You are on page 1of 9

INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFCIVILANDSTRUCTURALENGINEERING

Volume2,No 2,2011
Copyright2010AllrightsreservedIntegratedPublishingservices

Researcharticle

ISSN0976 4399

ExperimentalstudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
Priyadharshini.P1,MohanGanesh.G2,Santhi.A.S3
1ResearchScholar,Structural&GeotechnicalEngineeringDivision,Schoolof
MechanicalandBuildingSciences,VITUniversity,Vellore,INDIA.
2Professor,Structural&GeotechnicalEngineeringDivision,SchoolofMechanicaland
BuildingSciences,VITUniversity,Vellore,INDIA.
3ProfessorandDivisionLeader,Structural&GeotechnicalEngineeringDivision,
SchoolofMechanicalandBuildingSciences,VITUniversity,Vellore,INDIA.
Priyadharshini.p@vit.ac.in

ABSTRACT
Manyresearcheshavebeencarriedoutintheareaofflyashutilizationinthepast.Itmainly
concentrated on replacement of cement with fly ash but production of artificial aggregates
withflyashhelpsinutilizinglargevolumeofashinconcrete.Theworldismuchinterested
in this part recently due to this largescale utilization which also reduces environmental
pollution and dwindling of natural resources. This paper mainly focuses on manufacturing
processoflightweightaggregatesusingpelletizerandcuringhasbeendoneincoldbonded
technique. The properties of these fly ash aggregates have been tested and compared with
natural gravel and the study shows that cold bonded fly ash aggregates can be used as an
aggregate replacement material in concrete. The strength property and density of concrete
madewithartificial flyash aggregatesand naturalgravelwerealsostudiedwhichconfirms
thatintroductionofflyashaggregatesinconcretereducesthecompressivestrengthbutmeets
therequiredstrength tobeusedasastructuralmaterial.
Keywords:Flyashaggregates,artificialaggregates,lightweightconcrete,coldbonded
technique.
1.Introduction
In growing need for electricity in India, 70% of power is generatedthrough thermal power
plants. The environmental dreads from these plants include air pollution due to particulate
emission, water pollution and shortage of land for dumping the fly ash. Further, the poor
quality of Indian coal has high ash content, which worsens the disposal problem. Fly ash
generationisestimatedtobearound154milliontonnesin20112012.Insteadofdumpingthe
fly ash as landfills, fly ash is widely used as cement replacement material, pavement base,
blocksetc.,inthesedays.Touseflyash in largevolumetheapplications likeembankment
filloraggregatereplacementmaterialshouldbeconsidered.
Though the artificialaggregate production attained attention in research field, in India it is
notimplementedwidely.This may beduetotheavailabilityof naturalresources,relatively
higher initial cost for manufacturing and the energy required for curing. There are also
methodslikecoldbondingwhichdoesnotrequireenergy forcuringofartificialaggregates.
(Niyazi Ugur Kockal and Turan Ozturan, 2011) investigated the durability properties of
concrete made with fly ash aggregate cured by different methods and found that sintered
aggregates produce better strength compared to cold bonded aggregates. But, (Manikandan
andRamamurthy,2008)foundthattheflyashaggregatesproducedbynormalcuringshowed
comparable results with the aggregates produced with other methods of curing, when the

ReceivedonSeptember, 2011PublishedonNovember2011

493

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

number of days of curing is increased. In this paper, the properties of fly ash aggregates
producedbynormal coldbondingtechnique isdiscussedandcomparedwithnaturalgravel.
Concrete made out of these aggregates were also studied for the strength criteria to get an
ideaoftheirbehaviorasareplacementmaterial.
2.MaterialsandMethods
2.1ConcreteMaterials
Cement
Ordinary Portland 53 grade cement with specific gravity 3.15 was used as the binder. The
initialandfinalsettingwas110minutesand260minutesrespectively.
Flyash
ThechemicalcompositionofflyashisgivenintheTable1.TheflyashisobtainedfromNLC
Ltd, Neyveli, which matches the specification of class C as per ASTM C 618. Figure 1,
showsthemicroscopicstructureofrawflyashbeforemakingflyashpellets.TheSEMimage
istakenwithacceleratingpotentialof20kVand300Xzooming.Mostoftheparticlesare1
to100minsizeofsolidspheresandhollowcenospheres.Irregularshapedunburntcarbon
particlesareidentifiedinlargersize.
Naturalaggregates
12.5mmgradedcrushedgravelwasusedascoarseaggregateandriversandofspecific
gravity2.6asfineaggregates.
Table1:Chemicalcompositionofflyash
Oxides(%)
Flyash
SiO2
57.65
CaO
11.64
Al2O3
15.29
Fe2O3
6.1
MgO
0.37
SO3
1.82
LOI
2.86
Na2O
0.44
K2O
0.04
SiO2 +Al2O3 +Fe2O3
79.04

