Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

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

Strength, chloride resistance, and expansion of concretes containing

ground bagasse ash
Aukkadet Rerkpiboon, Weerachart Tangchirapat ⇑, Chai Jaturapitakkul
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Bangkok 10140, Thailand

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

GBA can be used as a pozzolanic

material to replace OPC up to 50% in
concrete.

Setting times of concretes are slightly
affected when GBA is used to replace
OPC.

Concrete with 50% GBA produced
compressive strength at least 90% of
CT concrete.

Use of GBA of up to 50% to replace
OPC can increase durability of
concrete.

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

Article history: This research examines the strength and durability properties of concrete containing up to 50% ground
Received 8 May 2015 bagasse ash (GBA) replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by weight of binder. The setting times, com-
Received in revised form 25 September pressive strength, modulus of elasticity, chloride resistance, and expansion due to a 5% Na2SO4 solution of
2015
concretes containing ground bagasse ash were investigated. The results showed that concrete with 50% of
Accepted 18 October 2015
GBA produced at least 90% compressive strength as compared to control concrete (CT concrete) at the age
of 28 days. The rapid chloride ion penetration in term of charge passed (Coulombs) was at a very low level
when 20–50% of GBA was used to replace OPC in the concrete. Moreover, the same trend of chloride pen-
Keywords:
Bagasse ash
etration depth was found by the immersion test, i.e., the chloride resistance increased with the increase
High strength concrete of GBA replacement. The results suggest that the use of GBA of up to 50% to replace OPC by weight of
Chloride resistance binder can increase the durability properties of concrete, especially its chloride penetration resistance.
Expansion Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction concrete is ordinary Portland cement, which, from its production

