Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684

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Materials Science and Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Compressive strength, microstructure and thermal analysis of

autoclaved and air cured structural lightweight concrete made with
coal bottom ash and silica fume
Watcharapong Wongkeo, Arnon Chaipanich ∗
Cement and Concrete Research Laboratory, Construction and Materials Research Unit, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University,
239 Huay Gaew Road, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This research investigated the compressive strength, microstructure and thermal analysis of autoclaved
Received 10 September 2009 and air cured structural lightweight concrete made with coal bottom ash and silica fume. The results
Received in revised form 19 January 2010 show that bottom ash lightweight concrete autoclaved for 6 h gives compressive strength similar to
Accepted 26 January 2010
the bottom ash lightweight concrete air cured for 28 days and found that the compressive strength of
both bottom ash lightweight concrete increased when silica fume was added to the mix. The highest
compressive strength obtained for all mixes was found when coal bottom ash was used at 20% with the
Keywords:
addition of silica fume at 5% and that this strength value is significantly higher than that of Portland
Compressive strength
Thermal conductivity
cement control. The thermal conductivity of all bottom ash lightweight concrete at 28 days and those
Microstructure autoclaved for 6 h were found to be slightly higher than that of Portland cement control concrete. Air
TGA cued hydration products such as ettringite, calcium silicate hydrate and gehlenite hydrate were detected
Bottom ash using thermogravimetric analysis. The tobermorite phase detected in autoclaved bottom ash concrete
with silica fume was found to give denser microstructure than the fibrous-like C–S–H phases detected in
Portland cement control concrete.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction BA can be used to replace part of cement by reducing its particle

Bottom ash from burning process such as municipal solid waste
incinerator has been investigated recently in order to cut down the
waste products resulted from an incineration process and turned
this waste into usable construction material. Bottom ash produced
from the combustion of same coal-fired thermo-electric power
plants as fly ash but remained at the bottom due to heavier solid
particles formed, has not received as much attention as fly ash and
far fewer research works have been carried out on their concrete
properties. This coal bottom ash (BA) currently existed as waste of
≈1.5 M tones per year in Mae Moh power plant, Lampang, Thailand.
The utilization of coal bottom ash to replace part of cement
is not widely used in cement production due to its high particle
size (compared to fly ash) high porosity. Due to the as-received
particle size distribution is similar to that of natural sand, many
researches therefore have been carried out using bottom ash as a
natural sand replacement material in concrete [1–3]. However, BA
has good potential for use in concrete due to its similar chemical
constituents as fly ash [4] thus it is pozzolanic in characteristics and
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +66 53 357512.
E-mail address: arnon@chiangmai.ac.th (A. Chaipanich).
size. Cheriaf et al. [5] reported that the pozzolanic activity of the BA
could be improved with sufficient grinding. But, the addition of BA
up to 10% as a replacement material for Portland cement (PC) could
improve the mechanical properties of concrete [6]. Silica fume is a
by-product of the ferro-silicon alloys and silicon metal industries.
In the process, SiO2 vapors are produced which oxidize and con-
dense in the form of very tiny spheres of non-crystalline silica [7].
It is well known that the use of silica fume (SF) which is in the
nano-range can significantly improves the mechanical properties
of Portland cement composite and concrete [8–10]. The high con-
tent of amorphous silicon dioxide (more than 80%) and very fine
spherical particle (100 nm average diameter) are the main reasons
for its high pozzolanic reaction [7]. Due to many advantages of SF,
this has lead SF being used as the most common mineral admixture
in high-strength concrete (HSC) [11].
Nowadays, lightweight concrete is widely used in many building
applications. There are many advantages of lightweight con-
crete, for example, low density, low thermal conductivity, low
shrinkage, reduction of dead load, faster building rate and lower
haulage cost. ACI Committee 213 [12] classified three divi-
sions on the basic of strength and unit weight: low density
or low strength concrete (0.7–2.0 MPa, 300–800 kg/m3 ) used for
insulation; moderate-strength lightweight concrete (7–14 MPa,

