Empirical Study on Effect of Bamboo Leaf Ash in Concrete

Abstract

The use of fly ash and other industrial-based wastes as pozzolans in the cement industry is widely acceptable in the production of blended cements. However, to-date, there is limited information about the use of agricultural wastes in the building construction industry is little known in view of their availability. This study focuses on experimental investigation on the use of Bamboo Leaf Ash (BLA) as cement substitute in concrete. Concrete cubes with dimensions of 100 mm x 100 mm were cast from a mix ratio of 1:2:4 by weight as the reference. The cement constitute was replaced with percentages of bamboo leaf ash in the range of 5-20% by weight. All mixtures were maintained at water-cementitious ratio based on slump value of 10-30mm. Properties investigated were compressive strength, tensile splitting strength and water absorption up to 90 days hydration. The results indicated that compressive strength of BLA blended cement concrete ranges from 11.75 N/mm2 at 7 days for 20% BLA content to 30.12 N/mm2 at 90 days for 0% BLA content, and that 10% BLA content attained up to 75% of the reference value at the standard age of 28 days. The percentage performance of tensile splitting strength value over the reference for all the blended specimens for all curing ages were over 75%, and had a strong correlation coefficient of 0.790 with the compressive strength; while the water absorption of blended cement specimens generally has less water absorption than the reference. The least water absorption value was recorded with the specimens containing 10% BLA. Therefore 10% BLA content is recommended as the optimal percentage suitable for medium grade concrete.