring both

technological and economic benefits, and is increasingly finding use in synthesis of geopolymers. Fly

ash is typically finer than portland cement and lime. Fly ash consists of silt-sized particles which are

generally spherical, typically ranging in size between 10 and 100 micron. These small glass spheres

improve the fluidity and workability of fresh concrete. Fineness is one of the important properties

contributing to the pozzolanic reactivity of fly ash.

TABLE 2: CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF FLY ASH

Name Formula Quantity (%)

Silica SiO2 63.20
Iron oxide Fe2O3 4.28
Aluminum Al2O3 26.22
Titanium oxide TiO2 1.17
Potassium oxide K2O 0.60
Calcium oxide CaO 1.25
Magnesium oxide MgO 1.32
Loss of Ignition LoI 1.47
Sulfate SO4 0.36
Disodium oxide Na2O 0.49

C. FINE AGGREGATE-

Good quality river sand was used as a fine aggregate. After selecting sand first of all sieves

from 4.75mm IS sieves and remove the particle retained on it. As hydraulic cement is commonly

mixed with certain proportions of sand, when used in construction, the nature and quality of sand

used, and the method of manipulating the materials in forming the mortar have quite as important, an

effect upon the final strength of the work as the quality of the cement itself. The fineness modulus,

specific gravity and dry density are 2.32, 2.68 and 1690 kg/m3. (3)

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D. WATER-

Water used for mixing and curing is clean and free form injurious amounts of oils, acids,

alkalis, salts, sugar, organic material or other substances that may be deleterious to concrete or steel.

Water is one of the important materials for the mortar. The quality of the water must best on the

BS3148. The criterion of portability of water is not absolute. Water with pH 6 to 8 which not tested

saline or brackish is suitable for use.(1)

III. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMS

For calculation of fly ash for the use of supplementary cementitious material begins with the

mortar testing. Mortar is similar to concrete in that it contains cement, water and aggregate, except

that in fine aggregate is the only aggregate present. With 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of the ordinary

Portland cement (OPC) conforming IS 296 is placed with the fly ash.

E. SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND FINENESS OF FLY ASH-

The specific gravity of fly ash is found to be 2.15, which is usually ranges from 2.1 to 3.0,

while its specific surface area (measured by the Blaine air permeability method) may range from 170

to 1000 m2/kg. Also it was found that compressive and tensile strength of the concretes increased as

fly ash fineness increased. It was concluded that Blaine fineness value should be above 3950 cm 2/g

fineness of fly ash to have positive impact on mechanical properties of concrete.(5)

F. FLOW TEST-

The mortar flow test utilizes a specially designed table that repeatedly rises and drops a known

amount of mortar 10 times. During the test, the mortar will spread or flow to make a circular mass and

also the diameter of the mass is measured and compared to the initial size. The rise in the size is

expressed as a percentage of the initial size with a w/c ration 0.50 for mortar the desired flow is 110%.

The flow test is repeated, using a fresh batch of mortar every time, till the specified flow is

achieved.(1)

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G. SIEVE ANALYSIS -

The fine aggregates were natural sand with a specific gravity of 2.68 and an absorption value of

0.40% by mass. Sieve analysis test was performed as per Indian standard specification IS: 383-1970.

Table 3 shows test results of sieve analysis of fine aggregates and it does indicate fine aggregates of

zone -III.(6)

TABLE 3: SIEVE ANALYSIS OF FINE AGGREGATES

Specification of IS:
Sieve no. Percent passing
383 - 1970
10 mm 100 90-100
4.75mm 95.2 90-100
2.36mm 89.2 85-100
1.18mm 79.8 75-100
600 μm 69.8 60-79
300 μm 22.4 12-40
150 μm 2.4 0.10

H. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH-

The proportion of control plane cement mortar mixture is 1:3 cement and sand respectively.

The specimen used for compressive strength is 70 mm X 70 mm X 70 mm. For the purpose of

evaluating the influence of the fly ash on the strength 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% FA as the cement

replacement by mass were prepared.