Concrete is recognized as an important construction material
throughout the world because it has advantages over other mate-
rials, such as a high compressive strength, low cost, and high dura-
bility under environmental conditions. A key component of
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: weerachart.tan@kmutt.ac.th (W. Tangchirapat).
process, produces high CO2 emissions because of the calcinations
of its raw materials and the fuel used to burn them. These CO2
emissions are an important contributor to the greenhouse effect,
which leads to global warming. The production of one tons of ordi-
nary Portland cement emits approximately one ton of CO2 into the
atmosphere, and approximately 7% of the total CO2 emissions in
the world are produced by the cement industry [1]. This is the rea-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.10.140
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
984 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989
son for the search for a solution that will reduce the production of
Portland cement while not reducing the world’s concrete supply.
Bagasse ash, a combustion byproduct of sugar cane bagasse in
sugar mill industries, has been accepted as a pozzolanic material
to partially replace Portland cement in concrete [2–6]. From statis-
tics, the amounts of sugar-cane bagasse produced in Thailand from
the 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013
harvest seasons are 66.4, 68.4, 95.3, 97.9 and 100.0 million tons per
year, respectively [7]. After burning, approximately 0.62% of sugar-
cane bagasse is bagasse ash [8]. Approximately 410,000 to 620,000
tons per year of bagasse ash is currently produced, and this pro-
duction trend will increase sharply every year because sugarcane
is one of the primary agricultural crops and is a major raw material
used in the production of ethanol. Fig. 1 shows landfills of bagasse
ash from the sugar mill industry in Thailand. Utilization of bagasse
ash is minimal and unmanageable; some applications of bagasse
ash are as a low value material for backfill or fertilizers which is
very little as compared to its quantity. Thus, most of the bagasse
ash is still disposed of as wastes in landfills causing environmental
and other problems.
Most previous researchers studied the effects of GBA on com-
pressive strength and most of the studies used GBA to replace
10–30% of OPC by weight of binder. Ganesan et al. [2] used 5 to
30% of GBA to partially replace cement in concretes. They found
that at 20% of GBA in binder could develop early and later compres-
sive strength, there was decreased water permeability and
increased chloride resistance in terms of charge passed (Coulombs)
and chloride diffusion coefficient of concretes. Guilherme et al. [3]
reported that use of 10%, 15%, and 20% of GBA in conventional and
high-performance concretes have slightly effect on compressive
strength and modulus of elasticity concretes but it could improve
chloride ion penetration resistance of concretes. In 2009, Chusilp
et al. [4] showed that use of 20% of GBA in concrete produced
the highest compressive strength and the normalized compressive
strength of 10%, 20% and 30% of GBA was 106%, 113% and 108%
compared to control concrete (use ordinary Portland cement as a
binder) at 90 days, respectively. Moreover, it had lower water per-
meability and lower temperature rise than control concrete. High
strength concrete with GBA was studied by Rukzon et al. [5] who
showed that the compressive strength of concretes with GBA was
not lower than CT concrete (101–105% at 28 days) and the highest
compressive strength was achieved when 10% of GBA was used in
concrete. Moreover, concrete containing GBA could improve chlo-
ride penetration resistance of concrete.
Fig. 1. Bagasse ash in landfill.
From previous research, they showed that GBA was a good poz-
zolanic material that can likely be used at more than 30% by weight
of binder to replace OPC in concrete. Because the volume of
bagasse ash has increased every year, it would be beneficial to be
able to increase the amount of GBA used to replace OPC in con-
crete. It was also found that there are very few studies on this sub-
ject. This research puts an emphasis on the strength and durability
properties of GBA concrete. GBA was used as a partial replacement
of OPC up to 50% at rates of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight
of binder. Two experiments on rapid chloride ion penetration and
chloride penetration depth by immersion were used to evaluate
and confirm the chloride resistance of GBA concrete. The expan-
sions due to a 5% NaSO4 solution, setting time, compressive
strength and modulus of elasticity of GBA concretes were evalu-
ated. Additionally, this study will also be beneficial for the environ-
ment by reducing the volume of bagasse ash disposed of in
landfills.
2. Experimental study
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Cement
Ordinary Portland cement type I (OPC) used in this study had the physical prop-
erties and chemical compositions as shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The par-
ticle shapes of OPC are also shown in Fig. 2.
2.1.2. Bagasse ash
Bagasse ash from a sugar factory in Lopburi province was obtained and was
then ground using a ball mill until the particles retained on a No. 325 sieve (with
openings of 45 lm) were 0.42% and was assigned as GBA. The physical properties
and chemical composition of the GBA is also listed in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
The particle shapes of GBA are shown in Fig. 3.
2.1.3. Aggregates
Local river sand, with a fineness modulus of 3.07 was used as a fine aggregate.
Crushed limestone was used as a coarse aggregate, with a maximum size of 20 mm.
The fine and coarse aggregates had specific gravities of 2.60 and 2.71, and water
absorptions of 0.87% and 0.44%, respectively.
2.1.4. Superplasticizer
Melamine Formaldehyde Condensate superplasticizer was used in this study to
control the slump of fresh concrete in the range of 50 to 100 mm.
2.2. Mix proportions and test specimens
2.2.1. Mix proportions
GBA was used to replace OPC at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% by weight of bin-
der. The binder content and water to binder (W/B) ratio of all of concrete mixtures
were kept constants at 450 kg/m3 and 0.45, respectively. The ratio of fine to coarse
aggregate was also kept constant at 45:55 by volume. The slump of fresh concrete
was controlled in the range of 50–100 mm using superplasticizer. The mix propor-
tions of all concretes are presented in Table 3.
2.2.2. Compressive strength and modulus of elasticity
Cylindrical concretes 100 mm in diameter and 200 mm in height were cast and
the concrete samples were removed from the molds 24 h after casting and cured in
water. They were tested to determine their compressive strengths at ages of 7, 28,
90, and 180 days. The compressive strength of concrete was determined according
to ASTM C39 [9]. Three concrete specimens were tested for each mix proportion to
obtain the average data and acceptable ranges of the tested results (three speci-
Table 1
Physical property of the materials.
Materials Specific Retained on a sieve Median particle
gravity No. 325 (%) size, d50 (lm)
Ordinary Portland 3.13 – 14.6
cement (OPC)
Original bagasse ash 1.92 65.73 –
(OB)
Ground bagasse ash 2.27 0.42 5.68
(GB)
 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989 985

Table 2
Chemical compositions OPC and ground bagasse ash.