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2010.01.089
 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684
Fig. 1. XRD patterns of (a) coal bottom ash and (b) silica fume.
800–1360 kg/m3 ) used for concrete block and other applications
where some useful strength is desirable; and structure lightweight
concrete (17–63 MPa, 1300–1900 kg/m3 ) [13]. The production of
lightweight concrete can be achieved by creating gas bubbles in
a cement slurry which when it sets leaves a sponge-like cellular
structure, termed ‘aerated concrete’ [14]. Generally, aerated con-
crete is made from quartz-rich sand, lime, cement and aluminium
powder. Aluminium powder has always been used as pore-forming
agent in this process [15]. The reaction between aluminium pow-
der and lime (calcium hydroxide) can generate hydrogen gas which
introduced porosity in this concrete.
Autoclaved is an important part of the process to produce
aerated concrete which is the high-pressure steam curing with
temperature exceeds 110 ◦ C. In this process the strength of con-
crete is developed through the formation of 1.1 nm tobermorite as
the main binding phase [16]. At this condition, the normal phase
formed in the hydration of cement is ␣-dicalcium silicate hydrate
(␣-C2 SH) through having a Ca/Si ratio about 1.5–2.0. This crys-
tallization product is porous and weak which causes a reduction
in compressive strength [17]. Therefore, reactive silica is com-
monly added to cement to reduce the Ca/Si ratio and to form
another crystallized phase which is a stronger product. Thus, poz-
zolanic materials can be used as the source of silica. Jing et al. [18]
investigated the influence of the fly ash addition on hydrother-
mal solidification of blast furnace slag (BFS). It is found that the
addition of fly ash 10–20 mass% was favorable to tobermorite for-
mation, while the excessive addition of fly ash (20 mass%) appeared
Fig. 2. SEM micrographs of (a) coal bottom ash and (b) silica fume.
3677
to impede the tobermorite formation. Therefore, BA can be used as
the source of silica in autoclaved aerated concrete.
Physical properties of lightweight aggregate concrete produced
from lightweight aggregate materials such as tuff, pumice and
expanded perlite have been studied [19–22]. BA from the burning
process have been utilized as cement or concrete constituent where
it can be used as a fine aggregate to produce lightweight aggregate
concrete due to its porous structure and particle size distribution
is closed to natural sand size [23]. Kurama et al. [24] examined the
use of coal bottom ash (BA) as an aggregate to produce aerated
concrete. It is reported that the replacement of quartz sand with
BA increases the tobermorite formation in the composite matrix.
In addition, the unit weight and thermal conductivity decrease
with increasing amount of BA replacement due to the porous
structure and relatively lower specific gravity of BA than that of
quartz.
Previous literatures reported that the combination of fly ash
with silica fume have been found to offer enhanced properties than
fly ash concrete alone [25–28]. For BA and SF, it has been found from
preliminary study of paste made from 20%BA with SF that the com-
pressive strength can be enhanced [29]. Therefore, this research
aimed to use the abandoned coal bottom ash from the Mae Moh
power plant in Lampang, Thailand to produce lightweight concrete
by creating gas bubbles in concrete (aerated concrete) for concrete
blocks and to investigate the effect of SF on mechanical proper-
ties and thermal conductivity of bottom ash lightweight concrete
(BLWC) through normal curing and accelerated curing (autoclaved)
3678 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684

Table 1
Chemical compositions of Portland cement, coal bottom ash and silica fume.

Oxide Portland cement (%) Coal bottom ash (%) Silica fume (%)

SiO2 20.85 42.51 95.3

Al2 O3 4.98 23.52 0.65
CaO 64.32 12.55 0.27
Fe2 O3 3.52 10.20 0.28
MgO 1.53 2.45 0.41
Na2 O 0.21 2.20 0.26
K2 O 0.59 2.12 0.77
P2 O5 – 0.17 1.23
TiO2 – 0.41 –
MnO – 0.05 –
SO3 2.60 – 0.25
Loss on ignition (LOI) 1.40 3.82 0.58

processes. Coal bottom ash was used to replace part of Portland

cement and SF was used as an additional material.