The compressive strength was calculated as follows:

Failure load
Compressive strength (MPa) =
cross sectional area

TABLE 3: TEST RESULTS FOR CUBES

Mix/Days Compressive Strength in MPa

7 Day 14 Day 28 Day
M0 33 40 42.5
M5 32 39 40
M10 31.5 37.5 39.5
M15 30 37 39.5
M20 29.5 37 39

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 Compresive Strength
45
Compresive Strength in MPa

40
35
30
25
20 7 Day
15 14 Day
10 28 Day
5
0
M0 M5 M10 M15 M20
Mix of FLY ASH

Figure 1. Compressive strength of fly ash mortar

IV. RESULTS

Above graph shows that the compressive strength of the fly ash mortar. The specimen for each

cast with different percentage of Fly Ash with gradual increase of fine fly ash 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and

20% for replacing with cement by weight. Three specimens, preferably from different batches, are

made for testing at each selected age. The testing for compressive strength carried out for 7, 14 and 28

days of age.

From the above first and second result it is clear that the M15 mix and further addition up to

M20 mix i.e. replacement of cement shows nearly same result than other replacement of mixture. In

above graph strength gain by the replacement of fly ash is lower than the plane mortar. i.e. fineness of

fly ash with replacement of cement in mortar gives better workability but the strength is decreases as

the percentage of fly ash increases.

V. CONCLUSION

Used of Fly ash helps in reducing the environmental air pollution during the disposal of excess

Fly ash. Due to low specific gravity of fly ash which leads to reduction in density, hence including it

with some percent of components of concrete i.e. Cement, Sand and Aggregate reduces the lifeless

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load on the structure. Cement is expensive material, so the partial replacements of these materials by

way of fly ash reduce the value of concrete. Based on the results introduced above, Compressive

strength will increase with the reduction in the proportion of Fly ash but workability increase combine

proportions and fineness also affect the strength of mortar.

VI. REFERNCES

1) N. B. Thikre, S.N.Shinde & K.V. Madurwar, ―Study of Fly Ash Mortar: Compressive

Strength‖International Journal of Innovative Technology And Research, Volume No.4, Issue

No.4, June – July 2016, 3109 – 3111.

2) P. Chandraprasirt, N. Baupa, H. T. Cao, ―mixed cement containing fly ash for masonry and

plastering work ‖ Construction and building materials, ELSEVIER, 19(2005) 612-618

3) Kraiwood Kiattikomol, et. al., ―A study of ground course fly ash with different fineness from

various source as pozzolanic material‖, cement and concrete composites, 23 (2001) 335-343.

4) Satish H. Sathawanea, Vikrant S. Vairagade and Kavita S Kene, ―Combine Effect of Rice Husk

Ash and Fly Ash on Concrete by 30% Cement Replacement‖, Procedia Engineering, ELSEVIER,

51 ( 2013 ) 35 – 44.

5) P.N.Dubey, S.P.Sangat, T.KSen, S.Chatterji, S.Murali and V.P.Patil, ―Physical and chemical

properties of Koradi fly ash of Maharastra for its utilization in agriculture‖, National Bureau of

Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur, Mahardstra, Nagpur.

6) Parth Thaker, N K Arora, ―Selection Of Test Method To Quantify Workability of Cement Paste

And Mortar For Very Low Workable To High Orkable Mix‖. International Journal Of

Engineering Sciences & Research Technology, 2, (Dec-2012), 854, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

7) Thorat Prerana B. and Charde Vijay N., ―Physicochemical Study of Kanhan River Water

Receiving Fly Ash Disposal Waste Water of Khaperkheda Thermal Power Station, India‖,

International Research Journal of Environment Sciences, ISSN 2319–1414, Vol. 2(9), 10-15,

September (2013).

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8) Md. Moinul Islam and Md. Saiful Islam, ―Strength Behaviour of Mortar Using Fly Ash as Partial

Replacement of Cement‖, Concrete Research Letters, Vol. 1 (3) – September 2010.

9) Website: ―Khaperkheda Thermal Power Station fly ash generation‖.

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