Report on

Soil Stabilization using Rice Husk Ash and Cement

By: Under the guidance of:

Eman Ahmed Abd El-hmeed DOC/ Naser
Pre-MBA Dept. of Civil Engineering

Faculty of Engineering Shubra Branch

Banha university
March 2018
 Contents :

CHAPTER 1 optimizing the use of fly ash in concrete ................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1

the nature of fly ash…........................................................................................................................ 2

production of fly ash… ...................................................................................................................... 3
effect of fly ash on the properties of fresh concrete .......................................................................... 4
• Workability ............................................................................................................... 4
• Air entrainment ............................................................................................................ 5
• Bleeding ....................................................................................................................... 5
• Setting time ................................................................................................................. 6
• Heat of hydration ......................................................................................................... 6
• Finishing and curing ................................................................................................... 8
Effect of fly ash on the properties of hardened concrete .................................................................. 8
• Compressive strength development ................................................................... 8
• Other mechanical properties ............................................................................... 9
• creep .................................................................................................................... 9
• drying shrinkage .................................................................................................. 9
Effect of fly ash on the durability of concrete .................................................................................... 9
• abrasion resistance ....................................................................................................... 9
• permeability and resistance to the penetration of chlorides......................................... 9
• alkali –silica reaction ................................................................................................ 11
• sulfate resistance ........................................................................................................ 12
• carbonation ................................................................................................................ 12
• resistance to cyclic freezing and thawing and deicer salt scaling .............................. 13
Optimizing fly ash content in concrete ............................................................................................. 14
Case studies ................................................................................................................................... 16
• using fly ash to control Alkali-silica reaction lower north dam ,ontraio ............. 16
• using fly ash to increase chloride resistance st, clair river tunnel ....................... 16
• high-volume fly ash concrete-york university .................................................... 18
• optimizing the mount of fly ash in concrete-bay view high-rise apartment......... 19
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 20

CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Stabilization of clayey soil with fly ash and lime : Amicro level investion ................................. 21

Materials and methodology….......................................................................................................... 22

optimum dosage of fly ash… ........................................................................................................... 23
Micro level analsis of stabilization mechanism … .......................................................................... 23
optimum dosage of lime…............................................................................................................... 23
 0
Results and discussion… ................................................................................................................. 24
• Optimizing fly ash Content… .................................................................................... 24
• minimum lime content… ........................................................................................... 24

micro-level analysis of the stabilization … ..................................................................................... 25

• Zeta potential .................................................................................................... 25
• Energy dispersive spectrosopy ......................................................................... 25
• XRD analysis .................................................................................................... 25
• SEM images ..................................................................................................... 26
• Thermo Gravimetric analysis ........................................................................... 26
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 28

CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 30
Use of fly ash to improve soil properties of drinking water treatment sludge ........................... 30
Methodology… ................................................................................................................................ 31
Results … ......................................................................................................................................... 32
• Properties of sludge…................................................................................................ 32
• Standrad proctor compaction test results on fly mixed sludge… ............................... 34
• California bearing Ratio (CBR) test results on improved sludge… .......................... 35
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 36

CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 37
Soil stabilization using fly ash and husk ash ............................................................................... 37
introduction… .................................................................................................................................. 37
Materials and methodology….......................................................................................................... 37
Index properties of soil plasticity index… ....................................................................................... 39
type of soil… ............................................................................................................. 39
California bearing ratio of virgin soil… .................................................................... 40
Summary of CBR test with various percentage of fly ash… .................................... 42
Conclusions… .................................................................................................................................. 45

Reference and related publications ................................................................................................ 46

Optimizing the use of fly ash in concrete

Introduction
Fly ash is used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the
production of portland cement concrete. A supplementary cementitious
material, when used in conjunction with portland cement, contributes
to the properties of the hardened concrete through hydraulic or
pozzolanic activity, or both. As such, SCM's include both pozzolans
and hydraulic materials. A pozzolan is defined as a siliceous or
siliceous and aluminous material that in itself possesses little or no
cementitious value, but that will, in finely divided form and in the Figure 1. Fly ash, a powder resembling cement, has been used in
presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide at concrete since the 1930s. (IMG12190)
ordinary temperatures to form compounds having cementitious
properties. Pozzolans that are commonly used in concrete include fly delays in the rate of construction. These drawbacks become particularly
ash, silica fume and a variety of natural pozzolans such as calcined pronounced in cold-weather concreting. Also, the durability of the
clay and shale, and volcanic ash. SCM's that are hydraulic in behavior concrete may be compromised with regards to resistance to deicer-salt
include ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ashes with scaling and carbonation.
high calcium contents (such fly ashes display both pozzolanic and
For any given situation there will be an optimum amount of fly ash
hydraulic behavior).
that can be used in a concrete mixture which will maximize the
The potential for using fly ash as a supplementary cementitious material technical, environmental, and economic benefits of fly ash use without
in concrete has been known almost since the start of the last century significantly impacting the rate of construction or impairing the long-
(Anon 1914), although it wasn't until the mid-1900s that significant term performance of the finished product. The optimum amount of
utilization of fly ash in concrete began (for example, USBR 1948) follow- fly ash will be a function of wide range of parameters and must be
ing the pioneering research conducted at the University of California, determined on a case-by-case basis.
Berkeley (Davis 1937). The last 50 years has seen the use of fly ash in
This report discusses issues related to using low to very high levels of
concrete grow dramatically with close to 15 million tons used in con-
fly ash in concrete and provides guidance for the use of fly ash without
crete, concrete products and grouts in the U.S. in 2005 (ACAA 2006).
compromising the construction process or the quality of the finished
Historically, fly ash has been used in concrete at levels ranging from 15% product. For the purposes of this document the replacement levels
to 25% by mass of the cementitious material component. The actual shown in Table 1 will be used to represent low, moderate, high and
amount used varies widely depending on the application, the properties very high levels of fly ash.
of the fly ash, specification limits, and the geographic location and
climate. Higher levels (30% to 50%) have been used in massive struc- Table 1. Dosage Levels of Fly Ash
tures (for example, foundations and dams) to control temperature rise.
Level of Fly Ash Classification
In recent decades, research has demonstrated that high dosage levels % by mass of total cementitious material
(40% to 60%) can be used in structural applications, producing concrete <15 Low
with good mechanical properties and durability (Marceau 2002).
15-30 Moderate
Increasing the amount of fly ash in concrete is not without shortcomings. 30-50 High
At high levels problems may be encountered with extended set times >50 Very High
and slow strength development, leading to low early-age strengths and

1
 Production of Fly Ash

Steam output
to turbines:
both high- and
low-pressure
steam

Coal from blending plant

Fly ash
Furnace
To storage silos
or conditioners
Coal pulverisers Furnace Electrostatic Exhaust stack
bottom precipitators
ash

Figure 2. Schematic layout of a coal-fired electrical generating station (Sear 2001). In the production of fly ash, coal is first pulverized in
grinding mills before being blown with air into the burning zone of the boiler. In this zone the coal combusts producing heat with
tempertures reaching approximately 1500°C (2700°F). At this temperature the non-combustible inorganic minerals (such as quartz, calcite,
gypsum, pyrite, feldspar and clay minerals) melt in the furnace and fuse together as tiny molten droplets. These droplets are carried from
the combustion chamber of a furnace by exhaust or flue gases. Once free of the burning zone, the droplets cool to form spherical glassy
particles called fly ash (Figure 3). The fly ash is collected from the exhaust gases by mechanical and electrostatic precipitators.

The Nature of Fly Ash
Fly ash is a by-product of burning pulverized coal in an electrical
generating station. Specifically, it is the unburned residue that is
carried away from the burning zone in the boiler by the flue gases
and then collected by either mechanical or electrostatic separators
(Figure 2). The heavier unburned material drops to the bottom of
the furnace and is termed bottom ash; this material is not generally
suitable for use as a cementitious material for concrete, but is used
in the manufacture of concrete masonry block.
Fly ash is a pozzolanic material. It is a finely-divided amorphous
alumino-silicate with varying amounts of calcium, which when
mixed with portland cement and water, will react with the calcium
hydroxide released by the hydration of portland cement to produce
various calcium-silicate hydrates (C-S-H) and calcium-aluminate
hydrates. Some fly ashes with higher amounts of calcium will also
display cementitious behavior by reacting with water to produce
hydrates in the absence of a source of calcium hydroxide. These
pozzolanic reactions are beneficial to the concrete in that they
increase the quantity of the cementitious binder phase (C-S-H) and,
to a lesser extent, calcium-aluminate hydrates, improving the long-
term strength and reducing the permeability of the system. Both of
these mechanisms enhance the durability of the concrete. Detailed
information on the nature of fly ash and pozzolanic reactions in
concrete can be found in the ACI Committee 232 report on Fly Ash
in Concrete and other sources (Helmuth 1987).

The performance of fly ash in concrete is strongly influenced by its

physical, mineralogical and chemical properties. The mineralogical
and chemical composition are dependent to a large extent on the
Figure 3. Micrograph showing spherical fly ash particles composition of the coal and since a wide range of domestic and
(IMG12309). imported coals (anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite)

2
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

Table 2. ASTM Specification for Fly Ash

Class Description in ASTM C 618 Chemical Requirements

Fly ash normally produced from burning anthracite or bituminous coal

F that meets the applicable requirements for this class as given herein. SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 ≥ 70%
This class of fly ash has pozzolanic properties.

Fly ash normally produced from lignite or sub-bituminous coal that meets the
applicable requirements for this class as given herein. This class of fly ash, in
C SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 ≥ 50%
addition to having pozzolanic properties, also has some cementitious properties.
Note: Some Class C fly ashes may contain lime contents higher than 10%.

are burned in different generating stations in North America, the

properties of the fly ash can be very different between sources and 40
collection methods. The burning conditions within a power plant can

Number of sources
also affect the properties of the fly ash.
30
The most widely used specification for fly ash in North America is
ASTM C618 Standard Specification for Coal Fly Ash and Raw or 20
Calcined Natural Pozzolan for Use in Concrete (AASHTO M 295).
This specification divides fly ash into two classes based on its source 10
of origin and composition as described in Table 2.

Many fly ashes produced from lignite or sub-bituminous coals meet the
chemical requirement of Class F fly ash (SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 ≥ 70%).
Such fly ashes may be classed as Class F or Class C and are sometimes
referred to as Class F/C or C/F fly ashes. In Canada, the specification
covering fly ash is CSA A3001 Cementitious Materials for Use in
Concrete which separates fly ash into three types based on the
calcium content of the fly ash as shown in Table 3.
The calcium content of the fly ash is perhaps the best indicator of
how the fly ash will behave in concrete (Thomas 1999), although
other compounds such as the alkalis (Na2O and K 2O), carbon (usually
measured as LOI), and sulfate (SO3) can also affect the performance
of the fly ash. Low-calcium fly ashes (< 8% CaO) are invariably
produced from anthracite or bituminous coals and are predominantly
composed of alumino-silicate glasses with varying amounts of
crystalline quartz, mullite, hematite and magnetite. These crystalline
phases are essentially inert in concrete and the glass requires a source
of alkali or lime (for example, Ca(OH)2) to react and form cementitious
hydrates. Such fly ashes are pozzolanic and display no significant
hydraulic behavior. High-calcium fly ashes (> 20% CaO) may be
Table 3. CSA Specification for Fly Ash
Type F < 8% CaO
Type CI 8 - 20% CaO
Type CH > 20% CaO
0
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 >30
Calcium content (%CaO)
Figure 4. Distribution of 110 North American fly ashes by calcium
content (Thomas 2007).
produced from lignite or sub-bituminous coals and are comprised of
calcium-alumino-silicate glass and a wide variety of crystalline phases
in addition to those found in low-calcium fly ash. Some of these crys-
talline phases will react with water and this, coupled with the more
reactive nature of the calcium-bearing glass, makes these fly ashes
react more rapidly than low-calcium fly ashes and renders the fly ash
both pozzolanic and hydraulic in nature. These fly ashes will react and
harden when mixed with water due to the formation of cementitious
hydration products. If the calcium content of the fly ash is high
enough, it is possible to make concrete with moderate strength using
the fly ash as the sole cementing material (Cross 2005).
In addition to providing an indication of the mineralogy and reactivity of
the fly ash, the calcium content is also useful in predicting how effective
the fly ash will be in terms of reducing the heat of hydration (Thomas
1995), controlling expansion due to alkali-silica reaction (Shehata
2000), and providing resistance to sulfate attack (Shashiprakash 2002).
These issues are addressed in sections Effect of Fly Ash on the
Properties of Fresh Concrete and Durability.
Figure 4 shows the distribution in terms of calcium content of fly
ashes from 110 commercially-available sources in North America