Chemical composition Ordinary Portland cement Ground bagasse ash

(%) (OPC) (GBA)
Silicon dioxide, SiO2 20.80 55.04
Aluminum oxide, 5.50 5.14
Al2O3
Iron oxide, Fe2O3 3.16 4.06
Calcium oxide, CaO 64.97 11.03
Magnesium oxide, 1.06 0.91
MgO
Sodium oxide, Na2O 0.08 0.24
Potassium oxide, K2O 0.55 1.22
Sulfur trioxide, SO3 2.96 2.16
Loss on ignition, LOI 2.89 19.60
SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 – 64.24

mens) were within 7.8%. In addition, the modulus of elasticity of concretes was also
determined at ages of 7, 28, and 90 days, and three concrete specimens were used
to obtain an average value in each data. The modulus of elasticity of concrete was
Fig. 3. Ground bagasse ash (GBA).
also determined according to ASTM C490 [10].

2.2.3. Rapid chloride ion penetration test
For the rapid chloride ion penetration test, this test method is to determine the
electrical conductance of concrete to provide the rapid indication of resistance chlo-
ride ions penetrability of concrete. The cylindrical concretes 100 mm in diameter
and 200 mm in height were moved from the curing pond 1 day before testing
age. They were cut by a water-cooled diamond saw at center of height for speci-
mens have 50 mm of thick slices and 100 mm of diameter. The vacuum saturation
apparatus were maintained vacuum of specimen 3 h and soak in water 18 h. After
that, the specimens were coated silicone sealant around the cylindrical surface with
the exception of the cut surface and combined with two voltage cell. Full both cell
one side with 3.0% NaCl solution and one side with 0.3 N NaOH solutions. The volt-
age 60 V were used to determine the electrical conductance of concrete in cou-
lombs, recorded charge passed every 30 min until 6 h period to provide the rapid
indication of resistance chloride ions penetrability of concrete, as shown in Fig. 4.
The charge passed (coulombs) values of CT and BA concretes was measured at
the ages of 28 and 90 days in accordance to ASTM C 1202 [11]. The equation to cal-
culate charge passed (Coulombs) is shown in Eq. (1). Three concrete specimens
were tested for each mix proportion to obtain the average data.
Q ¼ 900ðI0 þ 2I30 þ 2I60 þ    þ 2I300 þ 2I330 þ I360 Þ
left to dry for 24 h before applying of epoxy coating around the cylindrical surface
with the exception of the cut surface. The cut concretes were fully immersed in 3%
NaCl solution when the age of concretes was 28 days as shown in Fig. 5. To deter-
mine the chloride penetration depth of concrete after immersing for 90 and
180 days, 0.1 N silver nitrate solution was sprayed on the split surface of concretes
and the chloride penetration depths were measured [13].
2.2.5. Expansion of concrete due to a Na2SO4 solution
To determine the expansion of concrete due to a Na2SO4 solution the concrete
specimens having a cross section of 75  75 mm2 and 285 mm of length were cast
and removed from the molds after casting for 24 h. After being removed from the
molds, they were immediately immersed in a 5% Na2SO4 solution. The expansions
of concretes were measured after the concrete were exposed in a 5% Na2SO4 solu-
tion for 266 days (approximately 9 months), and the expansion of concrete was per-
formed according to ASTM C490 [14].
3. Results and discussion
ð1Þ