2. Materials and experimental Fig. 3. Sieve size distribution of river sand used as fine aggregate.

2.1. Materials
Portland cement type 1, river sand and calcium hydroxide were
used in this study. Coal bottom ash and silica fume were obtained
from Mae Moh power plant in Lampang, Thailand and Silament Ltd.,
respectively. Aluminium powder was supplied by HiMedia Labora-
tories Pvt. Ltd., India. The chemical composition of materials used
in this research is given in Table 1. The sum of SiO2 , Al2 O3 and Fe2 O3
can be calculated according to ASTM C 618 to be 76.28% [30]. Silica
fume is mostly shown to consist of silicon dioxide (SiO2 ) at 95.3%.
Table 2 indicated the physical properties of aluminium powder in
this study. Crystalline phases of the materials used in this study
were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD; Philips PW 1729) as
shown in Fig. 1. The XRD pattern indicates that bottom ash consists
mainly of quartz and mullite phases. For silica fume, the XRD pat-
tern shows glassy phase of SiO2 . The broad peak of silica fume can
be seen at ≈23◦ (2), which is a characteristic of amorphous SiO2 .
The microstructures of bottom ash and silica fume were obtained
using scanning electron microscope (SEM; JEOL-JSM-840A) as can
be seen in Fig. 2. The micrograph of bottom ash shows the irreg-
ular shape of BA, while the micrograph of silica fume shows SF
being spherical in shape. The sieve particle size analysis of river
sand is shown in Fig. 3. The maximum size of the river sand used
was 4.75 mm.
2.2. Preparation of specimens
In this research, the coal bottom ash was used to replace part of
Portland cement. Thus, the particle size of bottom ash was reduced
by ball mill for 6 h. The average size of ≈7.81 ␮m was obtained
after ball mill using laser diffraction particle size analysis. Portland
cement (PC), bottom ash (BA), calcium hydroxide (CH), silica fume
(SF) and aluminium powder (Al) were used to produce bottom ash
lightweight concrete (BLWC). The mix proportions of this research
are given in Table 3. Cement/sand/calcium hydroxide ratio (C:S:CH
ratio) of 55:40:5% by weight and water to solid ratio (w/s ratio)
of 0.29 was used in this design. Aluminium powder was added
at 0.2% by weight of solid. Bottom ash was used to replace PC at
10, 20 and 30% by weight of PC and silica fume was added at 2.5
and 5% by weight of solid. The mixture of PC, BA, CH, SF and Al
were mixed in a rotary mixer for 60 s and then water was added
for 30 s. After that, river sand was added for 30 s. The total time at
4 min 30 s was used for mixing. The mixtures were cast into cubic
moulds (50 mm × 50 mm × 50 mm). The moulds were filled with
concrete in two layers. Each layer was compacted using vibrating
table for 10 s and then stored in moulds at room temperature for
24 h. After that, the specimens were removed from the moulds. The
specimens were cured in air at room temperature (≈23–25 ◦ C and
relative humidity ≈75–85%) for 7, 14 and 28 days and another set of
specimens were cured in an autoclave at temperature about 126 ◦ C
and pressure about 20 psi for 6 h. All autoclaved specimens were
exposed to air for 7 days before being tested.
Volume of permeable voids, unit weight (bulk density) and
compressive strength were tested for all of the BLWC specimens
produced at all ages of air cured and autoclaved in accordance
with the standard of ASTM C 642-97 [31], ASTM C138-92 [32] and
ASTM C495 [33], respectively. For thermal conductivity test, three
specimens were tested for autoclaved concrete and for concrete
cured in air for 28 days using the heat probe method. In addition,
the microstructure of the samples was investigated using scanning
electron microscopy (SEM; JEOL-JSM-840A) and then ground for
thermal analysis (thermogravimetry and differential thermal anal-
ysis) using the Mettler Toledo TGA/SDTA 851e (inert atmosphere
with N2 flow of 30 mL/min, heating rate 10 ◦ C/min, analysis range
30–800 ◦ C).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Physical properties
The volume of permeable voids results of all bottom ash
lightweight concrete (BLWC) are illustrated in Fig. 4 and Table 4.
From the results it can be found that the volume of permeable
voids of all BLWC specimens cured in air and autoclaved for 6 h had

Table 2
Physical properties of the study materials powder.