3

Type F CSA Type CI Type CH
100
SiO2 + Al2O + Fe2O3 (%)
90
80
70
60
50
0 5 10 15 20 25
CaO of fly ash
Figure 5. Relationship between calcium oxide content and the sum
of the oxides (SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3) for 110 North American fly ashes
(Thomas 2007).
(Thomas 2007). Figure 5 compares the calcium content with the sum
of the oxides (SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3) for the same fly ashes. All fly
ashes that meet CSA Type F or Type CH would be classified as Class F
and Class C by ASTM C618. However, most fly ashes that meet CSA
Type CI could be classified by ASTM as either Class C based on the
coal source or as Class F based on the sum of the oxides.
The quantity of alkalis in fly ash can range from less than 1%
Na2Oeq1 up to 10% Na Oeq. 2
The average alkali content of the 110
fly ashes from commercial sources in North America is 2.4% with
85% of the these fly ashes having alkali contents below 3% Na2Oeq.
There are a few sources that produce fly ashes with much higher
alkali levels (for example, 5 to 10% Na2Oeq). These fly ashes tend to
be very reactive as the alkalis raise the pH of the pore solution when
they are mixed in concrete and the high pH accelerates the dissolu-
tion of the glass in the fly ash. Particular attention should be paid to
the (alkali-silica) reactivity of the aggregates when high-alkali fly
ashes are used in concrete. There is no limit placed on the alkali
content of fly ash by either ASTM C618 or CSA A3001.
The sulfate content of fly ash generally ranges from less than 0.1%
to 5% SO3 (average = 1.5% SO3 for 110 fly ash analyses discussed
above). In exceptional cases the sulfate content may exceed 5% SO3
and in some sources the sulfate content has exceeded 7% SO3.
ASTM C618 limits the sulfate content of fly ash to 5% SO3 when the
material is to be used in concrete. CSA A3001 imposes the same
limit but allows the limit to be exceeded provided it is demonstrated
by testing that the fly ash does not produce deleterious expansion.
The only other limit placed on the composition of the fly ash by ASTM
and CSA specifications is a maximum allowable loss-on-ignition (LOI).
The LOI limit in ASTM C618 is 6% for Class F and Class C fly ash,
1
Equivalent alkali: Na2 Oeq = Na2 O + 0.658 x K O
2 in well-proportioned concrete. The fresh properties of concrete are
however, the specification allows Class F fly ashes with up to 12% LOI
to be approved by the user if either acceptable performance records or
laboratory test results are made available. The LOI limit for CSA A3001
is 8% for Type F fly ash and 6% for Types CI and CH fly ashes.
ASTM Class C ASTM Class F
Excessive amounts of magnesia (MgO) or free lime (CaO) in cementi-
tious materials may cause unsoundness (undesirable volume change)
when these materials are used in concrete. Both ASTM C618 and
CSA A3001 require fly ash to pass an autoclave expansion test
(ASTM C151) to demonstrate soundness.
Fly ash may also be introduced to concrete through the use of a
blended hydraulic cement consisting of portland cement, fly ash and
possibly other cementitious components. Blended cements are speci-
fied by ASTM C595, Standard Specification for Blended Hydraulic
30
Cements, ASTM C1157, Standard Performance Specification for
Hydraulic Cement and CSA A3001 Cementitious Materials for Use in
Concrete. Blended cements containing fly ash are available in North
America, although they are not commonly used. A Portland Cement
Association survey (PCA 2000) showed that out of the 29.5 million
cubic meters (38.6 million cubic yards) of ready-mixed concrete pro-
duced by the survey respondents in the year 1998, 15.8 million m3
(20.7 million yd3) contained fly ash (54% of production) and only
94,000 m3 (123,000 yd3) of that amount contained blended cement
(0.3% of production). The use of blended cements containing fly ash
(or other SCMs) is much more common in Europe, however, their use
is growing in North America. In 2005, one percent of cement pro-
duced in the United States was blended cement containing fly ash
(PCA 2007).
Effect of Fly Ash on the Properties
of Fresh Concrete
Workability
The use of good quality fly ash with a high fineness and low carbon
content reduces the water demand of concrete and, consequently,
the use of fly ash should permit the concrete to be produced at a
lower water content when compared to a portland cement concrete
of the same workability (Figures 6 and 7). Although the exact
amount of water reduction varies widely with the nature of the fly
ash and other parameters of the mix, a gross approximation is that
each 10% of fly ash should allow a water reduction of at least 3%.
A well-proportioned fly ash concrete mixture will have improved
workability when compared with a portland cement concrete of the
same slump. This means that, at a given slump, fly ash concrete flows
and consolidates better than a conventional portland cement con-
crete when vibrated. The use of fly ash also improves the cohesive-
ness and reduces segregation of concrete. The spherical particle
shape lubricates the mix rendering it easier to pump and reducing
wear on equipment (Best 1980) (Figure 3).
It should be emphasized that these benefits will only be realized
4
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

220
220

350

Free water (kg/m3)

180 300

Free water (lb/yd3)

Fly ash (%)
200
Free water (kg/m3)

Free water (lb/yd3)

0 Control 170
10 Reference concrete

180 20 300 160

30
Fly ash concrete
40 150 250
160 50
140
250 0 4 8 12 16 20
Loss-on-ignition (% by mass)
140
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Figure 7. Effect of fly ash LOI on water demand of concretes
proportioned for equal slump (adapted from Sturrup 1983).
Fly ash particles ≥ 45 μm (% by mass)

Figure 6. Effect of fly ash fineness on water demand of concretes
proportioned for equal slump (Owens 1979).
strongly influenced by the mixture proportions including the type
and amount of cementing material, the water content, the grading
of the aggregate, the presence of entrained air, and the use of
chemical admixtures.
The improved rheological properties of high-volume fly ash (HVFA)
concrete make it suitable for use in self-consolidating concrete (SCC)
(Bouzoubaa 2001 and Nehdi 2004).
Coarser fly ashes or those with high levels of carbon generally
produce a smaller reduction in water demand and some may even
increase water demand (Figures 6 and 7). Careful consideration
should be given before using these fly ashes in concrete especially
at higher levels of replacement in structural concrete.
Bleeding
Air Entrainment
Concrete containing low-calcium (Class F) fly ashes generally requires
a higher dose of air-entraining admixture to achieve a satisfactory
air-void system. This is mainly due to the presence of unburned
carbon (Figure 8) which absorbs the admixture. Consequently,
higher doses of air-entraining admixture are required as either
the fly ash content of the concrete increases or the carbon content
of the fly ash increases. The carbon content of fly ash is usually
measured indirectly by determining its loss-on-ignition (LOI).
The increased demand for air entraining admixture should not
present a significant problem to the concrete producer provided
the carbon content of the fly ash does not vary significantly
between deliveries. It has been shown that as the admixture dose
required for a specific air content increases, the rate of air loss
also increases (Gebler 1983).

Generally fly ash will reduce the rate and amount of bleeding
primarily due to the reduced water demand (Gebler 1986).
Particular care is required to determine when the bleeding process
has finished before any final finishing of exposed slabs.

High levels of fly ash used in concrete with low water contents can
virtually eliminate bleeding. Therefore, the freshly placed concrete
should be finished as quickly as possible and immediately protected
to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking when the ambient conditions
are such that rapid evaporation of surface moisture is likely.
The guidance given in ACI 305, Hot Weather Concreting should
be followed.

An exception to this condition is when fly ash is used without an Figure 8. Concrete in thin-section. Fly ashes with a high content of
unburnt carbon (highlighted with arrow) generally require higher
appropriate water reduction, in which case bleeding (and segrega- doses of air-entraining admixture (Courtesy V. Jennings, CTLGroup).
tion) will increase in comparison to portland cement concrete.

5
 4 600 100

Temperature change (°F)

3 at 5ºC

Temperature change (°C)

50
Penetration resistance (MPa)

%Fly ash 400

2

Penetration resistance (psi)

0 30 50
200 Control concrete 80
1 40
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 60
4 600 30
3 at 15ºC 40
0 30 50 400 20
2 Fly ash concrete
1 200
10 20
0 0
0 5 10 15 20
4 600 0 0
3 at 25ºC 0 30 50
400
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
2 Time after placing (days)
1 200
0 0 Figure 10. Effect of fly ash on temperature rise in concrete dams
0 5 10 15 20
(Mustard 1959).
Time (hours)
combinations can lead to either rapid (or even flash) setting or to
Figure 9. Effect of fly ash and temperature on the penetration
resistance of setting concretes proportioned for equal strength at
severely retarded setting (Wang 2006 and Roberts 2007).
28 days and workability (Concrete Society 1991).
With all fly ashes, but especially with higher-calcium fly ashes,
testing is required before a new fly ash source is introduced to a
Generally, high-calcium fly ashes require a smaller increase in the plant. Testing can determine the effect of the fly ash on the setting
air-entrainment dose compared to low-calcium fly ashes. Some behavior of concrete produced with the other plant materials.
Class C fly ashes high in water-soluble alkali may even require less This testing should be conducted at a range of fly ash levels and at
admixture than those mixes without fly ash (Pistilli 1983). different temperatures.
Setting Time Heat of Hydration
The impact of fly ash on the setting behavior of concrete is depen- The reduction in the rate of the heat produced and hence the internal
dent not only on the composition and quantity of fly ash used, but temperature rise of the concrete has long been an incentive for using
also on the type and amount of cement, the water-to-cementitious fly ash in mass concrete construction. One of the first full-scale field
materials ratio (w/cm), the type and amount of chemical admixtures, trials was conducted by Ontario Hydro (Mustard 1959) during the
and the concrete temperature. It is fairly well-established that construction of the Otto Holden Dam in Northern Ontario around
low-calcium fly ashes extend both the initial and final set of concrete 1950. Two elements of the dam, measuring 3.7 x 4.3 x 11.0 m
as shown in Figure 9. (12 x 14 x 36 ft), were constructed with embedded temperature
monitors. One element was constructed using a concrete with
During hot weather the amount of retardation due to fly ash tends
305 kg/m3 (514 lb/yd3) of portland cement and the other with a
to be small and is likely to be a benefit in many cases.
concrete with the same cementitious material content but with 30%
During cold weather, the use of fly ash, especially at high levels of of the portland cement replaced with a Class F fly ash. Figure 10
replacement, can lead to very significant delays in both the initial and shows the results from this study indicating that the use of fly ash
final set. These delays may result in placement difficulties especially reduced the maximum temperature rise over ambient from 47°C to
with regards to the timing of finishing operations for floor slabs and 32°C (85°F to 58°F).
pavements or the provision of protection to prevent freezing of the
In massive concrete pours where the rate of heat loss is small, the
plastic concrete. Practical considerations may require that the fly
maximum temperature rise in fly ash concrete will primarily be a
ash content is limited during cold-weather concreting. The use of
function of the amount and composition of the portland cement and
set-accelerating admixtures may wholly or partially offset the
fly ash used, together with the temperature of the concrete at the
retarding effect of the fly ash. The setting time can also be reduced
time of placing. Concrete with low portland cement contents and high
by using an ASTM C150 Type III (or ASTM C1157 Type HE) cement
fly ash contents are particularly suitable for minimizing autogenous
or by increasing the initial temperature of the concrete during
temperature rises. For example, Langley and coworkers (Langley 1992)
production (for example, by heating mix water and/or aggregates).
cast three 3.05 x 3.05 x 3.05 m (10 x 10 x 10 ft) blocks with
Higher-calcium fly ashes generally retard setting to a lesser degree embedded thermocouples, and showed that the incorporation of 55%
than low-calcium fly ashes, probably because the hydraulic reactivity fly ash reduced the peak temperature by 29°C ( 52°F) when the
of fly ash increases with increasing calcium content. However, the cementitious material content was held constant and by 53°C (95°F)
effect of high-calcium fly ashes is more difficult to predict because when the total cementitious content was reduced (Table 4). The
the use of some of these ashes with certain cement-admixture high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete mixes (with ~ 55% Class F fly

6
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

ash) were effective in reducing both the rate of heat development

and the maximum temperature reached within the concrete block.

7-Day heat-of-hydration (KJ/Kg)

350
Type I Control (no fly ash)
Table 5 shows data from a later study (Bisaillon 1994) using large
monoliths (2.5 x 4.0 x 5.0 m (8.2 x 13.1 x 16.4 ft)) cast with HVFA Type MH Limit
300
concrete with Type F fly ash.
Type LH Limit
These results again indicate that the autogenous temperature rise 250
can be kept very low with high-volume fly ash when the total
cementitious content is kept low (in this case 280 kg/m3 (472 lb/yd3)).
200 25% Fly ash
This property can be very advantageous when early-age strength is
40% Fly ash
not important. Higher early-age strengths can be achieved by raising 56% Fly ash
the cementitious material content of the HVFA system, although this 150
does result in an increase in the autogenous temperature rise. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CaO of fly ash
HVFA concrete systems have been successfully used in commercial
applications to control the temperature rise in large placements Figure 11. Effect of fly ash on heat of hydration using conduction
(Mehta 2000, Mehta 2002, and Manmohan 2002). (isothermal) calorimetry (Thomas 1995).

Most published work on the effects of fly ash on the rate of heat on insulated mortar specimens (Barrow 1989), where the use of
development and temperature rise in concrete have focussed on high-calcium ash (> 30% CaO) was found to retard the initial rate of
low-calcium Class F fly ashes. Work by the Bureau of Reclamation heat evolution but did not reduce the maximum temperature rise.
(Dunstan 1984) indicated that the rate of heat development generally However, Carrette (1993) reported that there was no consistent trend
increases with the calcium content of the ash. Fly ashes high in between ash composition and temperature rise for concretes
calcium may produce little or no decrease in the heat of hydration containing high levels of fly ash (56% by mass of cementitious mate-
(compared to plain portland cement) when used at normal rial). Calcium levels of the ashes used in the study ranged up to 20%
replacement levels. Similar results have been reported for studies CaO. Conduction calorimetry studies conducted at Ontario Hydro in
Canada (Thomas 1995) using a wide range of fly ashes (2.6% to
27.1% CaO) showed that the 7-day heat of hydration of cement-fly
Table 4. Temperature Rise in Large Concrete Blocks
ash pastes was strongly correlated with the calcium content of the
Produced with HVFA Concrete
fly ash in agreement with Dunstan (1984). However, these studies
Cement Fly ash Max. Time to also indicated that high-calcium fly ashes could be used to meet
Mix kg/m3 kg/m3 w/cm temp max. (h) performance criteria for ASTM C150 Type IV or ASTM C1157 Type LH
(lb/yd3) (lb/yd3) °C (°F) cements when used at a sufficient replacement level (Figure 11).

1 400 (674) - 0.33 83 (181) 24 High levels of high-calcium (Class C) fly ash have been used to
control the temperature rise in mass concrete foundations. One
2 180 (303) 220 (370) 0.27 54 (129) 96
example is the concrete raft foundation for the Windsor Courthouse
3 100 (168) 125 (211) 0.49 30 (86) 168 (Ellis Don 1996). This 10,000 m3 (13,000 yd3) concrete raft was
(Langley 1992) 1.2 m (4 ft) thick and was placed in pours 1400 m3 to 1700 m3
(1830 yd3 to 2220 yd3) in volume, with placement rates (pumping the

Table 5. Temperature Rise in Large Concrete Monoliths Produced with HVFA Concrete
Cement Fly ash Strength MPa (psi) Max. temp Time to
Mix kg/m3 (lb/yd3) kg/m3 (lb/yd3) w/cm 1-day 3-day °C (°F) max. (h)

1 365 (600) Type I - 0.45 10.3 (1495) - 68 (154) 29

2 125 (211) Type I 155 (261) 0.46 1.6 (230) 5.1 (740) 44 (111) 53

3 170 (287) Type I 220 (370) 0.29 8.4 (1220) 15.6 (2260) 54 (129) 57

4 330 (556) Type II - 0.50 7.3 (1060) 14.0 (2030) 55 (131) 75

5 125 (211) Type I 155 (261) 0.41 2.5 (365) 8.4 (1220) 47 (117) 98
(Bisaillon 1994)