where Q is the charge passed (coulombs), I0 is the current (amperes) immediately
after voltage is applied and It is the current (amperes) at t minute after the voltage
is applied.
2.2.4. Chloride penetration depth by immersion test
For the chloride penetration depth by immersion test, which was conducted in
accordance with RTA T263 [12], the cylindrical concretes 100 mm in diameter and
200 mm in height were also used. After casting, the concretes were cured in water
for 26 days. Then, they were cut to have 100 mm in height. The cut concretes were
Fig. 2. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC).
3.1. Properties of fresh concrete
Table 3 shows the slumps of fresh concretes which are in the
range of 70–95 mm. Control concrete (CT concrete) which did
not contain GBA in the mixture, did not require superplasticizer.
However, ground bagasses ash concrete (BA concretes) with the
replacement of GBA at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by weight of
binder required superplasticizer at 1.80, 3.15, 4.50, 6.30 and
9.00 kg/m3, respectively, or 0.4%, 0.7%, 1.0%, 1.4% and 2.0% by
weight of binder, respectively. It was found that increasing of
GBA in concrete resulted in increasing the amount of superplasti-
cizer. This was due to the high porosity, porous surface and irreg-
ularly shapes of GBA particles [4–6].
The initial and final setting times of CT and BA concretes are
also shown in Table 3. CT concrete had initial and final setting
times of 240 min and 335 min, respectively. Concretes containing
10–50% of GBA by weight of binder (BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and
BA50 concrete) had initial setting times of 245, 240, 225, 220
and 210 min, respectively, and had final setting times of 340,
335, 340, 330 and 335 min, respectively. The results indicated that
use of GBA to replace OPC by up to 50% by weight of binder had a
slight effect on the initial and final setting times of BA concrete,
especially the initial setting time of concrete. These results were
different from using fly ash in concrete. For fly ash concrete, the
initial and final setting time of concrete increased with the increase
of the fly ash content [15]. Because the particles of fly ash are
spherical and solid, the particles could not absorb water into the
particles, but the particles of GBA had a high porosity, porous sur-
face and were irregularly shaped; thus, the GBA absorbed mixing
986 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989

Table 3
Concrete mix proportions.

Mix Mix proportion (kg/m3) Initial setting time (minutes) Final setting time (minutes) Slump (mm)
a
Cement GBA Sand Stone Water SP W/B
CT 450 0 750 955 202.5 0.00 0.45 240 335 70
BA10 405 45 740 945 202.5 1.80 0.45 245 340 90
BA20 360 90 735 935 202.5 3.15 0.45 240 335 90
BA30 315 135 730 925 202.5 4.50 0.45 225 340 70
BA40 270 180 720 915 202.5 6.30 0.45 220 330 70
BA50 225 225 710 905 202.5 9.00 0.45 210 335 95
a
Superplasticizer was assumed to have 50% water by weight.

Table 4
Compressive strength of the CT and BA concretes.

Mix Compressive strength (MPa) – normalized compressive strength

(%)
7 days 28 days 90 days 180 days
CT 33.1 – 100 41.1 – 100 49.9 – 100 51.1 – 100
BA10 36.6 – 111 46.5 – 113 54.4 – 109 55.4 – 108
BA20 35.2 – 106 46.0 – 112 56.6 – 113 57.4 – 112
BA30 33.5 – 101 41.2 – 100 51.5 – 103 52.5 – 103
BA40 32.7 – 99 39.4 – 96 47.7 – 96 48.6 – 95
BA50 28.8 – 87 37.6 – 92 45.3 – 91 45.8 – 90

at the age of 90 and 180 days, the highest compressive strength

Fig. 4. Rapid chloride ion penetration test.
water and slightly reduced the initial setting time of the BA
concretes.
3.2. Compressive strength of concrete
The compressive strengths and the normalized of compressive
strengths of GBA concretes as compared to CT concrete are shown
in Table 4. CT concrete had the compressive strengths of 33.1, 41.1,
49.9 and 51.1 MPa at the ages of 7, 28, 90, and 180 days, respec-
tively. For BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and BA50 concretes, the com-
pressive strengths at 7 days were 36.6, 35.2, 33.5, 32.7 and
28.8 MPa, respectively, or 111%, 106%, 101%, 99% and 87% of CT
concrete, respectively. The early age (7 days) results indicated that
the use of 10–30% of GBA to replace OPC by weight of binder in
concrete could produce a higher compressive strength than CT
concrete when the medium particle size of GBA (d50) was 5.68 lm.
At the age of 28 days, BA10 concrete had the highest compres-
sive strength and was 46.5 MPa or 113% of CT concrete. Moreover,
was changed to BA20 concrete which had the compressive
strengths of 56.6 and 57.4 MPa, respectively (more than 55 MPa)
or 113% and 112% of CT concrete, respectively. According to ACI
363 R [16], concrete with a compressive strength over 55 MPa is
defined as high strength concrete.
The use of 40% GBA to replace OPC (BA40 concrete) showed a
good result with a slightly lower compressive strength than CT
concrete at all ages. That is 32.7, 39.4, 47.4 and 48.6 MPa or 99%,
96%, 96% and 95% of CT concrete at the ages of 7, 28, 90 and
180 days, respectively. In addition, BA50 concrete (50% GBA and
50% OPC as a binder) had a compressive strength of 28.8 MPa or
87% of CT concrete at the age of 7 days and increased to
45.3 MPa or 91% of CT concrete at the age of 90 day.
Fig. 6 shows the relationship between the compressive strength
of concrete and replacement of OPC by GBA. At the age of 180 days,
the compressive strengths of BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and BA50
concretes were 55.4, 57.4, 52.5, 48.6 and 45.8 MPa, respectively,
or 108%, 112%, 103%, 95% and 90% of CT concrete, respectively. This
suggested that the optimum replacement of GBA to produce the
highest compressive strength of concrete is 20% by weight of
binder.