Material Purity (%) Specific gravity Melting point (◦ C) Boiling point (◦ C) Particle size (␮m)

Aluminium powder 93 2.6 660 2470 15

Coal bottom ash – 2.5 – – 7.81
Silica fume – 2.2 – – 0.1
Portland cement – 3.15 – – 8.31
 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684 3679

Table 3
Mix proportion.

Mix w/s ratio Water (kg/m3 ) Portland cement (kg/m3 ) Sand (kg/m3 ) Ca(OH)2 (kg/m3 ) Bottom ash (kg/m3 ) Additional materials

Aluminium powder (%) Silica fume (%)

R1 (PC) 0.29 449 853 620 78 – 0.2 –

10BA 0.29 449 768 620 78 85 0.2 –
10BA2.5SF 0.29 449 768 620 78 85 0.2 2.5
10BA5SF 0.29 449 768 620 78 85 0.2 5
20BA 0.29 449 682 620 78 171 0.2 –
20BA2.5SF 0.29 449 682 620 78 171 0.2 2.5
20BA5SF 0.29 449 682 620 78 171 0.2 5
30BA 0.29 449 597 620 78 256 0.2 –
30BA2.5SF 0.29 449 597 620 78 256 0.2 2.5
30BA5SF 0.29 449 597 620 78 256 0.2 5

Fig. 4. The volume of permeable voids results of BLWC (a) at 7 days, (b) at 14 days, (c) at 28 days and (d) autoclaved 6 h.

Table 4
Physical–mechanical properties results (average of three specimens).

Mixture Volume of permeable voids (%) Unit weight (kg/m3 ) Compressive strength (MPa)

7 days 14 days 28 days Autoclave6 h 7 days 14 days 28 days Autoclave6 h 7 days 14 days 28 days Autoclave 6 h

R1 (PC) 40.99 40.19 39.99 39.04 1391 1420 1417 1523 11.0 12.0 12.5 10.7
10BA 39.50 39.20 38.55 38.89 1410 1427 1425 1568 11.5 12.0 13.0 11.8
10BA2.5SF 37.20 36.35 35.76 36.85 1462 1462 1510 1607 13.0 14.0 15.5 15.5
10BA5SF 35.21 35.80 35.24 34.04 1540 1538 1553 1661 13.5 15.0 16.0 17.6
20BA 39.05 38.78 37.69 37.83 1462 1442 1467 1578 12.0 12.5 13.5 13.4
20BA2.5SF 35.09 35.08 34.68 36.16 1553 1523 1539 1613 13.0 14.5 16.0 15.4
20BA5SF 34.98 34.92 34.63 32.72 1594 1613 1621 1687 14.0 16.0 18.0 18.8
30BA 38.29 38.19 37.07 37.04 1512 1549 1534 1584 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.4
30BA2.5SF 35.85 35.82 35.42 35.75 1541 1584 1570 1630 12.5 14.0 14.0 15.1
30BA5SF 35.39 35.44 34.65 33.79 1579 1589 1588 1678 13.5 15.0 16.0 18.2
3680 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684

Fig. 5. The unit weight results of BLWC (a) at 7 days, (b) at 14 days, (c) at 28 days and (d) autoclaved 6 h.