7
concrete) of up to 100 m3/h (130 yd3/h). Concrete with 50% Class C
fly ash was used to control temperature while thermocouples were
used to determine when thermal blankets could be removed without
causing thermal shock.
Finishing and Curing
The use of fly ash can lead to significant retardation of the setting
time, which means that finishing operations may have to be delayed.
At normal temperatures, the rate of the pozzolanic reaction is slower
than the rate of cement hydration, and fly ash concrete needs to be
properly cured if the full benefits of its incorporation are to be real-
ized. When high levels of fly ash are used it is generally recommend-
ed that the concrete is moist cured for a minimum period of 7 days.
It has been recommended that the duration of curing be extended
further (for example, to 14 days) where possible, or that a curing
membrane be placed after 7 days of moist curing (Malhotra 2005).
If adequate curing cannot be provided in practice, the amount of fly
ash used in the concrete should be limited.
The finishing and curing requirements for high-volume fly ash
concrete exposed to cyclic freezing and thawing in the presence of
de-icing salts is discussed in the section Effect of Fly Ash on the
Durability of Concrete.
Effect of Fly Ash on the Properties
of Hardened Concrete
Compressive Strength Development
Figure 12 shows the text book effect on compressive strength of
replacing a certain mass of portland cement with an equal mass of
low-calcium (Class F) fly ash and maintaining a constant w/cm. As
the level of replacement increases the early-age strength decreases.
However, long-term strength development is improved when fly ash
is used and at some age the strength of the fly ash concrete will
Moist-cured concretes at equal W/CM
Control
Compressive strength
Increasing levels
of fly ash
Age
Figure 12. Text book effect of fly ash on compressive strength
development of concrete.
equal that of the portland cement concrete so long as sufficient
curing is provided. The age at which strength parity with the control
(portland cement) concrete is achieved is greater at higher levels of
fly ash. The ultimate strength achieved by the concrete increases with
increasing fly ash content, at least with replacement levels up to 50%.
Generally, the differences in the early-age strength of portland cement
and fly ash concrete are less for fly ash with higher levels of calcium,
but this is not always the case.
In many cases, concrete is proportioned to achieve a certain minimum
strength at a specified age (typically 28 days). This can be achieved by
selecting the appropriate water-to-cementitious materials ratio (w/cm)
for the blend of cement and fly ash being used. The w/cm required will
vary depending on the level of fly ash replacement, the composition of
the ash, and the age and strength specified. If the specified strength is
required at 28 days or earlier this will usually require lower values of
w/cm when using higher levels of fly ash. A lower w/cm can be achieved
by a combination of (i) reducing the water content by either taking
advantage of the lower demand in the presence of fly ash, or by using a
water-reducing admixture, or both; and (ii) increasing the total cementi-
tious content of the mix. When the strength is required at early ages (for
example, 1 day) the use of an accelerating admixture may be considered.
The rate of early-age strength development is strongly influenced by
temperature, and this is especially the case for fly ash concrete as the
pozzolanic reaction is more sensitive to temperature than is the
hydration of portland cement. Figure 13 shows the effect of using
temperature-matched curing for concrete with and without 30% fly
ash (Bamforth 1980) proportioned to equal 28-day strength.
Temperature-matched curing increased the strength of fly ash concrete
at all ages up to 28 days, the effect being most pronounced at early
ages: at 3 days the strength of the temperature-matched cured cubes
was almost double that of cubes stored under standard conditions.
Temperature-matched curing resulted in a small increase in the
strength of portland cement concrete at 3 days (5% increase over
standard-cured concrete), but significantly impaired the strength at
Standard laboratory curing Temperature-matched curing
60
Compressive strength (MPa)
Compressive strength (MPa)
Fly ash concrete
PC concrete 8000
50
6000
40
PC concrete
30 4000
20 Fly ash concrete
2000
10
0 0
0 3 7 28 56 90 0 3 7 28 56 90
Age (days) Age (days)
Figure 13. Strength development of 100 mm (4 in.) concrete cubes
subjected to standard laboratory and temperature-matched curing
(Bamforth 1980).
8
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete
later ages. In large sections, or in concrete placed at high tempera-
tures, the difference in the early-age insitu strength of concretes with
and without fly ash may be much lower than that predicted on the
basis of test specimens stored under standard laboratory conditions.
It follows that in small sections placed in cold weather, the strength
gain of fly ash concrete could be lower than that predicted on the
basis of cylinders stored under standard conditions. Given the high
sensitivity of fly ash concrete to curing temperature, especially when
higher levels of fly ash are used, it may be prudent to consider the
use of methods (such as temperature-matched curing or cast-in-place
cylinders) to determine the in-situ strength of the concrete.
If relatively high strengths are required at very early ages, it will usual-
ly be necessary to limit the amount of fly ash used unless appropriate
means are taken to accelerate the early strength contribution of the
fly ash (for example, use of heat-curing or accelerators, or both),
especially when the concrete is placed at low temperatures.
Other Mechanical Properties
The relationships between the tensile strength, flexural strength and
elastic modulus, and the compressive strength of concrete are not
significantly affected by the presence of fly ash at low and moderate
levels of replacement. Malhotra and Mehta (2005) indicate that the
long-term flexural and tensile strength of HVFA concrete may be much
improved due to the continuing pozzolanic reaction strengthening
the bond between paste and the aggregate. They further suggest that
the elastic modulus of HVFA concrete may be increased due to the
presence of significant amounts of unreacted fly ash particles which
act as fine aggregate and because of the very low porosity of the
interfacial zone (Malhotra 2005).
Creep
The creep of concrete is influenced by a large number of parameters
and the effect of fly ash on creep will depend to some extent on how
the effect is measured. For example, if loaded at an early age, fly ash
concrete may exhibit higher amounts of creep than portland cement
concrete because it has a lower compressive strength (Lane 1982 and
Yuan 1983). However, if concretes are loaded at an age when they
have attained the same strength, fly ash concrete will exhibit less creep
because of its continued strength gain (Lane 1982 and Ghosh 1981).
The creep of HVFA concrete tends to be lower than portland cement
concrete of the same strength and this has been attributed to the
presence of unreacted fly ash (Sivasundaram 1991). It is also likely
that the very low water and paste contents attainable in HVFA
concrete (and concurrently high aggregate content) play an important
role in reducing the creep of concrete with high levels of fly ash.
Drying Shrinkage
For concrete with dimensionally-stable aggregates the key parameters
affecting drying shrinkage are; the amount of water in the mix, the
w/cm, and the fractional volume of aggregate.
9
In well-cured and properly-proportioned fly ash concrete, where a
reduction in the mixing water content is made to take advantage of
the reduced water demand resulting from the use of the fly ash, the
amount of shrinkage should be equal to or less than an equivalent
portland cement concrete mix.
It has been reported that the drying shrinkage of high volume fly ash
concrete is generally less than conventional concrete (Malhotra 2005
and Atis 2003) and this is undoubtedly due to the low amounts of
water used in producing such concrete.
Effect of Fly Ash on the Durability
of Concrete
Abrasion Resistance
It has been demonstrated that the abrasion resistance of properly
finished and cured concrete is primarily a function of the properties
of the aggregate and the strength of concrete regardless of the
presence of fly ash (Gebler 1986). This appears to hold true at higher
levels of fly ash (Malhotra 2005, Atis 2002, and Siddique 2004).
Permeability and Resistance to the
Penetration of Chlorides
Fly ash reduces the permeability of concrete to water and gas
provided the concrete is adequately cured (Thomas 2002). This
has been attributed to a refinement in the pore structure (Thomas
1989 and Marsh 1985).
It is now more common to use indirect measures of concrete
permeability such as ASTM C1202, Standard Test Method for
Electrical Indication of Concrete's Ability to Resist Chloride Ion
Penetration, (often referred to as the Rapid Chloride Permeability
Test, or RCPT) due to difficulties in measuring the water permeability
of concrete with low w/cm and supplementary cementing materials
such as fly ash. Despite the known limitations of this test (it
measures electrical conductivity, not permeability) it does provide
a reasonable indication of the ability of concrete to resist chloride
penetration (Stanish 2001) and there have been hundreds of
publications reporting how various parameters (materials, mixture
proportions, curing, maturity, etc.) affect the outcome of this test.
Figure 14 shows RCPT data from the author for concretes (w/cm =
0.40) with various levels of CSA Type CI fly ash (~ 13% CaO)
continuously moist cured for up to approximately 7 years. At 28 days,
the charge passed increases with fly ash content, with the chloride
permeability of the concrete containing 56% fly ash being almost
double that of the control concrete without fly ash. However, there
is a rapid decrease in the charge passed with time for fly ash
concretes, and by 180 days there is a reversal in the trend with
chloride permeability decreasing with increasing fly ash content.
After, approximately 7 years the concretes with 25%, 40% and 56%
fly ash are 4 times, 14 times, and 29 times less electrically conductive
than the control concrete, respectively.
 All the results indicate that the concretes have very low to negligible
chloride penetrability based on the ASTM C1202 criteria.
10000
charge passed (coulombs)
ASTM C1202 RCPT data

W/CM = 0.40
1000
0% Fly ash
100 25% Fly ash
40% Fly ash
56% Fly ash
10
10 100 1000
Age (days)
Figure 14. Effect of fly ash content and age on the chloride
permeability of concrete.
Malhotra (2000) reported RCPT data for concrete cores extracted
from large blocks that had been stored outdoors protected from
direct precipitation for 10 years. Six concrete mixes, including a HVFA
concrete mix, were used and the test results are shown in Table 6.
After 10 years, five of the concrete mixes are considered to have a
very low chloride penetrability according to the ASTM C1202
criteria (charge passed between 100 and 1000 coulombs), yet
no measurable charge was passed through the HVFA concrete
specimen during the six-hour test period.
Naik (2003) reported RCPT data for concrete cores extracted from
HVFA concrete pavements at the age of 7 to 14 years with the
results shown in Table 7. The chloride permeability decreased with
increasing fly ash contents and, for a given level of replacement, was
lower for concrete with Class F fly ash compared to Class C fly ash.
These data from mature HVFA concrete structures would seem to
indicate that the concrete becomes nearly impermeable to chlorides.
However, as mentioned previously, the RCPT measures electrical
conductivity as opposed to permeability. In saturated concretes,
the conductivity will be a function of both the pore structure and the
composition of the pore solution. Supplementary cementing materials
are known to reduce the concentration of ions in the pore solution
and, hence, the electrical conductivity of the solution. Thus,
reductions in the RCPT cannot be solely ascribed to beneficial
10000 changes in the pore structure and concomitant reductions in
permeability. However, the reductions in RCPT observed with HVFA
concrete are impressive and certainly indicate substantial increases
in the resistance of the material to chloride ion penetration.
Steady-state diffusion tests conducted on cement pastes indicate that
fly ash (and other SCMs) reduces the chloride diffusion coefficient,
the magnitude of the reduction in short-term laboratory tests with
20% to 30% fly ash being anywhere from 2.5 times (Page 1982)
to 10 times (Ngala 2000). Testing of concrete exposed to marine
environments show that the beneficial effects of fly ash become
more significant with time as the concrete containing fly ash shows
substantial reductions in chloride penetrability with time (Bamforth
1999, Thomas 1999, and Thomas 2004).
Figure 15 shows chloride concentration profiles at different ages for
concrete exposed in a marine tidal zone for up to 10 years (Thomas
2004). The concretes were proportioned to provide the same strength
Table 7, RCPT Data for Cores Taken from
Concrete Pavements

Cementitious
Table 6. RCPT Data for Cores Taken from content Age RCPT
10-Year-Old Concrete Blocks Mix Mix kg/m3 (lb/yd3) w/cm (years) (coulombs)

A-1 70% 335 (565) N/A 14 113

Cementitious RCPT
Class C
content at 10 years
Mix SCMs kg/m3 (lb/yd3) w/cm (coulombs) B-5 50% 350 (590) 0.26 8 217
Class C
1 7% silica fume 485 (817) 0.29 100
+ 28% slag C-4 19% 350 (590) 0.29 8 566
Class C
2 35% slag 484 (816) 0.28 235
D-2 67% 400 (674) 0.31 7 65
3 8% silica fume 488 (823) 0.27 565
Class F
4 12% silica fume 486 (819) 0.27 120
E-3 53% 389 (656) 0.31 7 77
5 57% fly ash 350 (590) 0.29 0 Class F

6 100% 485 (817) 0.27 380 F-6 35% 416 (701) 0.31 8 155
portland cement Class F
(Malhotra 2000) (Naik 2003)

10
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

4
C35 concrete - 0% Fly ash C35 concrete - 0% Fly ash 0% Fly ash
15% Fly ash

Chloride (% mass of cement)

Chloride (% mass of cement)

4.0 4.0

Chloride in 21-26 mm
28-days 3 30% Fly ash

depth interval
1 year 50% Fly ash
3.0 3.0 2 years
4 years 2
2.0 2.0 10 years

1
1.0 1.0

0.0 0.0 0
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 0 2 4 6 8 10
Depth (mm) Depth (mm) Age (days)

Figure 15. Chloride profiles into marine-exposed concrete Figure 16. Effect of fly ash content on chloride penetration.
at 10 years.

at 28 days and contain zero and 50% fly ash. The concretes were Alkali-Silica Reaction
unsaturated at the time of first exposure and there is a fairly rapid
It is well established that low-calcium (Class F) fly ash is capable of
penetration of chlorides into both concretes. However, beyond this
controlling damaging alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete at
time there are clearly substantial differences between the two
moderate levels of replacement (20% to 30%) and the effect has
concretes in terms of the resistance to chloride ion penetration. been ascribed to the reduced concentration of alkali hydroxides in the
The concrete without fly ash offered little resistance, whereas there pore solution when fly ash is present. High-calcium Class C fly ashes
was very little increase in the chloride content of the fly ash concrete are less effective in this role (Shehata 2000 and Shehata 1999).
with time, especially at depth. Figure 16 shows the chloride content
in the depth interval from 21 to 26 mm (0.82 to 1.02 inches) Figure 17 shows the expansion of concrete prisms containing
high-alkali cement (raised to 1.25% Na2Oeq), a reactive siliceous
beneath the surface for concretes with different amounts of fly ash
limestone coarse aggregate and different fly ashes (all used at a
exposed for various periods of time. The chloride penetrated to this
replacement level of 25%) after 2-years storage over water at 38°C
depth rapidly in the control concrete without fly ash. The rate of (100°F). The expansion is plotted against the calcium oxide content of
chloride penetration decreased significantly with fly ash content and the fly ash. The data show that most fly ashes with low to moderate
the chloride content at this depth barely increased at all beyond the calcium oxide and alkali contents (< 20% CaO and < 4% Na2Oeq)
initial 28-day period for the concrete with 50% fly ash. are effective in controlling damaging expansion (for instance,
Expansion of concrete at 2 years (%)

0.20
ASTM C1293 0.3
ASTM C1293 FM
High-alkali PC
Expansion at 2 years (%)

ASTM Class F SD-I

0.15 & 25% fly ash Fly ash > SD-II
5.0% Na 2Oe 0.2 WM
ASTM Class C EW
0.10 OK-I
Shehata & Thomas (2000)
Unpublished data
0.1
0.05 Fly Ash < 4.0% Na2Oe

0
0.00 0 20 40 60
0 10 20 30
Calcium content of fly ash (% Cao) Fly ash replacement level (%)

Figure 17. Effect of fly ash composition on expansion of concrete Figure 18. Effect of fly ash composition and level of replacement
(reactive siliceous limestone coarse aggregate and 25% fly ash). on expansion of concrete (reactive siliceous limestone coarse
aggregate).