Fig. 6. Relationship between the compressive strength of concrete and replacement

Fig. 5. Concrete samples for the chloride penetration depth by the immersion test. of GBA by weight of binder (%).
 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989
It is interesting to note that the compressive strengths of BA10,
BA20 and BA30 concretes could be higher than CT concrete at
7 days or more. This is due to the high fineness of GBA (d50 of
5.68 lm). The high fineness of GBA produces a high and fast poz-
zolanic reaction, since SiO2 in GBA is highly reactive with Ca
(OH)2 from the hydration reaction of Portland cement to increase
C–S–H in GBA concretes and filled up the voids in the concrete
structure [17–19]. This confirmed that the high fineness of GBA
is very important for concrete containing bagasse ash to achieve
a high strength at an early age of concrete.
3.3. Modulus of elasticity
Fig. 7 shows the relationship between modulus of elasticity and
square root of compressive strength of CT and BA concretes at the
ages of 7, 28 and 90 days. It can be seen that the modulus of elas-
ticity of CT and BA concretes increased with the increase of the
square root of compressive strength. This result, which has been
confirmed by many researchers, shows that the modulus of elastic-
ity of concrete with pozzolanic materials is similar to conventional
concrete [20–22] and is slightly higher than that predicted by ACI
318 [23]. The expression of modulus of elasticity by ACI 318 [23] is
a slight underestimation of the modulus of elasticity for CT and BA
concretes of this study because of the different sizes of specimen
and type of coarse aggregate [24]. However, it may be concluded
that the use of GBA up to 50% to replace OPC in concretes did
not have any effect on the modulus of elasticity of BA concretes.
3.4. Rapid chloride ion penetration
The results of rapid chloride ion penetration of CT and BA con-
cretes according to ASTM C1202 [11] are given in Fig. 8. The charge
passed (coulombs) of CT concrete is 4181 and 4129 coulombs at
the age of 28 and 90 days, respectively. According to ASTM C
1202 [11], CT concrete is classified as having a ‘‘high” (>4000 cou-
lombs) level of chloride ion penetrability. The use of 10 and 20%
GBA to replace OPC in concretes could significantly a reduction
in the charge passed (coulombs) since BA10 and BA20 concretes
had the charge passed (coulombs) of 1367 and 532 coulombs at
the age of 90 days, respectively which could be classified as having
a ‘‘low” (1000–2000 coulombs) level and ‘‘very low” (100–
1000 coulombs) level for chloride ion penetrability, respectively.
Moreover, BA30, BA40 and BA50 concretes had a charge passed
(coulombs) of 312, 234 and 126 coulombs at the ages of 90 days,
and all of these concretes can be classified as having a ‘‘very low”
Fig. 7. Relationship between the modulus of elasticity and the square root of the
compressive strength of concrete.
987
Fig. 8. Rapid chloride ion penetration of CT and BA concretes.
level for chloride ion penetrability. The results also indicate that
the use of GBA to replace OPC in concretes was effectively at reduc-
ing the charge passed (coulombs) of GBA concretes. Moreover, the
charge passed (coulombs) decreases with the increased of GBA
replacement, and similar results were obtained by Rukzon and
Chindaprasirt [5]. In addition, a ‘‘very low” chloride ion penetrabil-
ity of concrete can be obtained by using 20% to 50% of GBA to
replace OPC in concrete.
The charge passed (coulombs) values of CT, BA10, BA20, BA30,
BA40 and BA50 concretes at 90 days are 4129, 1367, 532, 312,
234 and 126 coulombs, respectively, while the compressive
strength of CT, BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and BA50 concretes at
the same age are 49.9, 55.4, 57.4, 52.5, 48.6 and 45.8 MPa, respec-
tively. The results also suggested that GBA can be used effectively
to reduce the electrical conductivity of concrete. The rapid
decreases of the charge passed (coulombs) or electrical conduc-