decreased with increased BA content and SF addition due to the
reduction of hydrogen gas. The voids of BLWC were mostly gener-
ated from hydrogen gas which occurred as a result of aluminium
powder reaction, as follows in Eq. (1) [24]:
2Al + 3Ca(OH)2 + 6H2 O → 3CaO·Al2 O3 ·6H2 O + 3H2
The unit weight (bulk density) results of all BLWC are illustrated
in Fig. 5 and Table 4. It can be seen that unit weight of BLWC speci-
mens cured in air and autoclaved had increased with increased BA
contents when compared to the mixes at the same age and when
autoclaved. Furthermore, the unit weight of BA mixes without SF
can also be seen to increase marginally with increasing air cur-
ing time. When SF was added to the mixes, the unit weight of all
BLWC with SF addition at 2.5 and 5% increased when compared to
the mixes without SF. Therefore, it is seen that the unit weight is
indirectly a proportional to the volume of permeable voids where
the unit weight of all BLWC specimens increased as the volume of
permeable voids decreased.
also be seen that the compressive strength of all autoclaved BLWC
(10–30%BA content) increased with SF content.
In general, the unit weight can be seen to have a direct rela-
tionship with that of compressive strength. The unit weight and
compressive strength of all air cured BLWC was found to increase
(1)
due to increasing C–S–H from pozzolanic reaction of BA with
Ca(OH)2 . This is seen to be optimum at 20%BA content (13.5 MPa at
28 days) compared to the compressive strength of 30%BA (13 MPa).
When considering the use of SF as an addition at a given BA con-
tent, the filling effect and pozzolanic reaction of SF contributed to
a denser microstructure thus resulting in an increase in the com-
pressive strength. Furthermore, mixes with SF addition have more
effect on the unit weight and compressive strength than the ref-
erence BA mixes due to the finer particle size and high specific
surface area of silica fume lead to greater pozzolanic reaction than
Table 5
Thermal conductivity results (average of three specimens).

Mixture Thermal conductivity (W/m K)

3.2. Mechanical properties
28 days Autoclave 6 h
The compressive strength results of all BLWC are shown in Fig. 6 R1 (PC) 0.54 0.62
and Table 4. The compressive strength of air cured BLWC increased 10BA 0.53 0.63
with increasing BA content up to 20% direct replacement for Port- 10BA2.5SF 0.64 0.64
land cement at 28 days. The lower compressive strength of 30%BA 10BA5SF 0.61 0.66
20BA 0.56 0.64
was due to larger amount of BA content and the slower rate of 20BA2.5SF 0.64 0.65
pozzolanic reaction of bottom ash which did not contribute suffi- 20BA5SF 0.65 0.67
ciently to the compressive strength. In addition, the compressive 30BA 0.62 0.66
strength of air cured BLWC with SF addition increased with increas- 30BA2.5SF 0.63 0.66
30BA5SF 0.65 0.67
ing SF content at a given BA content. For the autoclaved BLWC it can
 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684 3681

Fig. 6. The compressive strength results of BLWC (a) at 7 days, (b) at 14 days, (c) at 28 days and (d) autoclaved 6 h.

BA. The increase of C–S–H structure is supported by TGA results
in the TGA section. The greater pozzolanic reaction of SF resulted
to an increase in the density of BLWC as a consequent compres-
sive strength of BLWC with SF was significantly improved seen at
all ages and especially when autoclaved (≈19 MPa for 20 BA mixes
with 5%SF) due to the faster pozzolanic reaction at higher tem-
perature. When compared the compressive strength results of air
cured BLWC specimen to the autoclaved results, it is found that the
compressive strength of BLWC mix with SF addition and cured in
an autoclave have higher strength than all BLWC cured in air at
7, 14 days and Portland cement control concrete (R1 ). This is due
to the higher pozzolanic reaction when autoclaved and the forma-

