Effect of High Volume Replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement by Ground Bagasse Ash on Compressive Strength, Elastic Modulus and Drying Shrinkage of High Strength Concrete

This research aimed to study the effect of ground sugarcane bagasse ash (GSCBA) as a cement replacement at high volume on compressive strength, elastic modulus and drying shrinkage of high-strength concrete. Sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) was ground until its median particle size (d50) was 4.67 micron. GSCBA was then used to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at 60, 70 and 80 wt% of binder (60GSCBA, 70GSCBA and 80GSCBA). All mixtures had a constant binder content of 560 kg/m3 with a W/B ratio of 0.28; type F superplasticizer (SP) was engaged in order to maintain the slump of fresh concrete between 150–200 mm. The results indicated that 60GSCBA, 70GSCBA and 80GSCBA concretes had the compressive strengths at 28 days of 71.1, 63.8 and 56.8 MPa, respectively, which met the minimum speci- fication of high-strength concrete (HS–C) (than 55 MPa). Elastic modulus of the concretes depended on their compressive strength rather than on the replacement of GSCBA, i.e., elastic modulus of concretes increased with compressive strength. All concretes incorporating HVSCBA exhibited higher drying shrinkages than CT concrete; shrinkage increased with an increasing rate of GSCBA replacement. In terms of the production cost, GSCBA concretes resulted in a reduction in the material cost by 13–18% when compared with CT concrete. GSCBA could be used as a good pozzolanic material to replace OPC by up to 80 wt% for the production of eco–friendly high-strength concrete at reduced material cost.