tance value of BA concretes occurred when 10–20% of GBA was
used as a binder in concrete. It is noted that BA40 and BA50 con-
cretes a had lower compressive strength than CT concrete, but it
had very higher performance than CT concrete for chloride resis-
tance in terms of the charge passed (coulombs) value. Moreover,
the amount of GBA to replace OPC in concrete was the major factor
for reducing the charge passed (coulombs) or electrical conductiv-
ity values of BA concrete.
3.5. Chloride penetration depth by immersion test
Fig. 9 shows the chloride penetration depth of CT and BA con-
crete at 90 and 180 days, while Fig. 10 shows the chloride penetra-
tion depth of concretes when 0.1 N silver nitrate was applied on
the split surface at 180 days. From Figs. 9 and 10, the chloride pen-
Fig. 9. Chloride penetration depth of CT and BA concretes.
988 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989
Fig. 10. Chloride penetration depths of concretes when 0.1 N silver nitrate was applied on the split surface at 180 days.
etration depths of CT concrete are 18.0 and 20.0 mm after 90 and
180 days of immersion in a 3% NaCl solution, while those of
BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and BA50 concretes are 11.5, 10.0, 8.0,
3.0 and 2.0 mm at 90 days, respectively, and 13.5, 11.0, 9.0, 7.0
and 5.0 mm at 180 days, respectively. These results are similar to
the results of the rapid chloride ion penetration test in that the
chloride penetration depth decreased with the increase of the
GBA replacement. Use of GBA is very effective in reducing chloride
penetration into concrete, which is the same as the result of using
silica fume, fly ash, palm oil fuel ash and rice husk ash in concrete
[25–27]. Moreover, the chloride penetration depths of all concretes
increased quickly at the beginning of immersion and more slowly
at later in immersion. For example, the chloride penetration depth
of BA20 concrete was 10.0 mm at 90 days of immersion and was
11.0 mm at 180 days of immersion. Moreover, the normalized
chloride penetration depth of BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and BA50
concretes compared to CT concrete at 90 days were 67.5%, 55.0%,
45.0%, 35.0% and 25.0%, respectively, as shown in Fig. 11. It should
be noted that the decrease of the chloride penetration depth vs. the
replacement of GBA for BA concrete is seen to have a linear form,
while the decreased rate of charge passed (coulombs) vs. the
replacement of GBA has an exponential form. These results also
suggest that the replacement of cement with GBA at 20% by weight
of binder can greatly reduce the chloride penetration depth of the
concrete and slowly reduce the chloride penetration depth when
the replacement rate of GBA was 30–50%.
3.6. Expansion of concrete due to a Na2SO4 solution
Fig. 12 shows the expansion test results of CT and GBA concrete
bars immersed in a 5% Na2SO4 solution for up to 266 days (approx-
imately 9 months). At 266 days, the expansion of the CT concrete
bar was 0.0361%, while those of BA10, BA20, BA30, BA40 and
BA50 concretes were 0.0315%, 0.0268%, 0.0220%, 0.0188% and
0.0167%, respectively. It is seen that the expansion of concrete bars
decreased with the increase of GBA replacement. Moreover, the
Fig. 11. Normalized chloride penetration compared to CT concrete.
Fig. 12. Expansion of CT and BA concrete bars in a 5% Na2SO4 solution.
expansion of the BA50 concrete bar (0.0167%) was approximately
half that of the CT concrete bar (0.0361%), while the compressive
strength of BA50 concrete was lower than that of CT concrete. This
is because the use of GBA to replace OPC can reduce the Ca(OH)2
content by a pozzolanic reaction and reduce the C3A content in
concrete, which decreases the amount of gypsum and ettringite
from the sulfate reaction [27–31]. These results are similar to those
from other studies in which pozzolanic materials, such as fly ash,
diatomite and rice husk ash, were used to replace OPC [32–34].
