Physical, mechanical and durability properties of ecofriendly ternary concrete made with sugar cane bagasse ash and silica fume

Abstract

In the present investigation, the physical, mechanical and durability properties of six concrete mixtures were evaluated, one of conventional concrete (CC) with 100% Portland cement (PC) and five mixtures of Ecofriendly Ternary Concrete (ETC) made with partial replacement of Portland Cement by combinations of sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) and silica fume (SF) at percentages of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%. The physical properties of slump, temperature, and unit weight were determined, as well as compressive strength, rebound number, and electrical resistivity as a durability parameter. All tests were carried out according to the ASTM and ONNCCE standards. The obtained results show that the physical properties of ETC concretes are very similar to those of conventional concrete, complying with the corresponding regulations. Compressive strength results of all ETC mixtures showed favorable performances, increasing with aging, presenting values similar to CC at 90 days and greater values at 180 days in the ETC-20 and ETC-30 mixtures. Electrical resistivity results indicated that the five ETC mixtures performed better than conventional concrete throughout the entire monitoring period, increasing in durability almost proportionally to the percentage of substitution of Portland cement by the SCBA–SF combination; the ETC mixture made with 40% replacement had the highest resistivity value, which represents the longest durability. The present electrical resistivity indicates that the durability of the five ETC concretes was greater than conventional concrete. The results show that it is feasible to use ETC, because it meets the standards of quality, mechanical resistance and durability, and offers a very significant and beneficial contribution to the environment due to the use of agro-industrial and industrial waste as partial substitutes up to 50% of CPC, which contributes to reduction in CO2 emissions due to the production of Portland cement, responsible for 8% of total emissions worldwide.