Investigation of Strength and Microstructural Characteristics of Blended Cement-Admixed Clay with Bottom Ash

Journal article

Authors/Editors

Strategic Research Themes

Innovative Materials, Manufacturing and Construction (Strategic Research Themes)

Publication Details

Author list: Phutthananon, Chana; Tippracha, Niyawan; Jongpradist, Pornkasem; Tunsakul, Jukkrawut; Tangchirapat, Weerachart; Jamsawang, Pitthaya;

Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert

Publication year: 2023

Volume number: 15

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 1937-0695

eISSN: 1937-0709

URL: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85149268015&doi=10.3390%2fsu15043795&partnerID=40&md5=07ea532998b7018498774501fb1d5708

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

View in Web of Science | View on publisher site | View citing articles in Web of Science

Abstract

This research presents an experimental study of the strength and microstructural characteristics of cement-bottom ash-admixed Bangkok clay, paying special attention to the efficiency of adding up the bottom ash (BA) of different finesses as a cementitious material and the role played by BA in enhancing the strength of the mixture. The obtained results were discussed with cemented clay mixed with other industrial ashes (i.e., fly ash and risk husk ash). The pozzolanic reaction and packing effect of BA on strength development were also discussed with tests of mixtures with insoluble material. The experimental study was performed through unconfined compression (UC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. The obtained results demonstrate that the BA could be advantageously supplemented as cementitious material into the cement-admixed clay mixture to improve the strength characteristic. The finer particle size of BA could be beneficial for achieving a high strength due to the pozzolanic reaction and packing effects. By adding up a BA content of larger than 15% when the base cement content is not less than 20%, the strength of the mixture increased efficiently with the increasing BA content. Compared with fly ash of a similar grain size, the higher efficiency of BA is obtained when a BA content of greater than 15% is considered. Finally, the microstructure and changes in elemental composition/distribution were analyzed by TGA and SEM tests to explain the mechanism to improve the strength of cement–BA-admixed clay. © 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

cement-admixed clay, equivalent cement content