Experimental Study on Durability of Concrete by Partial Replacement of Cement with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash

Abstract

India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in the world. In India sugarcane is used to produce Jaggery, Sugar etc. During making of these products a large quantity of wastes is generated. These are considered as agricultural wastes. These wastes should be effectively managed otherwise will cause pollution problems around the sugar industries. On the other hand, there is an increase in construction activities around the world which has caused shortage of concrete making materials, especially cement. Therefore, replacement for cement are being experimented all around the world with materials having similar properties like cement. Samples of sugarcane bagasse ash was taken from sugar industry in Mandya, Karnataka. Sugarcane bagasse ash was obtained by burning sugarcane bagasse at 600 degrees centigrade and the ash was ground until particle passing 53 micrometer sieve. When it was characterized it had chemical composition of 70% Silica with ethanol vapor. This paper experiments by using sugarcane bagasse ash as partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement of 43 grade by weight. Six different concrete mix with bagasse ash replacement of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% to OPC were prepared for M20 grade concrete with water to cement ratio of 0.4. 150*150*150mm concrete cubes were casted and tested for compressive strength at curing period of 7 and 28 days. The properties of the mixes were assessed both at fresh and hardened state and the compressive strength results shows that 10% replacement gives maximum strength when compared with nominal concrete without any replacements.