Hollow
cenosphere
s

Unburnt
carbon

Figure1:SEMimageof flyash

2.2Preparationofflyashaggregates
Artificial aggregates can be formed by different process like autoclaving, cold bonding or
sintering(Bijen,1986BaykalandDoven,2000Mangialardi,2001).Researchstudiesshow
betterresultsonusageofvariouswasteproductsasartificialaggregates.Someofwhichare
InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

494

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

mining residues, heavy metal sludge (SuChen Huang et al., 2007), sewage sludge
(CheesemanandVirdi,2005Mun,2007),bottomash(GeethaandRamamurthy,2010,2011
KimandLee,2010).Here,inthispilotstudy,flyashaggregatesareformedbycoldbonded
technique.Coldbondingisnothingbutnormalwatercuring.Pelletizerof0.55mindiameter
and 0.250 m depth with a rotating speed of 40 rpm is used in the process of pelletization
(Figure 2). An angle of 55o is maintained as per previous studies which give better
pelletizationefficiencyandgoodgradingofpellets(ManikandanandRamamurthy,2007).
Theinfluenceofvariousbindersintheformationofsinteredflyashaggregateiswellstudied
by (Ramamurthy and Harikrishnan, 2006). Though class C fly ash have CaO content for
better binding property, the usage of Ca(OH)2 improves the efficiency and reduces the
durationandbinderdosageinpelletization(GeethaandRamamurthy,2010).Thisalsohelps
in the formation of CSH gel by reacting with silica present in fly ash which helps in
attainingbetterstrength.Hence,2%ofCa(OH)2oftotalweightofflyashisaddedforbetter
agglomeration.Also,highrateofhydrationcanbeachievedwithlargerCSHgelformation
(Mehmet Gesoglu et al., 2007). 8% of Ordinary Portland cement is used as the binder
material.Flyashandthebinderaremixedwell initially for2minutes inpelletizerandthen
waterwithCa(OH)2 issprayedintoit.Sprayingshouldbedonecarefullytomakesurethat
the water has been sprinkled not in the same place to avoid slurry muddy balls. The fresh
pelletsformedwerethenkeptatroomtemperatureforadaytoattaininitialstrengthandthen
water cured for 28 days. The usage of calcium hydroxide gave better initial strength tothe
pelletswhichhelpsineasyhandling.
SEM image of fly ash aggregate taken with 20 kV of accelerating potential and 3000X
zoomingshowsdensemicrostructureformation(Figure3),whichprovesthebetterCSHgel
formationwithoutinterconnectedpores.

Figure2:Formationofflyashpellets

Figure3:SEMImageofFlyash aggregate

2.3StudyonPropertiesof FlyashAggregates
Aggregatespassingthrough12.5mmandretainedin10mmsievewereusedforbothflyash
aggregatesandnaturalgravelfortheMechanicaltests(IS2386(Part4):1963).Thecrushing
value gives the resistance of aggregate against gradually applied crushing load. Aggregate
crushingvalue,impactvalueandabrasionresistancewerefoundusingIS2386(Part4):1963.
Specificgravity,waterabsorption,bulkdensityandvoidratiowerecalculatedasperIS2386
(Part3):1963.
2.4StudyonFlyashAggregateConcrete
2.4.1.MixProportion

InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

495

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

MixhasbeendesignedasperIS10262:2009for28daysstrengthof46MPa.Table2gives
themixproportionforNormalconcretemadewithnaturalgravelandflyaggregateconcrete.
Intheproportion,coarseaggregateformsthemajorvolumeof1293Kg/m3,whichconsumes
largevolumeofflyash.
Table2.Mixproportions
Normal
Flyashaggregate
Mix
Concrete
concrete
3
0.2
0.1
Superplasticizer(lts/m )
311
311
Cement(kg/m3)
140
140
Water(lts/m3)
737
737
Sand(kg/m3)
3
1293
1293
Coarseaggregate(kg/m )
High range water reducing admixture was used as super plasticizer (SP) in this study. SP
content was consumed lesser for fly ash aggregate (FAA) concrete because of its rounded
naturethatitselfimprovedworkability.
2.4.2.Preparationoftestsamples
Cube moulds of 100x100x100 mm were used for compressive strength study. Moulds were
properlymaintainedbycleaningandoilingbeforeeachcasting.Vibratingtablewasusedfor
bettercompactionandfilledinthreelayers.
3.ResultsandDiscussions
3.1PropertiesofFlyashAggregates
The shape and texture of aggregate affects the fresh property of the concrete. Fly ash
aggregate is rounded in shape while natural gravel is angular in shape (Figure 5). Rounded
aggregatespromotesworkabilityofconcretewhiletheangularnatureofnaturalgravelgives
abetterbondingpropertybutrequiresmorecementmortarforbetterworkability.

.
Figure5:Natural aggregateandflyashaggregate
Table3givestheoverallpictureofcomparisonofpropertiesofnaturalgravelandartificially
madeflyashaggregatesandtheallowablelimitsasperIndianstandards.
InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

496

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

Table3:Propertiesofaggregatesusedinstudy

Properties
Aggregatecrushingstrength
AggregateImpactvalue
AggregateAbrasionvalue
SpecificGravity
WaterAbsorption
BulkDensity
Voids
FinenessModulus

12.5
Flyash Allowable
Units mm
Reference
Aggregate limit
gravel
%
33.3
22.7
<45% IS2386 Part4
%
20.1
25.4
<45% IS2386 Part4
%
3.54
3.17
<50% IS2386 Part4

2.63
2.12

IS2386 Part3
%
1.5
13.23

IS2386 Part3
Kg/ltrs 1.496 1.247

IS2386 Part3
%
43
41

IS2386 Part3

7.5
7.96

IS2386 Part1

From the crushing and impact value, the strength of aggregates can be compared. Though
FAA shows better result for crushing value which involves application of load gradually, it
showslowerresistancetoimpactwhichinvolvessuddenapplicationofload.Comparatively,
both the aggregates show values within the permissible limit. The percentage passing of
12.5mmgradedflyashaggregateandnaturalgravellooktobewellgradedastheyarewithin
the standard limits of IS 383:1970. Well graded aggregate makes the cement paste
consumptionlesser,therebyreducesthecostofconcrete.Thesecanbeachievedbyreduced
voidratiotherebyreducestheamountofpasterequiredtofillthevoids.Butontheotherside,
thereductioninvoidsaffectstheworkabilityofconcrete.Flyashaggregateshavevoidratio
lesserthannaturalgravel,thismaybeduetotheroundedshapeoftheaggregates.
Theflyashaggregatesarelighterthannaturalgravelwhichcanbeseenbytheirdensityvalue.
The bulk density is also needed for mix proportioning. The specific gravity of fly ash
aggregate is less than the minimum value of 2.6. Since this is a light weight material, the
specificgravity showsa lowvalue.Waterabsorptionof flyashaggregatesis13%which is
very highwhencomparedwith naturalgravel.Butwhen itcomestolightweightaggregate
concrete,upto23%isallowedasperIS2185(PartII)1989.Theaggregatecrushingvalue,
impactandabrasionvaluesarewellbelowtheallowablelimitforboththeaggregates.Even
fly ash aggregates have better crushing and abrasion resistance. But still fly ash aggregates
cannotbeusedforhighwayapplicationduetoitshighwaterabsorptioncharacteristics.
5.2ConcreteProperties
Many researchers studied the strength properties of fly ash aggregate light weight concrete
which shows different results that depends on the properties of fly ash used for its
manufacturing and various other factors like curing time etc.,(Chi et al., 2003Wasserman
and Bentur, 1997 Zhang and Gjorv, 1990, 1991 AlKhaiat and Haque, 1998, 1999).
Concretewith fly ashexhibitedbetterworkabilitywhichcanbe justifiedbythereducedSP
usage.ThedensityofconcretewasmuchlesserforFAAconcreteasshowninFigure6.This
is due to the light weight of fly ash aggregate which is used in the manufacturing of light
weight concrete. There is 15% decrease in density for FAA concrete compared to normal
concrete which was increasing for warm water by 2% and 3% increase was seen for

InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

497

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

accelerated curing. The light weight concrete is widely used all over the world for various
applicationsinrecentdays.