Fig. 7. The thermal conductivity results of BLWC (a) at 28 days and (b) autoclaved 6 h.
3682 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684
Fig. 8. DTG curves of BLWC with 5% silica fume addition (a) cured in air for 28 days and (b) cured in autoclaved for 6 h.
tion of tobermorite phases. However, BLWC at 28 days was found
to have similar compressive strength to concrete autoclaved for
6 h. Furthermore, the air voids have been found to be one of the
major factors affecting strength development as the compressive
strength of all BLWC specimens increased as volume of permeable
voids decreased.
3.3. Thermal conductivity
The thermal conductivity results of BLWC cured in air (at 28
days) and autoclaved for 6 h are shown in Fig. 7 and are given in
Table 5. It is known that the thermal conductivity depends upon
the pore structure of the lightweight aggregates, density of concrete
and the cement paste matrix [21]. Thus, the pore structure is one of
the main factors affecting thermal conductivity development in this
study. For the mixes without SF addition, the thermal conductivity
of air cured BLWC increased a little when BA content increased up
to 20%, with the exception for 30%BA mix where a significant dif-
Fig. 9. SEM micrograph of air cured BLWC at 28 days (a) PC control (R1 ), (b) 20BA2.5SF mixture and (c) 20BA5SF mixture.
ferent is seen, while the thermal conductivity of autoclaved BLWC
increased only a little with increased BA content. These results are
related to the volume of permeable voids of BLWC, it can be seen
that the thermal conductivity of BLWC tended to increase due to the
decrease in the volume of permeable voids of BLWC with increasing
BA content. Furthermore, it can be seen that there is a direct rela-
tionship between the thermal conductivity and those of the unit
weight and compressive strength. Demirboga and Gul [34] reported
a relationship between dry unit weights and thermal conductivity
where it was found that the thermal conductivity increased as the
unit weight of concrete increased.
The thermal conductivity of all BLWC mixes with SF addition
was found to be higher than that of a Portland cement con-
trol concrete and increased with increasing SF addition due to
the decreasing of the volume of permeable voids and denser of
microstructure in the cement paste matrix. In addition, the effect of
SF on air cured BLWC for 28 days can be seen to increase the thermal
conductivity from 0.53 to 0.64 W/mK and from 0.56 to 0.65 W/mK
 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684
Fig. 10. SEM micrograph of autoclaved BLWC (a) PC control (R2 ), (b) 20BA2.5SF mixture and (c) 20BA5SF mixture.
for mixes with 10%BA and 20%BA, respectively. For the mixes with
30%BA, the thermal conductivity increased from 0.62 to 0.65 W/mK
when SF was used at 5% compared to the mix without SF.
The thermal conductivity of air cured BLWC with and with-
out SF addition was therefore found to be increased from 0.53 to
0.65 W/m K with the corresponding unit weight in the range of
1417–1588 kg/m3 for sample cured for 28 days. Little changes in
the thermal conductivity of BLWC were also noticed for all mixes
with SF addition between 2.5 and 5% where the results were sim-
ilar within the range of 0.61–0.65 W/mK. The unit weight of all
BA mixes with 2.5 and 5%SF were found to be in the range of
1510–1588 kg/m3 .
3.4. Thermogravimetric analysis
Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) were carried out on selec-
tive samples of Portland cement control (R1 ) and mixes with 5%SF
and the derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves of BLWC with
5% silica fume addition after curing in air for 28 days and auto-