11
expansion ≤ 0.040% at 2 years) when used at a 25% level of replace-
ment with this aggregate. High-alkali/high-calcium Class C fly ashes
(> 20% CaO) are less effective and the expansion at 2 years generally
increases with the calcium oxide content of the fly ash. However, the
data in Figure 18 show that Class C fly ashes can be used provided
that they are used at higher levels of replacement. Some fly ashes may
have to be used at replacement levels above 50%.
Generally, the level of fly ash required to suppress deleterious
expansion of concrete increases with the following:
• increased calcium and alkali content of fly ash;
• decreased silica content of fly ash;
• increased aggregate reactivity;
• increased alkali availability from portland cement (and other
components of the concrete); and
• increased alkali in the environment (for example, from de-icing
or anti-icing salts).
There is a low risk of ASR expansion occurring in the field when very
high-volume fly ash concrete with 50% or more fly ash is used,
however, testing is recommended when high-calcium fly ash is used.
High-alkali fly ashes (> 5% Na2Oeq) are not recommended for use
with potentially reactive aggregates.
Sulfate Resistance
A number of studies (Dunstan 1980, Mehta 1986, von Fay 1989,
and Tikalsky 1992) have demonstrated that the use of sufficient
quantities of low-calcium Class F fly ash can increase the resistance
of concrete to chemical attack when the concrete is exposed
to sulfate-bearing soils or groundwater. However, these studies
have also shown that high-calcium Class C fly ashes are generally
not effective in this role and may even increase the rate and
extent of sulfate attack. Shashiprakash and Thomas (2001)
showed that blends of high-C3A Type I portland cement and high-
calcium fly ashes (> 20% CaO) could not meet the requirements
for moderate sulfate resistance (for instance, mortar bar expansion
< 0.10% at 6 months when tested in ASTM C1012) even when
the level of fly ash was increased to 40% by mass of the total
cementitious material.
Studies on concrete exposed to wetting and drying cycles at the
sulfate soils facility of the California Department of Transportation
showed that the principle mechanism of deterioration in this
environment is physical sulfate attack due to the formation and
crystallization of sodium sulfate1 (Stark 2002). Under these
conditions, fly ash did not lead to any significant improvement in
performance even when up to 40% of a Class F fly ash was used.
Carbonation
The rate of carbonation of properly-proportioned and well-cured
concrete is slow. Provided adequate cover is given to embedded steel
reinforcement, carbonation-induced corrosion of the steel is unlikely
to occur during the typical service life of a reinforced concrete
structure. However, problems with steel corrosion initiated by
carbonation are occasionally encountered in concrete structures due
to a combination of either poor-quality concrete, inadequate curing,
or insufficient cover.
It has been documented that concrete containing fly ash will
carbonate at a similar rate compared with portland cement concrete
of the same 28-day strength (Tsukayama 1980, Lewandowski 1983,
Matthews 1984, Nagataki 1986, Hobbs 1988, and Dhir 1989).
This means that fly ash increases the carbonation rate provided that
the basis for comparison is an equal w/cm. It has also been shown
that the increase due to fly ash is more pronounced at higher levels
of replacement and in poorly-cured concrete of low strength (Thomas
1992 and Thomas 2000). Even when concretes are compared on
the basis of equal strength, concrete with fly ash (especially at high
levels of replacement) may carbonate more rapidly in poorly-cured,
low strength concrete (Ho 1983, Ho 1997, Thomas 1992, and
Thomas 2000).
Based on 10-year carbonation data collected at the Building
Research Establishment (BRE) in the U.K., Thomas (2004) established
carbonation-rate coefficients2 for concrete with a range of strengths,
fly ash levels and moist-curing periods, and stored outdoors with
protection from direct precipitation3. The values of these carbonation
rates are presented in Table 8.
These data show that, within a single strength grade, concretes
containing fly ash carbonate at a faster rate (especially for lower-
strength concrete with higher levels of fly ash) after only 1 day
moist curing. To achieve similar performance as concrete without fly
ash, concrete containing 50% fly ash must be moist-cured for an
extended period of time or else be designed have a higher strength.
A recent study reported carbonation data for HVFA concrete
(Bouzoubaa 2006). In this study the maximum carbonation coefficient
for concrete with 56% fly ash and w/cm = 0.32 when moist cured for
7 days was 5.04 mm/y1/2 for indoor exposure and 2.51 mm/y1/2 for
unprotected outdoor exposure. This compares with 1.14 mm/y1/2 and
0 mm/y1/2 (for instance, no measurable carbonation at 7 years) for
portland cement concrete with the same w/cm. This indicates that the
use of high levels of fly ash resulted in much increased carbonation
rates. However, it was concluded by this study that carbonation is
not an issue for well-cured HVFA concrete based on the calculated
1
Presumably the cyclic dehydration-hydration of sodium sulfate (i.e. thernadite-mirabalite
transformation) also contributed to this form of attack.
2
Rate coefficient k is calculated from carbonation data assuming that the depth of carbona-
tion, d, is related to time, t, through the relationship d = k.t / (where d is measured in mm, t in
1
2
years, and k in mm/y / ) 2
3
This environment is considered to be the most conducive for carbonation-induced corrosion
of steel reinforcement. Drier environments (for example, normal laboratory conditions) may
lead to increased carbonation rates, but there is insufficient moisture available to sustain
the corrosion process. Concrete stored outdoors and exposed to frequent precipitation will
carbonate at a very slow rate. However, if the concrete is protected from direct precipitation,
the conditions can favor both carbonation and corrosion. The undersides of balconies, ledges
and beams are exposed to this type of condition and it is in these locations that problems
due to carbonation-induced corrosion are sometimes found.
12
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

Resistance to Cyclic Freezing and Thawing,

Table 8. Effect of Strength, Curing and Fly Ash on and Deicer Salt Scaling
Carbonation Rate Coefficient, k (mm/y ) 1
/2

Concrete can be resistant to cyclic freezing and thawing provided it has

Strength Moist Fly ash content (%) sufficient strength and an adequate air-void system, and the aggre-
grade* curing gates are frost-resistant. This holds true for fly ash concrete regardless
MPa (psi) (days) 0 15 30 50 of the fly ash content. However, a number of laboratory studies have
1 6.8 8.3 8.3 10 shown that concrete containing fly ash may be less resistant to scaling
when subjected to freezing and thawing in the presence of deicer salts
18 (2610) 3 5.8 6.3 6.2 8.4 (Timms 1956, Gebler 1986, Johnston 1987, Johnston 1994, Whiting
7 4.9 4.6 5.3 7.1 1989, and Afrani 1994) and the lower scaling resistance of fly ash
concrete is more pronounced in lean concretes (low cementitious
1 4.9 4.9 5.2 6.4 material content) or concretes with high levels of cement replaced
25 (3625) 3 3.1 3.7 3.9 5.9 with fly ash. However, some studies which have shown satisfactory
performance at levels of fly ash up to 30% (Gebler 1986, Gifford 1987,
7 2.4 3.3 3.2 4.8 and Bilodeau 1991) and, in some cases, even higher (Naik 1995).
1 2.4 2.8 3.0 3.9 Based on a review of published data from laboratory tests and a survey
of fly ash concrete structures exposed to de-icing salts the following
32 (4640) 3 0.71 2.1 2.1 2.6 observation have been made (Thomas 1997):
7 0.28 1.3 1.2 1.9
• scaling increases as the w/cm increases;
*Strength grade based on characteristic 28-day cylinder strengths • scaling mass loss generally increases with fly ash content, espe-
(converted from original cube strengths) (Thomas 2004). cially at high levels of replacement (for instance ≥ 40 to 50%);
• results from concrete containing fly ash tend to be more variable;
time-to-corrosion (> 200 years) for reinforcing steel with a depth of and
cover of 40 mm (1.5 in)1 in concrete exposed outdoors. • the use of curing compounds (membranes) reduces scaling; this
is particularly noticeable for fly ash concrete.
The conclusion of Bouzoubaa (2006) is only valid if the following
conditions are met: (i) HVFA concrete is proportioned with a very low The results from laboratory scaling tests (ASTM C672) do not
w/cm (≤ 0.32), (ii) concrete is moist-cured for at least 7 days, (iii) correlate well with field performance. Fly ash concrete has performed
concrete is directly exposed to moisture during service (for instance, well in a number of demonstration projects where samples cast from
not protected from precipitation), and (iv) the specified minimum the same concrete mixtures during construction and tested in the
cover requirements (for example, 40 mm (1.5 in)) are met. If there laboratory have performed poorly.
are changes in the mixture proportions, if the concrete is not directly
exposed to moisture (for example, it is protected from rainfall), and Fly ash concrete is likely to provide satisfactory scaling performance
if 7-days curing and 40-mm cover are specified, but not achieved (for example, mass loss < 0.8 kg/m2 and visual rating ≤ 2 to 3)
in practice, the time-to-corrosion will be reduced substantially. provided the water-cementitious material, w/cm, does not exceed
For example, the data in Table 8 show that 25 MPa (3625 psi) 0.45 and the level of fly ash does not exceed 20 to 30%. This, of
concrete with 50% fly ash (W/CM = 0.41 for this mix) has a course, assumes an adequate air-void system is present in the
carbonation coefficient of k = 5.85 mm/y1/2 if it is only moist-cured concrete and that proper construction practices are adhered to.
for 3 days. If the cover actually achieved in practice is only 30 mm
(1.2 in), corrosion of the steel will be initiated in just 26 years. High-volume fly ash concrete invariably performs poorly in laboratory
scaling tests even when the w/cm is maintained at very low values.
In summary, when high-volume fly ash concrete is used in areas Testing (Bilodeau 1998) using various curing regimes, including differ-
prone to carbonation (for example, sheltered outdoor exposure), ent curing compounds, showed severe scaling (mass loss > 4 kg/m2
particular attention must be paid to ensuring that the concrete mix and visual ratings = 5) for concrete with high levels of fly ash (58%)
proportions, period of moist curing, and depth of cover are adequate and low w/cm (= 0.32) regardless of curing, although the use of
for the purpose. curing compounds did improve the performance to some degree.
1
Minimum cover in Canadian specifications (CSA A23.1) for concrete exposed outdoors The field performance of HVFA concrete with regards to deicer salt
provided there are no chlorides present and the concrete is not cast against and permanently
exposed to earth. Note that ACI 318 requires a minimum cover for concrete not exposed to scaling is varied. HVFA concrete demonstration projects in Halifax
weather or in contact with ground as follows: included trial sections of two sidewalks, one placed in 1990 and the
slabs, walls, joists: No. 14 and No. 18 bars- 40 mm (1.5 in); No. 11 bar and smaller- 20
mm (3/4 in); other in 1994 (Langley 1998). The first placement had a cementitious
beams, columns: primary reinforcement, ties, stirrups, spirals- 40mm (1.5 in);
shells, folded plate members: No. 6 bar and larger- 20 mm (3/4 in); No. 5 bar, W31 or
content of 390 kg/m3 (657 lb/yd3) and contained 55% of low-calcium
D31 wire, and smaller- 12.5 mm (1/2 in). Class F fly ash, and in 1998 it was reported (Langley 1998) to have