This suggests that GBA can be effectively used to reduce the expan-
sion of concrete due to the attack of a Na2SO4 solution.
4. Conclusions
Based on the experimental results of this study, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
1. For concrete with the same slump, the higher the replacement
of OPC by GBA, the greater the amount of superplasticizer that
is required. Moreover, the initial and final setting times of the
concretes are slightly affected when GBA is used to replace
OPC at between 10% and 50% by weight of binder.
2. The highest compressive strength of BA concrete was obtained
when the replacement of OPC by GBA was 20% by weight of bin-
der. This compressive strength means that BA20 concrete could
be considered to be high strength concrete at the ages of
90 days, because the strength of the BA concrete was more than
55 MPa.
3. The use of GBA to replace OPC at up to 50% by weight of binder
in concrete did not have any effect on the modulus of elasticity
of the concrete. The modulus of elasticity of GBA concrete
depends on its compressive strength and is similar to that of
conventional concrete.
4. From the results of the rapid chloride ion penetration test and
the chloride penetration depth by immersion test, GBA can be
used effectively to increase the chloride resistance of concrete.
 A. Rerkpiboon et al. / Construction and Building Materials 101 (2015) 983–989
Moreover, the replacement of GBA (10–50%) is more important
in increasing the chloride resistance of concrete rather than in
increasing the compressive strength of concrete.
5. The expansion of BA concrete bars due to Na2SO4 attack was
lower than that of CT concrete when GBA was used to replace
OPC at 10–50% by weight of binder. The higher is the replace-
ment of GBA; the lower is the expansion due to Na2SO4 attack.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from
the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) under TRF Senior Research Scho-
lar, Grant No. RTA5380002, and King Mongkut’s University of Tech-
nology Thonburi under the National Research University (NRU).
References
[1] CO2 Emissions from cement manufacture have been underestimated, Appl.
Catal. B: Environ. 13(2) (1997) N12–N13.
[2] K. Ganesan, K. Rajagopal, K. Thangavel, Evaluation of bagasse ash as
supplementary cementitious material, Cem. Concr. Compos. 29 (2007) 515–
524.
[3] C.C. Guilherme, D.T.F. Romildo, D.T.F. Eduardo, Use of ultra-fine sugar cane
bagasse ash as mineral admixture for concrete, ACI Mater. J. 105 (5) (2008)
487–493.
[4] N. Chusilp, C. Jaturapitakkul, K. Kiattikomol, Utilization of bagasse ash as a
pozzolanic material in concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (11) (2009) 3352–
3358.
[5] S. Rukzon, P. Chindaprasirt, Utilization of bagasse ash in high-strength
concrete, Mater. Des. 34 (2012) 45–50.
[6] K. Montakarntiwong, N. Chusilp, W. Tangchirapat, C. Jaturapitakkul, Strength
and heat evolution of concretes containing bagasse ash from thermal power
plants in sugar industry, Mater. Des. 49 (2013) 414–420.
[7] Office of Cane and Sugar Board, Report on Total cane Crushing and Sugar
Production 2008/2009 to 2012/2013, Ministry of Industry, Thailand, 2013.
[8] G.C. Cordeiro, R.D.T. Filjp, E.M.R. Fairbairn, M.M.T. Luis, C.H. Oliver, Influence of
mechanical grinding on the pozzolanic activity of residual sugarcane bagasse
ash, in: Proceedings of an international conference on use of recycled materials
in building and structures, Barcelona, 2004, pp. 1–9.
[9] ASTM C39/C39M-10: Standard test method for compressive strength of
cylindrical concrete specimens, 2010.
[10] ASTM C469/C469M-10: Standard test method for static modulus of elasticity
and poisson’s ratio of concrete in compression, 2010.
[11] ASTM C1202-10: Standard test method for electrical indication of concrete’s
ability to resist chloride ion penetration, 2010.
[12] The Road and Traffic Authority. Test method RTA T362 – Interim test for
verification of curing regime – Sorptivity, NSW, Australia, February, 2001, pp.