claved for 6 h obtained at a 10 ◦ C/min heating rate are presented
in Fig. 8. The DTG curves of air cured BLWC (Fig. 8(a)) show detec-
tion of ettringite at ≈65–80 ◦ C, calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H)
at ≈100–110 ◦ C and gehlenite hydrate (C2 ASH8 ) at ≈170–180 ◦ C
for all mixes. Moreover, calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2 ) and cal-
cium carbonate (CaCO3 ) phases were both detected at ≈460–480
and ≈680–720 ◦ C, respectively. For autoclaved BLWC (Fig. 8(b)),
the DTG curves show detection of C–S–H (tobermorite phase) at
≈70–100 ◦ C, Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 phases were also detected at
≈460–480 and ≈680–720 ◦ C, respectively. The weight loss of ettrin-
gite, C–S–H and C2 ASH8 resulted from the loss of water molecular
bound [35] while the weight loss of tobermorite phase resulted
from dehydration of the interlayer water which is loosely bound
molecular water [36]. However, ettringite and C2 ASH8 were not
detected in autoclaved BLWC due to the substitution of Al for Si
in the tetrahedral site of tobermorite. This has a significant role in
chemical behavior of cement paste, including the cation and anion
exchange behavior, solubility and reaction which results to delay
ettringite formation [37]. In addition, the formation of C–A–S–H
(hydrogarnet) groups would not occur at temperature below 200 ◦ C
but, the presence of alumina can help to accelerate the rate of tober-
3683
morite crystallization and increases the stability of tobermorite
[16,17].
It is interesting to see from the DTG that there is an increase
in ettringite, C–S–H and C2 ASH8 phases and tobermorite phase of
autoclaved BLWC with increasing BA content up to 20%BA, there-
after the reduction in the peak can be observed when BA was
used at 30%. This result agreed with the increase in the com-
pressive strength when BA was used to replace part of Portland
cement with added SF in all BLWC mixture. The highest com-
pressive strength of air cured BLWC at 18.22 MPa and autoclaved
BLWC at 18.7 MPa was obtained in 20%BA5%SF mixture. As a con-
sequent Ca(OH)2 phase can be seen to reduce with increasing BA
content. This was due to the increase in pozzolanic reaction of
BA and SF thus consuming more of calcium hydroxide in the pro-
cess.
3.5. Microstructure
The microstructure of BLWC can be seen from the micrographs
taken using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Figs. 9 and 10
show SEM micrographs of BLWC cured in air and autoclaved,
respectively. All of BLWC cured in air indicated fibrous-like and
needle-like structure of C–S–H. For the autoclaved BLWC, the
micrograph shows fibrous-like structure of Portland cement con-
trol concrete (R2 ) while the plate-like and lath-like tobermorite
formation (see in Fig. 9(b) and (c)) was found in BLWC with BA
content and SF addition. The formation of tobermorite involves the
pozzolanic reaction of BA and SF in autoclaved, as follows in Eq. (2)
[12]:
C3 S, C2 S → C–S–H + CH + S(silica) → C–S–H
→ C 5 S6 H5 (tobermorite) (2)
The reaction between reactive silica and lime promote the for-
mation of poorly crystallized C–S–H, when the system contained
low lime (CaO) content, C–S–H converts to crystalline tobermorite
(C5 S6 H5 ) on continued heating. The Ca/Si ratio of 0.8–1.0 is the
optimum to give 1.1 nm tobermorite [38]. The replacement part
of Portland cement with BA and SF addition in BLWC result in the
reduction of CaO and increase of SiO2 (reactive silica) content in
3684 W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich / Materials Science and Engineering A 527 (2010) 3676–3684