13
Figure 19. Sidewalks in Halifax - portland cement concrete mix. (Thomas 2006)
shown excellent performance that was at least equivalent to the sur-
rounding concrete. The second placement had a cement content of
400 kg/m3 (674 lb/yd3), a fly ash content of 55% (Class F) and water
content of 110 kg/m3 (185 lb/yd3), resulting in w/cm= 0.275. Figures
19 and 20 show the visual appearance of the control and HVFA
concrete mix in the summer of 2006, after 12 winters. The HVFA
concrete has scaled heavily (significantly more so than the control)
but is still serviceable. It should be noted that this concrete receives
frequent applications of deicer salt and is exposed to more than
100 cycles of freeze-thaw per year (Malhotra 2005).
High-volume fly ash concretes used for the construction of trial
pavement sections in Wisconsin were reported to have performed well
with regards to scaling resistance after more than 10 years (Naik
2003). The six concrete mixtures used contained between 35 to 67%
Class F fly ash and 19 to 70% Class C fly ash and w/cm in the range
0.26 to 0.31 (information on the water content of the concrete with
70% Class C fly ash is not available). The pavements were construct-
ed between 1984 and 1991, and the concrete was placed by a slip-
form paving machine. It has been reported (Naik 2003) that the HVFA
concretes with up to 67% fly ash have shown only minor surface
scaling and that the other sections (with up to 70% Class C fly ash)
have shown very little damage due to scaling.
Although concrete containing moderate to high volumes of fly ash
can be produced to be resistant to freeze-thaw action in the
presence of deicer salts, it is apparent that its scaling resistance is
more sensitive to mixture proportioning, method of placement,
finishing and curing than portland cement concrete. When such
levels of fly ash are used to produce concrete flatwork that will be
exposed to deicer salts considerable attention should be paid to
the quality of the concrete and placement practices.
Optimizing Fly Ash Content in Concrete
The properties of fresh concrete and the mechanical properties and
durability of hardened concrete are strongly influenced by the
Figure 20. Sidewalks in Halifax - HFVA concrete mix. (Thomas 2006)
incorporation of the fly ash into the mixture. The extent to which fly
ash affects these properties is dependent not only on the level and
the composition of the fly ash, but also on other parameters including
the composition and proportions of the other ingredients in the
concrete mixture, the type and size of the concrete component, the
exposure conditions during and after placement, and construction
practices. Clearly there is no one replacement level best
suited for all applications.
For example, a concrete sidewalk placed in late fall, a few weeks
before the first anticipated snowfall and deicer salt application, will
require a different level of fly ash than a massive concrete foundation
placed in the middle of summer. In some cases, it may prudent to limit
the fly ash used to minimize its impact and, in other cases, it may be
beneficial to maximize the amount of fly ash used. In other words, the
fly ash content of a mixture needs to be optimized for each application.
Table 9 provides a summary of how fly ash, when used at moderate
to high levels of replacement (15 to 50%), affects the properties of
concrete. The use of fly ash has both beneficial and detrimental
effects. Thus, optimization involves reaching a compromise where the
fly ash content selected is sufficient to achieve the required benefit
without producing any significant harm. For example, if concrete is
being produced with a potentially (alkali-silica) reactive aggregate in
cold-weather construction, the concrete should contain enough fly ash
to control ASR expansion, but not so much such that the setting and
early strength gain is impacted, or the resistance to deicer salt scaling
is reduced. Most times the process of optimization will involve chang-
ing other parameters of the mixture. In the example of the reactive
aggregate and cold-weather concreting, a set accelerator could be
used to compensate for the negative impact of fly ash on the setting
and early strength gain, or a small amount of silica fume could be
used to both offset the amount of fly ash needed to control ASR and
to improve the early-age strength.
In massive concrete structures where the primary consideration is reduc-
ing heat and the risk of thermal cracking, the optimum replacement
level is likely to be in the range of 40% to 60% fly ash (or even higher
14
Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete
Table 9. Effect of Fly Ash on the Properties of Concrete
Property Effect of Fly Ash*
Fresh concrete Workability is improved and water demand is reduced
for most fly ashes.
Concrete is more cohesive and segregates less—
improved pumpability.
Bleeding is reduced especially at high replacement levels.
Set time Extended—especially in cold weather.
Certain combinations of fly ash, cement and chemical
admixtures may cause rapid or severely retarded set at
certain temperatures.
Heat of hydration Reduced for Class F fly ash at normal levels of replacement.
Class C fly ashes have to be used at higher levels of
replacement to reduce heat (for example ≥ 50%).
Reduction increased by using high levels of replacement,
low total cementitious contents, and low concrete
placing temperatures.
Early-age strength Reduced - especially at 1 day.
Reduction is greater for Class F fly ashes and for higher
replacement levels.
Impact less for in-situ strength if there is significant
autogenous temperature rise (for example, in large pours).
Long-term strength Increased.
Effect increases with the level of fly ash.
Permeability and Reduced significantly - especially at later ages.
chloride resistance
Expansion due to Reduced.
alkali-silica Deleterious expansion can be completely suppressed by
reaction sufficient levels of replacement.
For Class F fly ash (with up to 20% CaO) a replacement
level of 20 to 30% fly ash is sufficient for most aggregates.
Higher levels of Class C fly ash are required (≥ 40%).
Sulfate resistance Increased by Class F fly ashes.
A dosage level of 20 to 30% Class F fly ash will generally
provide equivalent performance to a Type II or V portland
cement (ASTM C150) cement or a Type MS or HS hydraulic
cement (ASTM C1157).
Resistance to cyclic immersion in sodium sulfate solution and
drying has been shown to be relatively unaffected by up to
40% fly ash.
Resistance to Decreased for all fly ashes.
carbonation Significant decreases when high levels of fly ash are used in
poorly-cured, low-strength (high w/cm) concrete.
Resistance to Decreased.
deicer-salt scaling Significant scaling occurs in laboratory tests on concrete with
high levels of fly ash.
Field performance with HVFA concrete is variable.
Hand-finished flatwork is most susceptible.
Class C fly ash shows slightly better resistance.
Curing membranes may increase resistance.
*Unless indicated otherwise, a minimum amount of 15% fly ash is needed to achieve the desired properties. Optimum dosage levels are
dependant on the composition of the fly ash, mix design, exposure conditions, and required service.
15
Guidance
Reduce water content by approximately 3% for each 10%
fly ash compared to similar mix without fly ash.
Take precautions to protect concrete when placing
conditions accelerate the rate of moisture loss
(see ACI 305, Hot Weather Concreting).
Ensure bleeding has stopped before commencing
final finishing operations.
Consider reducing level of fly ash during cold weather.
Test fly ash-cement-admixture compatibility.
Use Class F fly ash if temperature control is critical.
Otherwise, use high levels of Class C fly ash and/or take
other measures to reduce temperature, such as: reduce
cement content, use low-heat (Type IV or LH) or moderate-
heat (Type II or MH) cement, or lower concrete placing
temperature (use crushed ice or liquid-nitrogen cooling).
Consider reducing fly ash content if early-age strength
is critical.
Use accelerating admixtures, high-early strength
cement (Type III or HE), or silica fume to compensate
for reduced early-age strength.
Consider extending testing out to 56 days for mix
design acceptance.
Adequate curing is essential if these benefits are to
be achieved in the concrete close to the surface
(cover concrete).
If a reactive aggregate is being used, Class F fly ash
should be used, if available.
If Class F fly ash in not available, consider using
combinations of Class C fly ash with silica fume or slag.
The level of fly ash required for a particular
aggregate should be determined using appropriate
testing (for instance, ASTM C1293 or ASTM C1567).
Do not use Class C fly ash.
Test cement—fly ash combinations using ASTM C1012.
Consider using Class F fly ash with sulfate-
resisting portland cement.
Provide adequate curing for concrete containing fly ash.
Ensure cover requirements are met.
Limit the level of fly ash in hand-finished flatwork (for
example, sidewalks and driveways) exposed to deicing
salts (ACI318 limits) - especially in late-fall placing.
Where possible, ensure adequate drying period before
first application of deicing salt.
Pay special attention to the mix proportions (w/cm), air-
void system, and finishing and curing practices when fly
ash concrete is used in flatwork exposed to deicing salts.
levels) unless there are some early-age-strength requirements. For ele-
ments such as footings, walls, columns and beams that do not require
finishing the level of fly ash will likely be dictated by early-age-strength
requirements. If there are no such requirements, a fly ash content of
40% to 60% may also be suitable provided that adequate curing is
ensured. If 7 days moist curing cannot be provided, lower levels of fly
ash should be used. For concrete flatwork, the amount of fly ash will
depend not only on strength requirements (for example, for suspended
slabs) but also the nature and timing of finishing operations. Obla
(2003) suggests that fly ash contents of 40% to 50% are suitable
for slabs that merely require a broom finish, but that the level of
replacement may have to be reduced for slabs that require trowel
finishing (for example, 25% to 50%) to avoid unwanted delays in
finishing. The timing of joint cutting may also impact the level of fly
ash that can be used in slabs. Another limitation for flatwork is the Figure 22. Lady Evelyn Dam, Ontario, Canada.
possibility of exposure to deicer salts and freeze-thaw cycles. For
concrete exposed to these conditions it is prudent to limit the level of greywacke aggregate and high-alkali cement with fly ash as the sole
fly ash. Finally, when using higher dosage levels in reinforced concrete, measure for preventing expansion and damage due to alkali-silica
consideration should be given to whether the combination of the reaction, ASR (Thomas 1996). The dam, which was completed in 1969,
concrete quality (w/cm), degree of moist curing, depth of cover, and is situated on the Montreal River at Lake Timiskaming in the Canadian
exposure condition pose a risk of carbonation-induced corrosion. province of Ontario. Testing prior to construction failed to identify the
aggregate as reactive using the ASTM C289 Standard Test Method for
Potential Alkali-Silica Reactivity of Aggregates (Chemical Method) and
Case Studies the ASTM C227 Standard Test Method for Potential Alkali Reactivity of
Cement. However, the timely investigation of the nearby Lady Evelyn
As discussed earlier, fly ash has been used in practically all types
Dam (Figure 22) in 1965 implicated similar rock types from the
of concrete applications from residential foundations to high-
Montreal River area in damaging ASR (this structure was eventually
performance concrete for highway and marine structures, and
replaced). This prompted more detailed investigations of the aggregate
high-strength concrete for high-rise construction. Fly ash is used
intended for use in the Lower Notch Dam and testing in concrete
in both ready-mixed and precast concrete, and also in pumped
confirmed the reactivity of the rock. Numerous highway structures
concrete, slipformed concrete, roller-compacted concrete, shotcrete,
(including 26 bridges) and hydraulic structures in this part of Ontario,
and controlled low-strength material. The following case studies
which were constructed with similar aggregates, but without fly ash,
have been selected as examples of some of the more demanding
have since shown damage due to ASR (Thomas 1996).
applications of fly ash concrete.
Testing at Ontario Hydro's Research Division indicated that expansion
Using Fly Ash to Control Alkali-Silica Reaction—
due to ASR with this aggregate could be prevented by using either
Lower Notch Dam, Ontario
a low-alkali cement or fly ash. The final decision was to use a
The Lower Notch Dam (Figure 21) is perhaps one of the only major combination of Class F fly ash combined with a high-alkali cement
concrete structures that was constructed using a known reactive (one analysis during construction reported a cement alkali level of
% Na2Oe). A replacement level of 20% fly ash was used
for the structural concrete in the powerhouse and 30%
fly ash in the massive concrete structures (Thomas
1996).

A visual inspection of the structure and examination of cores 25

years after construction revealed no evidence of ASR (Thomas 1996).
A more recent inspection of the structure (2006) confirmed that
there were no visible signs of ASR (that is no signs of expansion or
cracking) 35 years after construction.

Using Fly Ash to Increase Chloride Resistance—

St. Clair River Tunnel

The new St. Clair River Tunnel was constructed in 1993-1994

Figure 21. Lower Notch Dam, Ontario, Canada.
between Sarnia in Ontario and Port Huron in Michigan. The ground-
(Courtesy Ontario Power Generation)

16
 Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete
water contained chlorides (4000 ppm) and sulfates
(155 ppm), and

17
Figure 23. St. Clair river tunnel precast tunnel lining segments. Figure 24. York University - computer science building.
(Courtesy Hatch Mott MacDonald) (Courtesy www.pkphotography.com)

this environment, combined with hydrostatic heads of up to 35 m coefficient at 120 days. RCPT values for slices cut from cores to
(115 ft) led to the inclusion of both chloride diffusion and permeabili- include the back surface were less than 400 coulombs. Shortly after
ty limits in the concrete specification for the precast tunnel lining production began, the silica fume was eliminated from the mix and
segments. The requirements for the concrete were (Hart 1997): the majority of the tunnel lining segments produced for the project
contained fly ash (25 to 35%) as the only SCM. The fly ash
• cementitious content from 400 to 550 kg/m3 (675 to 927 lb/yd3); concrete met the strength and permeability limits but generally failed
• w/cm ≥ 0.36; to meet the chloride diffusion coefficient at 120 days. However,
• compressive strength ≥ 60 MPa (8700 psi) at 28 days; testing of 3-year-old concrete cylinders (Thomas, 2001) indicated
that the chloride diffusion coefficient would be met with extended
• chloride diffusion coefficient,
curing. These cylinders had measured rapid chloride permeability
Da ≥ 600 x 10-15 m2/s (6456 x 10-15 ft2/s) at 120 days; and a
values below 300 coulombs.
• water permeability, k ≤ 25 x 10-15 m/s (82 x 10-15 ft/s) at 40 days.
High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete - York University
The concrete was produced at a local ready-mixed concrete plant
and delivered in a transit mixer to the precast plant. The concrete The computer sciences building (Figure 24) at York University in
mixture used at the start of the production process contained 6% Toronto, Ontario, was designed and constructed using the following
silica fume and 30% Class C fly ash with w/cm ranging from 0.29 green building practices:
to 0.32. This mix met specification including the chloride diffusion
• energy-efficient building envelop;
• natural illumination, ventilation and heating;
Table 10. HVFA Concrete Mixture Proportions • reduced resource consumption;
(kg/m3 (lb/yd3)) • efficient land use;
Typical mix Job mixes • reduced emissions; and
30MPa 25 MPa 30 MPa • use of recycled materials.
(4350 psi) (3625 psi) (4350 psi)
In order to meet the last of the listed strategies high-volume fly
Cement 380 (640) 150 (253) 170 (287)
ash (HVFA) concrete (with 50% fly ash) was used throughout
(Type I/Type 10)
construction (Hopkins 2001). The concrete used in the columns, walls
Fly ash 0 150 (253) 170 (287) and suspended slabs had a specified strength of 30 MPa (4350 psi)
and that used in the slab-on-grade had a specified strength of 25
Stone 1130 (1905) 1150 (1938) 1110 (1871)
MPa (3625 psi). The maximum water-to-cementing-materials ratio
Sand 716 (1207) 850 (1433) 800 (1348) (w/cm) was 0.45 and there was a requirement that the concrete
receive a minimum of 7 days moist curing. The mixture proportions
Water 171 (288) 135 (228) 135 (228)
for the concrete mixes used are shown in Table 10. The fly ash used
w/cm 0.45 0.45 0.40 had an exceptional water-reducing effect, allowing the water content
(Hopkins 2001) of the mix to be reduced by about 35 kg/m3 (59 lb/yd3) compared
with the concrete producer's typical 30 MPa (4350 psi) mix without

18
 Optimizing the Use of Fly Ash in Concrete

evaporation retardant and the expedient application of wet burlap

(Hopkins 2001). The slump and strength of the concrete delivered to
site was found to be reasonably consistent throughout the construc-
70 10000 tion period (winter and summer).
Compressive strength (MPa)

Compressive strength (psi)

60
8000 Optimizing the Amount of Fly Ash in Concrete—
50
Bayview High-Rise Apartment
40 6000
The Bayview high-rise apartment complex was constructed in
30 4000 Vancouver between 1999 and 2001 and consists of a 30-story
20 “Typical” 30-MPa concrete residential tower and approximately 3000 m2 (3500 yd2) of
2000
10 50% fly concrete commercial space (Busby and Associates 2002). The architect for
0 0 this project worked with EcoSmart (a government-industry
2 3 7 28 56 90 consortium promoting the use of high-volume fly ash concrete) to
Age (days) increase the level of fly ash used in this project. The owner and
contractor were both willing to use higher volumes of fly ash
provided this did not increase the cost or require changes in
construction practices (for example, changing the construction
Figure 25. Strength development of HVFA concrete used at York
University (Hopkins 2001). schedule). Table 11 shows the different types of concrete and levels
of fly ash used for this project.
fly ash (also shown in Table 10). Figure 25 shows the strength devel-
The amount of fly ash was optimized on the basis of the requirements
opment of the 30 MPa (4350 psi) HVFA concrete mix compared to
of the concrete specification, the construction schedule and the tem-
the producer's typical 30 MPa (4350 psi) mix.
perature. For example, the amount of fly ash was limited to 20% in
No unusual problems were encountered with placing or finishing this the slabs on grade because they were placed in the winter. A 3-day
concrete. It was generally observed that the concrete was relatively tower cycle schedule was called for instead of the typical 5-day cycle
easy to place and finish. The use of 50% fly ash in the concrete did and, because of stripping and finishing delays often associated with
not impact the construction schedule. An early-age (plastic) cracking concrete with high levels of fly ash, the contractor limited the amount
issue during hot windy weather was addressed through the use of an of fly ash used in the suspended slabs. The project was considered a

Table 11. Concrete Requirements and Fly Ash Levels Used in the Bayview High-Rise Apartment

Min. 28-day Fly ash

Element strength, MPa (psi) content (%) w/cm

Parking slabs and slab bands 35 (5000) 33 0.40

Slab on grade—interior parking 25 (3600) 20 0.50

Slab on grade - exterior 32 (4600) 20 0.45

Core footing 30 (4350) 45 0.50

Other footings 25 (3600) 45 0.50

Shear walls and columns

Foundation to 8th floor 40 (5800) 33 0.45
8th to 12th floor 35 (5000) 33 0.45
12th to 16th floor 30 (4350) 33 0.45
th
16 floor to roof and other walls 25 (3600) 33 0.45

Tower slabs 25 (3600) 15 to 25

Toppings and housekeeping pads 20 (2900) 45

(Busby and Associates 2004)

