PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT WITH BLENDED ASH (SUGARCANE BAGASSE ASH AND SAW DUST ASH) IN C-25 GRADE CONCRETE PRODUCTION

Abstract

Concrete is a composite of aggregates and binders. The ingredients of concrete included an expensive and environmentally unfriendly element, namely cement, which is an ecologically unfriendly process due to the ejection of CO2 gas into the atmosphere and ecological degradation. Hence, this study assesses the suitability of blended ash (Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Saw Dust Ash) as a partial replacement for cement in C-25 concrete production. Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SBA) is a sugar factory by-product and Sawdust (SD) by-product of Sawmill. To fulfill the aim of this investigation test the physical attributes and chemical composition of blended ash (sugarcane bagasse ash and sawdust ash), the workability of freshly produced concrete, mechanical characteristics, and microstructural analysis of hardened concrete. After analyzing the blended ash's chemical constituents, it was determined that 50.34% of the ash's total SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 content designated it as class C pozzolana. The compressive strength test result showed that blended ash replacing 10% of the cement exhibited a 4.76% improvement in compressive strength compared to the control concrete. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) microstructure tests also demonstrate the enhanced blended ash replacement performance. As a result, 10% blended ash is the ultimate replacement quantity as similar to those of the control mix property