Figure6:DensityofnormalandFAAconcrete
When it comes to strength aspect, the compressive strength of normal concrete was 68%
greaterthantheFAAconcreteinthefirstday,whichwasreducedto48%in28days(Figure
7).Further,ashydrationprocessofflyashoccursonlyonlaterdays,earlystrengthgainwill
be lesser but it increases gradually with age of curing. Though FAA concrete shows lower
values of compressive strength compared to normal aggregate, it satisfies the minimum
criteria to be used as structural concrete material. The possibility of production of fly ash
aggregateinlargevolumesandthemeritsarediscussedby(Vermaetal.,1998)anditcanbe
utilizedforblockmakingandotherapplicationstoo(Gargetal.,1995).

Figure7:CompressivestrengthofnormalandFAAconcrete
5.3Conclusions
Asapilotstudy,flyashaggregateshasbeenmadebypelletizingandcoldbondingtechnique
andthepropertyoftheobtainedaggregateshasbeencomparedwithnaturalgravelandresults
arefoundtobecomparable.
The rounded shape of fly ash aggregate gives better workability compared to the
angularnaturalgravel.
InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

498

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

Crushing and impact value shows value much lesser than the allowable limit.
Abrasion value is too low but still cannot be used as a high way material due to its
high percentage of water absorption. Though both natural and artificial aggregates
shows crushing and impact value with in the limit of 45%, fly ash aggregate shows
31.8%lowervaluethanthe naturalaggregate forcrushingand26.4%higher impact
value.Butabrasionnearlyequalforbothcases.
Low specific gravity compared to natural gravel proves it to be a light weight
aggregatematerialandflyashhasbeenconsumedinlargevolumewhenitisusedasa
coarse aggregate replacement material due to its occupation of large volume in
concrete.Thisinturnreducestheproblemofdumpingaslandfillstogreaterextent.
Thewaterabsorptionofflyashaggregateis9timeshigherthanthatofnaturalgravel
which is the major disadvantage which can be eliminated by various treatment
methodsthatareavailableliketreatingwithwaterglassetc.,
Concrete with density 2150 kg/m3 can be achieved using fly ash aggregates while
densityofnormalconcretemixgoesupto2580kg/m3.
Though compressive strength of FAA concrete is 48% lesser compared to normal
concretemix,itexceedsthevalueof17MPathathasbeenfixedasminimumcriteria
forconcrtetobeusedasastructuralmaterial.
Since, fly ash aggregates shows results comparable with natural gravel and the natural
resource is in the side of depletion, fly ash aggregates can be considered as a replacement
material for coarse aggregate. Also, it improves the property of concrete as fly ash is a
pozzolanicmaterial.Theobtainedaggregatescanbeconsideredforvariousapplicationslike
wallpanels,masonryblocks,roofinsulationmaterial,structuralloadbearingelementsetc.,
Acknowledgement
TheauthorsconveytheirsincerethankstoNeyveliLigniteCorporation Ltd., (NLC),India,
forprovidingflyashforthisresearch.TheauthorsalsoliketothanktheChancellorofVIT
Universityforthefacilitiesprovidedtocarryouttheexperiments.
6.References
1. AlKhaiat,H.,Haque,M.N.,1998,Effectofinitialcuringonearlystrengthand
physical properties of a lightweight concrete, Cement and Concrete Research,
28,pp859866.
2. AlKhaiat, H., Haque, N., 1999, Strength and durability of lightweight and
normalweightconcrete,JournalofMaterialsinCivilEngineering,11,pp231
235.
3. Baykal, G., Doven, A.G., 2000, Utilization of fly ash by pelletization process,
theory,applicationareasandresearchresults,ResourceConservationRecycling,
30(1),pp5977.
4. Bijen, J. M. J. M., 1986, Manufacturing processes of artificial lightweight
aggregates from fly ash, The International Journal of Cement Composites and
LightweightConcrete,8,pp191199.

InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

499

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

5. Cheeseman, C. R. and Virdi, G. S., 2005, Properties and microstructure of


lightweight aggregate produced from sintered sewage sludge ash, Resources,
ConservationandRecycling,45,pp1830.
6. Chi, J. M., Huang, R., Yang, C. C., Yang, J. J., 2003, Effect of aggregate
properties on the strength and stiffness of the lightweight concrete, Cement
ConcreteComposites,25,pp197205.
7. Garg, S. K., Khalid, M., Verma, C. L., 1995, Production of sintered flyash
lightweightaggregatesforconcretebuildingblocksandRCCroofs,Proceedings
of the Eleventh National Convention of Chemical Engineers, Departments of
ChemicalEngineering,UniversityofRoorkee,IV,pp4044.
8. Geetha,S.,Ramamurthy, K.,2010,Reusepotentialof lowcalcium bottomash
asaggregatethroughpelletization,WasteManagement,30,pp15281535.
9. Geetha, S., Ramamurthy, K., 2011, Properties of sintered low calcium bottom
ash aggregate with clay binders, Construction and Building Materials, 25, pp
20022013.
10. IndianStandard2386,1963,Methodsoftestforaggregatesforconcrete,18.
11. Kim,H.K.,Lee,H.K.,2010,Useofpowerplantbottomashasfineandcoarse
aggregates in highstrength concrete, Construction and Building Materials,
Articleinpress.
12. IndianStandard10262,2009,Cementmixproportioningguidelines.
13. Mangialardi, T., 2001, Sintering of MSW fly ash for reuse as a concrete
aggregate,JournalofHazardousMaterials,87,pp 225239.
14. Manikandan,R.,Ramamurthy,K.,2007,Influenceoffinenessofflyashonthe
aggregate pelletization process, Cement & Concrete Composites, 29, pp 456
464.
15. Manikandan, R., Ramamurthy, K., 2008, Effect of curing method on
characteristics of cold bonded fly ash aggregates, Cement & Concrete
Composites,30,pp848853.
16. MehmetGesoglu,TuranOzturan,ErhanGuneyisi,2007,Effectsof flyash
properties on characteristics of coldbonded fly ash lightweight aggregates,
ConstructionandBuildingMaterials,21,pp18691878.
17. MunK.J.,2007,Developmentandtestsoflightweightaggregateusingsewage
sludge fornonstructuralconcrete,ConstructionandBuildingMaterials,21,pp
15831588.

InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

500

ExperimentalStudyonColdBondedFlyAshAggregates
P.Priyadharshini,G.MohanGanesh,A.S.Santhi

18. Niyazi Ugur Kockal, Turan Ozturan, 2011, Durability of lightweight concretes
withlightweightflyashaggregates,ConstructionandBuildingMaterials,25,pp
14301438.
19. Ramamurthy,K.,Harikrishnan,K.I.,2006,Influenceofbindersonpropertiesof
sinteredflyashaggregate,CementConcreteComposites,28(1),pp3338.
20. SuChen Huang, FangChih Chang, ShangLien Lo, MingYu Lee, ChuFang
Wang and JyhDong Lin, 2007, Production of lightweight aggregates from
mining residues, heavy metal sludge, and incinerator fly ash, Journal of
HazardousMaterials,144,pp5258.
21. VermaC.L.,Handa,S.K.,JainS.K.,YadavR.K.,1998,Technocommercial
perspective study for sintered fly ash lightweight aggregates in India,
ConstructionandBuildingMaterials,12(67),pp341346.
22. Wasserman, R., Bentur, A., 1997, Effect of lightweight fly ash aggregate
microstructure on the strength of concretes, Cement and Concrete Research,
27(4),pp525537.
23. Zhang, M. H., Gjorv, O. E., 1991, Mechanical properties of high strength
lightweightconcrete,ACIMaterialsJournal,88(3),pp240247.
24. Zhang, M. H., Gjorv, O.E., 1990, Characteristics of lightweight aggregate for
highstrengthconcrete,ACIMaterialsJournal,88,pp150158.

InternationalJournalofCivilandStructuralEngineering
Volume2Issue 2 2011

501

You might also like