19

Figure 26. Bayview high-rise apartment. (Courtesy Ecosmart
Foundation)
20
great success (Figure 26). The amount of fly ash used was increased
on average by 13% over the contractor's standard practice for this
type of construction (Busby and Associates 2002).
Summary
This publication discusses the impact of fly ash on the properties of
concrete with a view to optimizing the level of fly ash used for a
given application. The optimum amount of fly ash varies not only
with the application, but also with composition and proportions of
all the materials in the concrete mixture (especially the fly ash), the
conditions during placing (especially temperature), construction
practices (for example, finishing and curing) and the exposure
conditions. Thus, the optimum fly ash content will vary on a case-by-
case basis. Fly ash contents of up to 50% may be suitable for most
elements provided the early-age strength requirements of the project
can be met and provided that adequate moist-curing can be ensured.
For flatwork, the level may be dictated by finishing requirements.
If adequate curing cannot be provided or if the concrete is exposed
to freezing and thawing in the presence of deicer salts, the amount
of fly ash should be limited (for example, ≤ 25%).
 Stabilization of a Clayey Soil with Fly Ash and Lime:
A Micro Level Investigation
Neeraj Kumar Sharma • S. K. Swain •

Umesh C. Sahoo

Received: 17 November 2011 / Accepted: 11 June 2012 / Published online: 22 June 2012
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract Pavement structures on poor soil sub grades Keywords Clayey soil · Fly ash · Lime ·
show early distresses causing the premature failure of the Stabilization · SEM · XRD
pavement. Clayey soils usually have the potential to
demonstrate undesirable engineering
behavior, such as low bearing capacity, high shrinkage and
1 Introduction
swell characteristics and high moisture suscepti- bility.
Stabilization of these soils is a usual practice for improving
The design and construction of rural roads requires
the strength. This study reports the improvement in the
engineers to use the locally available soils for the
strength of a locally available cohesive soil by addition of
pavement foundation. This necessity is often dictated by the
both fly ash and lime. Analysis using X-ray diffraction,
non-availability of quality materials, haul distances and
scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy
economic considerations. The poor-quality soils usually
dispersive spectros- copy, thermal gravimetric analysis,
have the potential to demonstrate undesirable
zeta potential and pH value test was carried out in order
engineering behavior, such as low bearing capacity, high
to elucidate the stabilization mechanism. The micro level
shrink and swell potential and high moisture susceptibility.
analysis confirmed the breaking of montmorrillonite
Pavement structures on poor soil sub grades show early
structure present in the untreated clay after stabilization.
distresses causing the premature failure of the pavement.
In the analysis, it was also confirmed that in the
Stabilization of these types of soils using different additives
stabilization process, pozzolanic reaction dominated over
is a usual practice as it becomes uneconomical to replace
the cation exchange capacity.
the foundation mate- rial with good quality soils. Many
additives such as lime, cement, fly ash, bitumen and
N. K. Sharma U.· C. Sahoo (&) different chemicals are being used for stabilization of these
Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute types of soils. Since, fly ash is a waste material from thermal
of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215, India power plants and shows pozzolanic characteristics, it is
e-mail: ucsahoo@bitmesra.ac.in always encour- aged to use fly ash for stabilization where
N. K. Sharma easily and economically available. Fly ash is extracted from
e-mail: neerajbit2k8@gmail.com flue gases of a furnace fired with coal and is non-plastic fine
silt. Its composition varies according to the nature of coal
S. K. Swain burned. Many efforts are being directed toward beneficial
Department of Applied Chemistry, Birla Institute utilization of this waste product in several ways. Fly ash has
of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi 835215, India
been used as a pozzolana to enhance
e-mail: sanjayarkl@gmail.com

21
the strength of composites (Joshi and Lohtia 1997), as a
potential material for waste liner (Edil et al. 1987), as a
backfill and embankment material, and as a material for
the stabilization of road base courses (Kim et al. 2005;
Kumar 1996; Phani Kumar and Sharma 2004). The strength
characteristics of stabilized soils used in pavements are
measured by means of unconfined compressive strength
(UCS) or California bearing ratio (CBR) values. Depending
upon the soil type, the effective fly ash content for
improving the engineering properties of the soil varies
between 15 and 30 % (Brooks 2009).
The improvements noticed in some of the geotech-
nical properties of clayey soils only with fly ash are not
adequate for its use in roadwork and foundation design
(Christopher et al. 2006; NRRDA 2007). However, lime
which is considered to be a good stabilizing agent for
clayey soil may be added to fly ash in the stabilization of
the soil to further improve the proper- ties. Fly ash is a
waste product of a thermal power plant where as lime is
very cheap and readily available. Very few studies
(Bhuvaneshwari et al. 2005; Rao and Rao 2008; Little and
Nair 2009; Rao 2011; Guyer 2011) have been carried out,
which uses fly ash in conjunction with lime for stabilizing
clayey soils.
An experimental program was taken up to evaluate the
effect of the fly ash content on the free swell index,
plasticity, compaction characteristics, uncon- fined
compressive strength, California bearing ratio and
Atterberg limits of a cohesive soil commonly found in the
eastern part of India. Dosages of fly ash and lime were
determined to yield optimum strength of soil. Also, a
micro level investigation was carried out using XRD, SEM,
EDS, TGA, and zeta potential in order to elucidate the
stabilization mechanism. Some significant results were
obtained and presented herein.
2 Materials and Methodology
Materials
The clayey soil used in the study was collected from the
banks of the River Jhumar, Ranchi, India and fly ash was
procured from a nearby Thermal Power plant in Patratu,
Ranchi, India. Grain size distribution, specific gravity,
Atterberg limits, maximum dry unit weight, optimum
moisture content (OMC), UCS, CBR, free swell index
(FSI) tests were performed on the soil sample and flyash
in accordance to respective Indian standards and ASTM
standards. UCS of the tested specimens was defined as
either the stress at failure of the specimen or stress
corresponding to 20 % vertical strain of the soil specimen.
The general relationship between UCS and the quality of the
sub-grade soils used in pavement applications (Das 1994) is
as given in Table 1.
Soils with larger clay content show higher swelling and
shrinkage characteristics causing differential settlements
under various structures. The potential swell is a usual
term used to classify expansive soils, from which soil
engineers ascertain how good or bad the cohesive soils
are. The degree of expansion and degree of severity for
the soil can be determined from the guidelines laid down
by Indian Standard code of Practice (IS:1498 1997) as given
in Table 2.
The results of the all the geotechnical tests carried out
on soil and fly ash are given in Table 3. For the results
shown in Table 3, the soil may be classified as clay with
high plasticity (CL) as per the unified soil classification
system. Based on the UCS the soil may be categorized as
‘soft clay’ (Das 1994) which are not suitable for subgrade
layer (Table 4). The gradation curves for soil and fly ash are
shown in Fig. 1. As per the swelling characteristics of the
soil, the soil can be categorized as an expansive soil with
‘medium’ degree of expansion and ‘marginal’ degree of
severity based on the classification given in Table 2.
Methodology
The experimental program was carried out in three stages to
achieve the objective as given below:
1. Optimum percentage of fly ash to be added to
the clayey soil
2. Minimum Lime content based on pH value
consideration
3. Micro level analysis of the stabilization
mechanism
Table 1 Quality of sugbrade based on UCS value
UCS (kPa) Quality of sub-grade
25–50 Soft sub-grade
50–100 Medium sub-grade
100–200 Stiff sub-grade
200–380 Very stiff sub-grade
[380 Hard sub-grade
22
Table 2 IS classification
system, as per (IS:1498 Liquid Plastic Shrinkage Free swell Degree of Degree of
limit (%) limit (%) limit (%) index (%) expansion severity
1997)
20–35 \12 \15 \50 Low Non critical
35–70 12–23 12–30 50–100 Medium Marginal
50–70 23–32 30–60 100–200 High Critical
70–90 [32 [60 [200 Very high Severe

Table 3 Properties of soil and fly ash water (1:5 solid: water), periodically shaking samples, and
then testing the sample. The pH value test as per Eades
Property Soil Fly ash and Grim (1966) was conducted to determine minimum
lime content. According to the test, the minimum lime
Gravel (%) 0.22 0.00
content of a soil is reached when the pH of the soil, lime,
Sand (%) 13.16 59.16 and water mixture with 25 g of soil passed through the
Silt (%) 74.49 32.72 425 lm (No. 40) sieves, a
Clay (%) 7.45 3.76 certain percentage of lime, and 100 g of distilled water
Classification CL Class C reaches 12.4. In this case, the soil with optimum dose of
Specific gravity 2.63 1.95 the fly ash was taken as the base material for test.
Liquid limit (%) 34.79 –
Micro-level Analysis of the Stabilization
Plastic limit (%) 20.44 –
Mechanism
Plasticity index (%) 13.34 Non plastic
Free swell index (%) 85.71 –
A micro level investigation was carried out using XRD, SEM,
OMC (%) 17.81 34.63 EDS, TGA, and zeta potential in order to elucidate the
MDD (g/cm3) 1.77 1.10 stabilization mechanism. X-ray diffraction data were
obtained by a diffractometer (Shimadzu XRD-6000) in the
range of 2h = 1°–90° (Nickel filtered Cu Ka radiation,
Optimum Dosage of Fly Ash
Wavelength 1.59 nm). Scanning electron
micrographs of the sample was obtained by Jeol JSM 6390
Tests to find out Atterberg limits, FSI, UCS and CBR value LV Scanning Electron microscope. The sample was coated
were carried out on the soil samples with different with platinum for 30 s at a current of 50 mA before the SEM
percentages of fly ash (i.e., 10, 15, 20 and 25 %). Some of micrograph was obtained. EDS analysis was obtained at an
the tests were repeated as many as three times to assure accelerating voltage of 20 kV and working distance of 10
the repeatability of the results. The optimum dosage of mm. The soil sample was dispersed in Millipore water and
the fly ash was determined based on the results of the sonicated for 10 min. The zeta potential of the dispersed
strength tests. The test results have been reported in Sect. soil sample was measured by electrophoresis method
3.1. using Malvem Zeta meter (model Nano ZS). The thermo
gravimetric analysis was performed on a Shimadzu
Optimum Dosage of Lime instrument (DTG 60) in nitrogen atmosphere under a flow of
30 ml/
The pH of the samples were determined using the pH
meter, which involves mixing the solids with pure

Table 4 Results of the geotechnical tests on soil blended with flyash

Sample LL (%) PL (%) PI (%) SL (%) OMC (%) MDD (g/cc) Free swell (%) UCS (kPa) CBR (%)

Soil ?0 % fly ash 34.79 20.24 13.34 18.95 17.82 1.77 85.71 24.73 2.06
Soil ?10 % fly ash 34.48 20.79 13.89 17.72 18.65 1.87 75.82 34.73 3.12
Soil ?15 % fly ash 33.83 21.28 12.55 15.75 19.42 1.92 70.11 38.83 3.76
Soil ?20 % fly ash 33.21 21.54 10.68 14.54 19.87 2.02 69.05 63.38 4.03
Soil ?25 % fly ash 32.85 22.09 9.16 12.75 20.46 2.04 71.25 45.11 4.28
23

Fig. 1 Gradation curves for soil and flyash
min and heating rate of 10 °C per min varying the
temperature from 25 to 1,000 °C.
3 Results and Discussions
Optimum Fly Ash Content
The results of various geotechnical tests carried out on the
soil samples mixed with different percentage of flyash are
summarized in Table 4.
From the results, it may be observed that, addition of
fly ash from 10 to 20 % increased the Unconfined
Compressive Strength of soil increased from
35.28 kPa to 63.38 kPa. Further increase in fly ash
decreased UCS, indicating that 20 % is the optimum
percentage of fly ash. Also we need to use the fly ash
economically, as more than 20 % fly ash would not be
feasible in the site or highways. Addition of 20 % fly ash
increased the CBR value of the soil from 2.06 to
4.03. All the UCS tests were carried out on fresh soil
samples without any curing. The results will be much
higher after curing, which has been indicated by several
researchers earlier.
It was also observed that liquid limit decreases and the
plastic limit increases with an increase in fly ash content. The
plasticity index is reduced by about 50 % when the fly ash
content is 20 %. Results indicate that optimum moisture
content and maximum dry density increases with an increase
in percent of fly ash. The optimum moisture content
increased by 15 % and maximum dry density increases by
about 15 % by addition of 20 % fly
24
ash. Based on the UCS value, the stabilized soil may now be
categorized as stiff clay (Das 1994).
The free swell index decreased considerably with an
increase in fly ash content, reaching almost 15 % less than
the initial FSI of the soil at 20 % fly ash. At low percentages
of fly ash, a greater decrease occurred in the swell
potential. Fly ash contents of more than 20 % do not
produce a significant reduction in the free swell index of
the soil. The decrease in free swell index with an addition of
fly ash may be due to cation exchange in the fly ash-soil mix
or due to pozzolanic reaction.
3.2 Minimum Lime Content
In the pH test, The lime dosages ranged from no lime to 2 g
of lime mixed with just distilled water. In between, the lime
dosage is incrementally increased until the pH of this
mixture reaches 12.4. The pH readings are taken after 60
min of shaking the mixtures for 30 s at 10 min intervals.
From the Fig. 2, it may be observed that if
8.5 % of lime is added to the soil and 20 % fly ash mix, the
target pH value of 12.4 is achieved indicating that
8.5 % is the minimum dosage of lime.
From the results reported in the preceding para-
graphs, it was found that 20 % of fly ash and 8.5 % of lime
are the optimum dosages to be added to the clayey soil
for improvement in the geotechnical characteristics.
Unconfined compressive strength and CBR tests were also
conducted on the soil sample with optimum dosages of fly
ash and lime. The UCS value increased to 105.2 kPa and
CBR value increased to
5.7 % by when 20 % fly ash and 8.5 % lime was added to the
soil. The UCS tests have been carried out on the freshly
prepared soil samples and hence, the strength will
definitely increase further after curing of the samples up
to 28 days.
Fig. 2 Result of the pH test
 Micro-level Analysis of the Stabilization
Zeta Potential
The values of zeta potential of untreated soil and treated
soil with additives are presented in Table 5. The result of
this study shows that the zeta potential value is not
significantly changed with increase in additives to the
untreated soil. So, in the present study, the pozzolanic
reaction is more effective than the Cation Exchange
reaction for stabilization of expansive soil treated with
additives (like fly ash and lime). Similar observations were
also recorded by other researchers (Chen 1975; Bell 1976;
Cokca 2001; Arasan 2005).
Energy Dispersive Spectrosopy (E.D.S.)
The E.D.S. was employed to analyze the composition of
soil, fly ash and lime used. Figure 3a, b, c shows the
E.D.S. spectra of soil, soil ?20 % fly ash and soil
?20 % fly ash ?8.5 % lime. The Si: Al ratio of the soil was
found to be 2.31, which confirms the presence of
Montmorillonite mineral in the soil (Peethamparan et al.
2009).
Table 5 Change in zeta potential values with stabilization
Percentage fly ash Zeta
potential
0 -27.0
10 -26.5
15 -25.9
20 -24.5
20 % fly ash and 8 % lime -19.5
Fig. 3 EDS spectra of a Soil, b Soil ?20 % fly ash, c Soil ?20 % fly ash ?8.5 % lime
XRD Analysis
The mineralogical analysis of the untreated soil, treated
stabilized soil with 20 % of fly ash and 8.5 % lime was
carried out by XRD analysis and shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.
In Fig. 4, the broad peak at 8.96° of the untreated soil
confirms the presence of Montmo- rillonite mineral. Also,
the peaks become sharper with the addition of fly ash and
lime which confirms the breakage of montmorillonite
structure.
In Figs. 5 and 6, the appearance of the peaks at 28.48°
and 14.00° for the stabilized soil with fly ash and lime
confirm the formation of calcium silicate hydrate (CSH)
and calcium aluminate hydrate (CAH) and absence of
those peaks in the untreated soil illustrates that
stabilization occur due to the pozzola- nic reaction.
In the puzzolanic reaction, the calcium from lime and fly
ash reacts with soluble alumina and silica from clay and fly
ash, in presence of water to produce stable calcium silicate
hydrate and calcium aluminate hydrate which generates
long term strength gain and improve the geotechnical
properties of the soil, which may be observed from Eqs. 1
to .4.
CaO þ H 2O ! Ca(OH)2 þ HeatðDÞ ð1Þ
—
Ca(OH)2 ! Ca þ2þ2ðOHÞ ð2Þ
—
Ca2þ þ 2ðOHÞ þ SiO2 ! Calcium Silicate Hydrate
ð3Þ
—
Ca2þ þ 2ðOHÞ þ Al2O3
! Calcium Aluminate Hydrate: ð4Þ
23
25
Fig. 4 Presence of 2000 (a) Soil + Fly ash + Lime

Intensity (a.u.)
montmorillonite (at 1800
8.96°) 1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0
2 Theta (Degrees)

(b) Expansive soil + Fly ash

Intensity (a.u.)
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0
2 Theta (Degrees)

2000 (c) Expansive Soil

Intensity (a.u.)