3.
[13] N. Otsuki, S. Nagataki, K. Nakashita, Evaluation of AgNO3 solution spray
method for measurement of chloride penetration into hardened cementitious
matrix materials, Constr. Build. Mater. 7 (4) (1993) 195–201.
989
[14] ASTM C490/C490M-11: Standard practice for use of apparatus for the
determination of length change of hardened cement paste, mortar, and
concrete, 2011.
[15] Chung-Ho Huang, Shu-Ken Lin, Chao-Shun Chang, How-Ji Chen, Mix
proportions and mechanical properties of concrete containing very high-
volume of Class F fly ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 46 (2013) 71–78.
[16] ACI Committee 363, State-of-the-art report on high strength concrete. ACI
363R–10, in: ACI manual of concrete practice Part I, 2012.
[17] G.C. Cordeiro, R.D. Toledo Filho, L.M. Tavares, E.M.R. Fairbairn, Pozzolanic
activity and filler effect of sugar cane bagasse ash in Portland cement and lime
mortars, Cem. Concr. Compos. 30 (2008) 410–418.
[18] W. Kroehong, T. Sinsiri, C. Jaturapitakkul, Effect of palm oil fuel ash fineness on
packing effect and pozzolanic reaction of blended cement paste, Proc. Eng. 14
(2011) 361–369.
[19] C. Jaturapitakkul, J. Tangpagasit, S. Songmue, K. Kiattikomol, Filler effect and
pozzolanic reaction of ground palm oil fuel ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 25 (2011)
4287–4293.
[20] H.H. Nassif, H. Najm, N. Suksawang, Effect of pozzolanic materials and curing
methods on the elastic modulus of HPC, Cem. Concr. Compos. 27 (6) (2005)
661–670.
[21] W. Tangchirapat, R. Buranasing, C. Jaturapitakkul, P. Chindaprasirt, Influence of
rice husk–bark ash on mechanical properties of concrete containing high
amount of recycled aggregates, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 1812–1819.
[22] W. Tangchirapat, C. Jaturapitakkul, Strength, drying shrinkage, and water
permeability of concrete incorporating ground palm oil fuel ash, Cem. Concr.
Compos. 32 (2007) 767–774.
[23] ACI Committee 318, Building code requirements for structural concrete, ACI
318-11, American Concrete Institute, 2011. 111p.
[24] A.M. Neville, Properties of concrete, forth ed. Tottenham, London, 1995, pp.
418–449.
[25] P. Chindaprasirt, C. Chotithanorm, H.T. Cao, V. Sirivivatnanon, Influence of fly
ash fineness on the chloride penetration of concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 21
(2007) 356–361.
[26] P. Chindaprasirt, S. Rukzon, V. Sirivivatnanon, Resistance to chloride
penetration of blended Portland cement mortar containing palm oil fuel ash,
rice husk ash and fly ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 932–938.
[27] Y. Halit, The effect of silica fume and high-volume Class C fly ash on
mechanical properties, chloride penetration and freeze-thaw resistance of
self-compacting concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 456–462.
[28] D. Bonen, M.D. Cohen, Magnesium sulfate attack on Portland cement paste-I
microstructural analysis, Cem. Concr. Res. 22 (1) (1992) 169–180.
[29] H.T. Cao, L. Bucea, A. Ray, S. Yozghatlian, The effect of cement composition and
pH of environment on sulfate resistance of Portland cements and blended
cements, Cem. Concr. Compos. 19 (2) (1997) 161–171.
[30] M. Nabil, Al-Akhras, Durability of metakaolin concrete to sulfate attack, Cem.
Concr. Res. 36 (2006) 1727–1734.
[31] K. Ramyar, G. Inan, Sodium sulfate attack on plain and blended cements, Build.
Environ. 42 (2007) 1368–1372.
[32] P. Chindaprasirt, S. Homwuttiwong, V. Sirivivatnanon, Influence of fly ash
fineness on strength, drying shrinkage and sulfate resistance of blended
cement mortar, Cem. Concr. Res. 34 (2004) 1087–1092.
[33] Nurhayat Degirmenci, Arin Yilmaz, Use of diatomite as partial replacement for
Portland cement in cement mortars, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2008) 284–288.
[34] B. Chatveera, P. Lertwattanaruk, Evaluation of sulfate resistance of cement
mortars containing black rice husk ash, J. Environ. Manage. 90 (2009) 1435–
1441.