system. The Ca-low and Si-rich means lower of Ca/Si ratio which
suitable for tobermorite formation. From these results it can be
seen that the tobermorite structure was gives better packing than
fibrous structure when compared to the mixes at cured in air and
autoclaved. The high packing of tobermorite structure is related
to the denser microstructure of autoclaved BLWC with BA and SF
content.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Office of the Higher Edu-
cation Commission, Thailand for financial support. The Graduate
School, Chiang Mai University is also acknowledged.
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[2] Y. Bai, F. Darcy, P.A.M. Basheer, Constr. Build. Mater. 19 (2005) 691–697.
[3] I. Yuksel, T. Bilir, O. Ozkan, Build. Environ. 42 (2007) 2651–2659.
From the results of the investigation on the use of coal bottom [4] P. Chindaprasirt, C. Jaturapitakkul, W. Chalee, U. Rattanasak, Waste Manag. 29
ash from the Mae Moh power plant in Lampang, Thailand, as Port- (2009) 539–543.
[5] M. Cheriaf, J.C. Rocha, J. Pera, Cem. Concr. Res. 29 (1999) 1387–1391.
land cement replacement with silica fume to produce lightweight [6] H. Kurama, M. Kaya, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 1922–1928.
concrete, the following conclusions can be drawn: [7] V.M. Malhotra, P.K. Mehta, Pozzolanic and Cementitious Materials, Advance in
Concrete Technology, vol. 1, Overseas Publishers Association, Ottawa, Canada,
• The volume of permeable voids of BLWC cured in air and auto- 1996.
[8] P.J.P. Gleize, A. Muller, H.R. Roman, Cem. Concr. Comp. 25 (2003) 171–175.
claved for 6 h was found to decrease with increased SF addition [9] J.Y. Shih, T.P. Chang, T.C. Hsiao, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 424 (2006) 266–274.
for all BA mixes. [10] T. Nochaiya, W. Wongkeo, A. Chaipanich, Fuel 89 (2010) 768–774.
• The unit weight, compressive strength and thermal conductivity [11] A. Behnood, H. Ziari, Cem. Concr. Comp. 30 (2008) 106–112.
[12] ACI Committee 213, 2001.
of BLWC cured in air and autoclaved for 6 h were found to increase [13] S. Mindess, J.F. Young, D. Darwin, Concrete, 2nd ed., Pearson Education, Inc.,
with SF addition at a given BA content and age. In addition, 2002.
the unit weight, compressive strength and thermal conductivity [14] A. Short, W. Kinniburgh, Lightweight Concrete, C.R. Books Limited, 1963.
[15] D.P. Mondal, M.D. Goel, S. Das, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 507 (2009) 102–109.
increased with increase time of air curing. Thus the increase of [16] N.Y. Mostafa, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 1349–1357.
unit weight, compressive strength and thermal conductivity are [17] N. Meller, K. Kyritsis, C. Hall, Cem. Concr. Res. 39 (2009) 45–53.
related to a decrease in the volume of permeable voids. The high- [18] Z. Jing, F. Jin, T. Hashida, N. Yamasaki, E.H. Ishida, Cem. Concr. Res. 38 (2008)
976–982.
est compressive strength (18.8 MPa) was obtained when using [19] M. Husem, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 363 (2003) 152–158.
20%BA replacement and 5%SF addition (20BA5SF) cured in auto- [20] H. Uysal, R. Demirboga, R. Sahin, R. Gul, Cem. Concr. Res. 34 (2004) 845–848.
claved for 6 h. [21] I.B. Topcu, T. Uygunoglu, Build. Environ. 42 (2007) 4108–4116.
[22] I.B. Topcu, B. Isikdag, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 204 (2008) 34–38.
• DTG curves of air cured BLWC show ettringite, calcium silicate
[23] M. Nisnevich, G. Sirotin, T. Schlesinger, Y. Eshel, Fuel 87 (2008) 1610–1616.
hydrate (C–S–H) and gehlenite hydrate (C2 ASH8 ) detected at [24] H. Kurama, I.B. Topcu, C. Karakurt, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209 (2009)
≈65–80, ≈100–110 and ≈170–180 ◦ C, respectively. The great- 767–7733.
[25] H. Yazici, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 456–462.
est increase in these phases was found in the mix with 20%BA [26] M.H. Shehata, M.D.A. Thomas, Cem. Concr. Res. 32 (2002) 341–349.
replacement and 5%SF addition, thus agreeing with the compres- [27] R. Demirboga, Build. Environ. 42 (2007) 2467–2471.
sive strength results. For autoclaved BLWC, tobermorite phase [28] A. Chaipanich, T. Nochaiya, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 99 (2010) 487–493.
[29] W. Wongkeo, W. Thawornson, A. Chaipanich, Adv. Mater. Res. 55–57 (2008)
was detected at ≈70–100 ◦ C. Optimum tobermorite phase forma-
629–632.
tion was found when 5% addition was used with 20%BA content [30] ASTM Standard Method C 618, 2000.
and thus resulting in the corresponding increase in the compres- [31] ASTM Standard Method C 642-97, 2000.
sive strength. [32] ASTM Standard Method C 138-92, 2000.
[33] ASTM Standard Method C 495, 2000.
• SEM micrographs of air cured BLWC showed fibrous-like and [34] R. Demirboga, R. Gul, Cem. Concr. Res. 33 (2003) 723–727.
needle-like microstructure of C–S–H while plate-like and lath- [35] L.A. Ruiza, G. Platret, E. Massieub, A. Ehrlacher, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005)
like microstructure of tobermorite were detected in autoclaved 609–613.
[36] S. Shaw, C.M.B. Henderson, B.U. Komanschek, Chem. Geol. 167 (2002) 141–159.
BLWC. In addition, the tobermorite phase was found to give [37] G.K. Sun, J.F. Young, R.J. Kirkpatrick, Cem. Concr. Res. 36 (2006) 18–29.
denser microstructure than fibrous-like C–S–H phases. [38] H.F.W. Taylor, Cement Chemistry, 2nd ed., Thomas Telford Edition, 1997.