1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0
2 Theta (Degrees)

structure of Montmorillonite which results in rear-

SEM Images
The slices of air dried samples were observed using SEM to
further validate the results obtained from XRD. Figure 7a,b, c
represent the untreated soil samples and treated stabilized
soil. The large voids present in the untreated soil (Fig. 7a)
diminishes in the soil treated with 20 % fly ash (Fig. 7b), which
gets further reduced when it is treated with 20 % fly ash and
8.5 % lime (Fig. 7c). So, the micrograph illustrates the
formation of new cemen- titious compounds (calcium silicate
hydrate CSH and calcium aluminate hydrate CAH) as a result of
pozzolanic reaction which were shown within the pore spaces
resulting in a reduction in the radius of pore spaces.
Thermo Gravimetric Analysis
The TGA results for the original clay and for the lime and
fly ash treated clay specimens are shown in Fig. 8. The
sudden dip signified as a weight loss for the
dehydroxylation of montmorillonite between 450 and 600
°C, appears to be much smaller for untreated clays than
that for stabilized clays. The weight loss occur- ring for the
original untreated sample between 450 and 600 °C is due
to the breaking of the crystalline
rangement of octahedral and tetrahedral structures of
alumina and silica (Peethamparan et al. 2009). Thus, the
stabilization process occurs for the untreated soil as the
swelling characteristics of the expansive soil is reduced
due to the enhanced breaking of Montmoril- lonite bonds
in the stabilized soils indicated by sharper peak drops in Fig.
8. The weight loss occurring for the original untreated
sample between 450 and 600 °C is due to the breaking of
the crystalline structure of Montmorillonite which results
in rearrangement of octahedral and tetrahedral structures
of alumina and silica (Peethamparan et al. 2009). The
sudden dip which is signified as a weight loss for the
dehydroxy- lation of montmorillonite between 450 and
600 °C, appears to be much smaller for untreated clays
than that for stabilized clays. The sharper peak drops in
Fig. 8 for treated soil clays accounts for the unreacted
hydrated calcium carbonate which decomposes to release
CO2 and CaO and hence the increased weight losses. Also,
additional losses have been developed at temperatures
from 115 to 150 °C for treated stabilized soil samples, thus
confirming the formation of CSH or CAH, which was initially
absent in the untreated soil samples. The weight loss
occurring between 115 to 150 °C, was 0.131 % for only
soil, 0.187 % for soil

26
Fig. 5 Formation of 800 (a) Soil + Fly ash + Lime

Intensity (a.u.)
calcium silicate hydrate 700
(at 28.48°) 600
500
400
300
28.5 29.0 29.5 30.0 30.5
2 Theta (Degrees)
800 (b) Expansive soil + Fly ash
Intensity (a.u.)
700
600
500
400
300
28.5 29.0 29.5 30.0 30.5
2 Theta (Degrees)

800 (c) Expansive Soil

Intensity (a.u.)

700
600
500
400
300
28.5 29.0 29.5 30.0 30.5
2 Theta (Degrees)

Fig. 6 Formation of 900 (a) Soil + Fly ash + Lime

calcium aluminate
Intensity (a.u.)

800
hydrate (at 14.00°)
700
600
500
400
13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 15.0
2 Theta (Degrees)

900
(b) Expansive soil + Fly ash
Intensity (a.u.)

800
700
600
500
400
13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 15.0

900
2 Theta (Degrees)
(c) Expansive Soil
Intensity (a.u.)

800
700
600
500
400
13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 15.0
2 Theta (Degrees)

and calcium aluminate hydrate (CAH) at these tem-

?20 % fly ash and 0.455 % for soil ?20 % Fly ash
?8.5 % lime, thus indicating the increased presence and peratures in the treated soil samples (Bhatty and Miller
decomposition of calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) 2004; Peethamparan et al. 2009).

2723
 Fig. 7 SEM image of a Soil, b Soil ?20 % fly ash, c Soil ?20 % fly ash ?8.5 % Lime
Fig. 8 TGA results for
untreated and
stabilized soils
4 Conclusions
In the study, the stabilization of a clayey soil with fly ash
and lime was investigated and the effects of the
stabilization on the geotechnical and chemical prop- erties
of a clayey soil were studied. The optimum fly ash
content was found at 20 % considering the unconfined
compressive strength of treated soil. As the increased
strength of soil with addition of fly ash was not adequate
enough to be used as good foundation material, addition
of lime in conjunction with fly ash was adopted for
stabilization. A minimum lime content of 8.5 % was
recommended for stabilizing the soil as resulted from the
pH value test. The UCS value increased to 105.2 kPa and
CBR value increased to 5.7 % by addition of 20 % fly ash
and 8.5 % lime. The addition of fly ash also improved the
geotechnical properties of the soil.
28
The zeta potential value of the untreated soil did not
significantly change by stabilization from additives,
confirming that the pozzolanic reaction dominated over the
cation exchange capacity (C.E.C.) for the untreated soil. EDS
analysis confirmed the presence of montmo- rillonite
mineral in the soil, which is responsible for the expansive
characteristics of the soil. From the XRD analysis, broad
peak at 8.96° of the untreated soil showed the presence of
Montmorillonite mineral which become sharper with the
addition of fly ash and lime confirming the breaking of
montmorillonite structure. Also in the XRD charts, the
appearance of the peaks at 28.48° and 14.00° for the
stabilized soil with fly ash and lime confirmed the formation
of CSH and CAH and absence of those peaks in the
untreated soil illustrates that stabilization occur due to the
pozzolanic reaction. TGA results also supported the
formation of CSH and CAH and breaking of montmorillonite
mineral present
in the untreated soil. SEM images illustrated the formation of new cementitious compounds (CSH and CAH) as a result of pozzolanic
reaction which were shown within the pore spaces resulting in a reduction in the radius of pore spaces.

29
23
 Use of fly ash to improve soil
properties
of drinking water treatment sludge
Udeni P. Nawagamuwa* and Nipuna Wijesooriya

*Correspondence:
udeni@uom.lk
Department of Civil
Engineering, University
of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri
Lanka
Abstract
Improvement of soft soil using cementitious additives is a widely practiced technique
in the construction industry. However, cement mixing is considered to be an expensive
technique and this research has attempted to study the use of an industrial waste;
flyash to improve a drinking water treatment sludge. Flyash is a fine, glass powder
recovered from the gases of burning coal during the production of electricity at
Norochchole, thermal power plant in Sri Lanka. The larger amount of drinking water
treatment sludge which is a very soft clayey soil, is disposed into the environment
without acquiring any benefit. Use of flyash in improving soft soils such as sludge with
a low maximum dry density and low CBR will solve few burning issues such as dump-
ing of flyash and sludge, health issues due to disposal of flyash and sludge, difficul-
ties to find soils with better properties for road constructions and other construction
related applications. Identifying the characteristics of the sludge, studying the variation
of maximum dry density and optimum moisture content with flyash content, strength
gain with time, and the applicability of the improved soil in the industry are the key
findings and observations of this study. It was observed that the optimum proportion
of the flyash to be added to the sludge to achieve a remarkable gain in its properties is
around 30% of its dry weight. Acceptable CBR value was achieved after 7 days curing
followed by standard 4 days soaking period.
Keywords: Flyash, Sludge, Soft soil improvement, Maximum dry density, CBR

Introduction
One of the most demanding issues in civil engineering constructions is unavailability of suitable soils
for applications such as highway, and railway construction and land fill- ing. Poor bearing capacity,
low shear strength, and high compressibility are some of the key issues that generally arise in road
and other construction sectors with a poor soil. The most common solution for these issues is
removing the weak soil and refill it with a good soil. However, this will be time consuming and costly
and very importantly dump- ing of poor soil is not environmental friendly. Further, a serious
environmental damage will occur due to excavation of new soils for refilling. Therefore, a
reasonable option to overcome this issue is to improve the existing soil using appropriate additive
materials.
Additions of foreign materials are being used to improve weak soils as binders [20]. As an example;
cement is a good additive to improve the characteristics of weak soils with low bearing capacity
and shear strength. However, this is considered as a very expensive methodology for a developing
country like Sri Lanka. Therefore, many research studies

30

28
 were done in order to study the possible improvements of such poor soils with indus- trial wastes
such as flyash (wastes from thermal power plants), and copper slag (wastes from harbor and port
sector) etc. This will be a cost effective and environmental friendly approach while reducing the
carbon foot print in new development projects.
Water treatment plants in Sri Lanka apply the processes of coagulation, flocculation,
sedimentation, filtration and disinfection to treat raw water. Aluminum sulfate or alum is
commonly used as a flocculent to remove unwanted colour and turbidity from original drinking
water sources, mainly from the water rich rivers in the country. Colloidal and suspended materials
such as sand, silt and clay along with humic particles present in the crude water will be removed by
neutralization, floc mechanism and adsorption onto hydroxide precipitates. These precipitates and
soil particles are removed from the raw water and that semi solid slurry is called sludge [1, 21].
This sludge is either discharged or dumped into the landfills. However, it was noted that Rodriguez
et al. [19] had dis- cussed the use of spray-dried sludge from drinking water treatment plants as a
prime material for clinker manufacture highlighting the benefits of sludge.
Present study was conducted to improve a sludge collected from a water treatment plant near
Kalu river in Horana, Kalutara and the additive material is flyash, which is fine, glass powder
recovered from the gases of burning coal during the production of electricity at Norochchole,
thermal power plant in Sri Lanka. After improving such soft soils, those can be used for various
development projects such as road projects, embank- ments, construction sites and land filling
(playgrounds, recreational areas, etc.) depend- ing on the level of improvements achieved due to
the addition of flyash [14, 15, 18].
Many literature findings indicate that properties of soft soils would improve when flyash is used
as an additive. Karim et al. [13] emphasized the need of reusing flyash as a construction material,
because, the disposal of flyash is an environmental concern [16]. Both high and low calcium class C
flyashes could be used as effective stabilizing agents for improving expansive soils as
recommended by Cokca [10]. Bhuvaneshwari et al. [8] concluded that when the flyash percentage
was 25%, workability had been at the maximum for stabilization of expansive soils with flyash. Phani
Kumar and Sharma [18] reported that with the increase of flyash content, there is a reduction in
optimum mois- ture content while increasing maximum dry density.

Methodology
Sludge samples collected in semi solid form from the water treatment plant in Horana and flyash
collected from Norochchole in powder form were kept in the oven until they become completely
dry. Those particles were then tested to find out the particle size, Atterberg limits, standard
Proctor compaction tests and CBR tests. Oven dried sludge and flyash were mixed, to prepare
samples by changing their mix proportions. This was done manually until the mixture becomes
uniform. Seven samples were prepared on the dry weight basis as given in Table 1.

Table 1 Proportions of the mixed samples

Soil % 100 90 80 70 60 50 0
Flyash % 0 10 20 30 40 50 100

31

23
 Having prepared the samples, standard Proctor compaction tests (ASTM D 698-78 [4]) were
carried out for each sample. Then, maximum dry density and optimum mois- ture content of each
sample were obtained by plotting the relationship between the dry density and moisture content.
With those results, the relationship between maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture
content (OMC) with flyash content was obtained. The best proportion which delivers the maximum
dry density was selected as the optimum mix proportion. Then the Atterberg limit tests (ASTM D
4318-83 [3]) were carried out to determine the plasticity properties on this selected composition.
Since flyash is a cementitious material, it will gain strength with time due to its poz- zolonic
action [12]. California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests (ASTM D 1883-73 [6]) were conducted on flyash
mixed sludge samples to identify the strength gain with time. The selected optimum proportion
between sludge and flyash was used for preparation of samples for CBR test. One sample was
prepared using unimproved sludge as a control sample and relevant optimum water content was
obtained by conducting Proctor den- sity tests on sludge. Three samples were prepared according
to the selected proportion and water content which was obtained from the plot between the
optimum moisture content and flyash percentage.
Two samples out of these three samples were cured using sprinklers and wet gunny bags. One
was up to 7 days and the other was up to 28 days. After curing, those two sam- ples were soaked 4
days to measure CBR values. Sample preparations and experimental work were conducted
according to the ASTM standards mentioned in Table 2 during the laboratory studies. Similar
methodology was followed to measure the CBR values of the control samples after 7 and 28 day
curing.

Results
Properties of sludge
The sludge used in this study was collected from a water treatment plant located in Hor- ana,
Kalutara district, Sri Lanka. Figure 1 and Table 3 provide the particle size distribu- tion and key
findings of the sludge, respectively.
Further, it was observed that liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index of sludge Were, 59.44,
51.75 and 7.69% respectively. Specific gravity of the sludge was 2.36. According to the Unified Soil
Classification System (USCS), sludge could be classified as MH and according to ASTM D 2487-11
[7], it is described as an elastic silt. Then the standard Proctor compaction test was conducted on
sludge. Maximum dry density was 1116 kg/m3 at the optimum moisture content of 34%. These
observations are plotted along the compaction results of flyash as shown in Fig. 2. The 4 day soaked
CBR Test on

Table 2 Standards maintained during the laboratory tests

Test Testing method

Particle size distribution ASTM D 422-63

Liquid limits (LL) (%) and plastic limit (PL) (%) ASTM D 4318-83
Maximum dry density ASTM D 698-78
Specific gravity ASTM D 854-83 [5]
California bearing ratio (4 days soaked) ASTM D 1883-73

32

28
 100
90
80

Percentage finer (%) 70

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Particle size (mm)
Fig. 1 Particle size distribution of sludge [2]

Table 3 Properties of sludge

Organic content (%) Grain size distribution
Gravel (%) Sand (%) Silt and clay (%)

19.32 00 10 90

1150.00

1100.00
Dry Density ()Kg/m3)

1050.00

1000.00
Sludge
950.00
Flyash
900.00

850.00

800.00
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00
Moisture Content (%)
Fig. 2 Results of standard proctor test on unimproved sludge and flyash

this unimproved sample provided very low values of 4.09% of the top and 4.85% at the bottom.
According to the standard Proctor compaction test results, maximum dry density of flyash was
obtained as 975 kg/m3 and the optimum moisture content was 53.6%. The

33

23
 specific gravity was 2.27. Due to non plastic nature, plastic limit and the plasticity index values could
not be determined.

standard proctor compaction test results on flyash mixed sludge

Figure 3 illustrates behavioural differences of Proctor density results on different mix proportions
of flyash and sludge. Table 4 provides the summary of maximum dry density (MDD) values for those
different mix proportions.
While increasing the flyash content, MDD increases up to a peak at flyash content of 30% as
shown in Fig. 4. Thereafter, with further increasing of flyash content, maximum dry density
decreases. Corresponding OMC values for different mix proportions are shown in Fig. 5. Similar
observations were made by Nawagamuwa and Prasad [17] for the studies done on rejected
lateritic soils due to poor CBR values improved with flyash for road sector applications.
Since, best suitable value to achieve the highest MDD was obtained with the propor- tion of
flyash 30%, further tests were carried out with that particular condition. This result is comparable
with Brooks [9] and it was reported that the most effective flyash content for improving
engineering properties were in the range of 15–30%.

1250
1200
Dry density (kg/m3)

1150
Sludge
1100
10% fly ash
1050
20% fly ash
1000
30% fly ash
950
40% fly ash
900
50% fly ash
850
fly ash
800
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Moisture content (%)
Fig. 3 Proctor density curves for different mix proportions

Table 4 MDD values for different mix proportions of flys ash and sludge
Flyash percentage (%) Sludge percentage (%) MDD (kg/m3)

0 100 1116
10 90 1141
20 80 1150
30 70 1170
40 60 1140
50 50 1100
100 0 975

34

28
 1200

Flyash 1100

1000

900
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fly Ash %
Fig. 4 Variation of maximum dry density with Flyash content

55

50

45
OMC

40

35

30 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Flyash %
Fig. 5 Variation of optimum moisture content with different flyash content proportions

Liquid limit for the mix proportion with 30% of flyash was 52.1%. Plastic limit and plasticity
index were 45.51 and 6.51% respectively.

California bearing ratio (CBR) test results on the improved sludge

Four day soaked CBR tests were conducted on sludge without any additives and improved with
30% of flyash. To identify the behavior of flyash with time, CBR tests were carried out on the samples
with 30% of flyash in sludge and these samples were kept for curing for 7 and 28 days prior to 4
days soaked CBR testing. Those results are summa- rized in Table 5 and Fig. 6.
Figure 6 clearly exhibits that the curing period prior to 4 days soaked CBR tests has increased
the CBR values. This increment is around 300% of the unimproved sludge. However, a noticeable
gain is not visible due to additional curing from day 7 to day 28.

35

23
 Table 5 Variation of CBR value of improved sludge with 30% flyash according to curing
time
Days Bottom % Top %

0 16.89 11.36
7 20.08 13.26
28 20.83 14.39

Top-30% flyash Bottom-30% flyash

Top-control sample Bottom-control sample
25

20
CBR Value (%)

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Time (Days)
Fig. 6 Variation of 4 day soaked CBR value with time

Conclusion
Soils with lower CBR values are rejected in most of the civil engineering field works such as road and
construction sector applications. Therefore, the soil has to be either improved or removed. Removing
and refilling will definitely disturb the natural environ- ment and increase the project cost. There are
large number of water treatment plants in Sri Lanka which end up in an excess amount of sludge in
the treatment process as a residue. This sludge is considered as a waste and hence dumping is a critical
issue. Flyash is also another industrial waste generated in the thermal power plant in Sri Lanka. This
attempt was made to make use of both sludge and flyash in a productive manner. Also, the proposal
of mixing sludge with flyash could be considered as a cost effective and environmentally friendly
solution for two problematic dumping issues in the country.
This study concludes that lower CBR soils such as sludge can be enhanced with fly- ash with an
optimum value at 30%. Although there was a less considerable increment of MDD on as-mixed
samples, a noticeable high improvement of CBR values was observed compared to an unimproved
sludge after 28 day curing. However, this enhancement is not yet satisfactory to ICTAD [11]
specifications applied in the country to be used in the road sector applications with liquid limit < 40%,
plasticity index < 15%, MDD > 1750 kg/ m3 and CBR > 30%. It has to be noted that some of these
conditions were tested at the as mixed state and not with the improved stage with
28
36
 time.Therefore, this improved
sludge cannot be used in the road sector without further improvement. However, there are other applications for this kind
of soils such as a low weight land filling for different purposes. Proper mixing of sludge and flyash can be obtained using a
conveyor belt and a hopper system in the field with appropriate moisture content.

Soil Stabilization using Fly Ash and Rice Husk

Ash
Er. Jasvir Singh1, Er.Harpreet Singh Maan2
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab, India1 Assistant
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab, India 2

ABSTRACT: Soil is a complex material. Recycled and waste materials like fly ash, bagasse ash, rise husk ash can be used to soil
stabilization to improve physical and chemical properties of soil. In addition to that properties which can improved by soil
stabilization are CBR, shear strength of soil, UCS and bearing capacity etc. The objective of this study to check the amount of fly ash
at which sample of soil and fly ash gives optimum values of CBR and UCS and after that rice husk ash is added in different
proportions in the sample of soil and optimum quantity of fly ash to achieve the optimum value of CBR.

I. INTRODUCTION

Due to rapid growth in highway construction there is need of good earth. Soil cannot be replaced with good soil
everywhere as it is very costly and increase the project cost. This problem can be overcome with improvement in properties of soil
which is to be used for infrastructure project. Many investigations had been carried out to use waste materials to improve the soil
properties and to utilize the waste materials in view of better environment.
Objective of this study is to improve the properties of locally available clayey soil.For this research, soil sample was taken from
Mohali district. Stabilization is done by adding different percentages of fly ash and rice husk ashes. Stabilization is done for
following purposes-
1. To evaluate the CBR by using optimum content of fly ash
2. To evaluate the UCS by using optimum content of fly ash
3. To evaluate the CBR by using optimum content of rice husk ash

II. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

Fly ash is residual material remained after combustion of coal in thermal power plant. Fly ash contains fine particles of
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 silicon dioxide (Sio2), aluminum oxide, iron oxide and calcium oxide. Fly ash has been used in many civil engineering projects
successfully. Fly ash provides stability to sub grade, reduce earth pressure and also improves stability of slopes. Usually fly ash is
mixed with clayey soils to improve properties as these soils cannot be used directly for construction due to their unfavorable
properties.RHA is a carbon neutral green product. Lots of ways are being thought of for disposing them by making commercial
use of this RHA. RHA is a good super- pozzolan.
1. Natural soil.
2. 92 % Soil + 8% Fly ash
3. 86 % Soil + 14% Fly ash
4. 82 % Soil + 18% Fly ash
5. 76 % Soil + 24 % Fly ash

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 2.1 INDEX PROPERTIES
OF SOIL Plasticity Index
Plasticity index of soil was 5 % which is numerical difference between liquid limit and plastic limit.
Type of soil
The type of soil was checked from plasticity chart. It was seen that soil which is taken for this study is intermediate plasticity.
As per IS 1498 soil is classified as CI.

Engineering properties are indicated by index properties of in table 2.1.

Table2.1 GeotechnicalPropertiesofsoil

SR.NO PROPERTIES VALUE CONFIRMINGTOIS CODE

1. Specificgravity(G) 2.60 IS 2720 : Part 3 : Sec 1 :1980

2. Maximum drydensity(MDD) 2.124 gm/cc IS 2720 : Part VII: 1980

3. Optimum moisture content(OMC) 8.4 % IS 2720 : Part VII: 1980
4. Naturalmoisture content 8.6 % IS 2720 : Part 2 : 1973
5. Liquid limit 24 IS 2720 : Part 5 : 1985
6. Plastic limit 19 IS 2720 :Part 5 : 1985

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Maximum dry density (MDD) and Optimum moisture content (OMC) of soil at different fly ash contents given in table 3.1

Ash content (%) 0 8 14 18 24

OMC (%) 8.5 9.3 9.7 10.7 11.0

MDD (gm/cc) 2.124 2.012 1.990 1.920 1.900

VARIATION OF OMC WITH VARIOUS %AGE OF FLY ASH

11

10
OMC (%)

7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
FLY ASH (%)

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 VARIATION OF MDD WITH VARIOUS %AGE OF FLY ASH

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1
MDD(gm/cc)

1.9

1.8

1.7

1.6

1.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Ash content (%)

FIG . 3.1 OMC AND MDD AT VARIOUS PERCENTAGES OF FLY ASH

3.1 CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO OF VIRGIN SOIL (CBR TEST)

CBR OF VIRGIN SOIL

5
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
PENETRATION IN MM

Figure 3.2 CBR of virgin Soil

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 CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE + 8 % FLY ASH

CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE + 14 % FLY ASH

9 8
8
7
7
6

LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

6
5
5
4
4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
PENETRATION IN MM PENETRATION IN MM

Figure 3.3 CBR of soil sample with 8% fly ash Figure 3.4 CBR graph at 14 % fly ash

CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE + 18 % FLY ASH CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE + 24 % FLY ASH
9
9
8
8
7
7
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
PENETRATION IN MM PENETRATION IN MM

Figure 3.5 CBR graph at 18 % fly ash Figure 3.6 CBR graph at 24 % fly ash

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 Table 3.2: Summary of CBR test with various percentages of fly ash

Sample Soaked CBR (%)

No
Composition
At 2.5 mm At 5 mm CBR
penetration penetration

1 Soil 3.94 3.86 3.94

2 Soil with 8% fly ash 6.9 6.7 6.9

3 Soil with 14 % fly ash 6.8 6.3 6.8

4 Soil with 18 % fly ash 6.6 6.2 6.6

5 Soil with 24 % fly ash 6.4 6.3 6.4

Variation of CBR with different %age of fly ash Variation of UCS of uncured specimens at different %age of fly
ash

6.9 6.8
7 6.6 600
6.4
480
6 500 456
390
CBR value in %age

5 400 345
UCS (kN/m2)

3.94
4
300 238
215
3
200
2
100
1
0
0
0 8 14 18 24 26
0 8 14 18 Ash content (%)
Various %age of PSA
24

Figure 3.8 Variation of CBR with different %age of fly ashFigure 3.9 unconfined compressive strength at different percentages of
fly ash

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 500

450

400

350

300
UCS (kN/m22)

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20

0 % fly ash 8% fly ash 14S%trfla

y ian
sh(%) 18 % fly ash 24 % fly ash

Fig 3.10 Variation of strain with different percentages of ash content

CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE WITH 8 % FLY ASH + 4 % RHA CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE WITH 8 % FLY ASH + 8 % RHA

9 10
8 9
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

7 8
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

7
6
6
5
5
4 4
3 3
2 2

1 1
0
0
0 5 10 15
0 5 10 15
PENETRATION IN MM
PENETRATION IN MM

Figure 3.11 CBR graph at 8% fly ash and 4% RHA Figure 3.12 CBR graph at 8% fly ash and 8 % RHA

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 CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE WITH 8 % FLY ASH + 12 % RHA CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE WITH 8 % FLY ASH + 16 % RHA

12 12

10 10
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

8 8

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
PENETRATION IN MM PENETRATION IN MM

Figure 3.13 CBR graph at 8% fly ash and 12% RHAFigure 3.14 CBR graph at 8% fly ash and 16% RHA

CBR OF SOIL SAMPLE WITH 8 % FLY ASH + 20 % RHA Variation of CBR with 8 % Fly ash and different %age of RHA

10
8.9
9 9 8.7
8.5
8 7.8
8 7.2
6.9
LOAD ON PISTON IN KG/CM 2

7 7
CBR value in %age

6 6

5 5

4 4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
0 4
0 5 10 15 8 12
Various %age of RHA 16
PENETRATION IN MM 20

Figure 3.15 CBR graph at 8% fly ash and 20 % RHAFigure 3.15 CBR Summary of soil with 8% fly ash and
different %age of RHA

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 IV. CONCLUSIONS

The experimental work done on soil stabilization with fly ash and rice husk ash can be concluded as follows -

• Soil with varying percentage of fly ash gives maximum CBR value at 8% fly ash. It increases from 3.94 % to 6.8 %.
With further addition of fly ash, it keeps decreasing.
• Unconfined compressive strength of soil with 8% fly ash increased as compared to virgin soil from 2.154 kg/cm2 to
kg/cm2. It was maximum as 4.80kg/cm2 when 24 % Paper mill sludge ash was added. After there was
decrement in UCS when 26 % paper mill sludge ash was added.
• The soil with 8 % fly ash was further blended with variable percentage of rice husk ash (4%,8%, 12%,16%&20%).
The major improvement in CBR occurred at 8% fly ash mixed with 12% rice husk ash and thereafter, further addition of
rice husk ash is causing gradual change in CBR values. The peak soaked CBR value is 8.9 %.

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 References and Related Publications

1. Thomas .M , optimizing the use of fly ash in concrete ,article Portland cement
association,2007 .

2. Sharma .K. M , Swain .K.S ,and Sahoo.C.U , Stabilization of a Clayey Soil with

Fly Ash and Lime: A Micro Level Investigation . Geotech Geol Eng (2012)

3. Nawagamuwa .U .P* and Wijesooriya .M . Useofflyashtoimprovesoilproperties of

drinking water treatment sludge, international journal of geo-Engineering,2018.

4. Jasvir. E . and Singh .H.E . Soil Stabilization using Fly Ash and Rice Husk Ash.
I nternational Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology . Vol. 6,
Issue 7, July 2017

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