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Evaluating The Effects of Sugarcane-Bagasse Ash and Rice-Husk Ash On The Mechanical and Durability Properties of Mortar
Evaluating The Effects of Sugarcane-Bagasse Ash and Rice-Husk Ash On The Mechanical and Durability Properties of Mortar
Abstract: The influence of sugarcane-bagasse ash (SCBA) and rice-husk ash (RHA) as cement replacement materials on the mechanical
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and durability properties of mortars was investigated in this study. Portland cement was replaced by RHA and SCBA at a rate of 10–30% and
10–25% by weight of cementitious materials, respectively. Also, ternary mixtures were prepared by the incorporation of both additives.
Replacement dosages were selected based on the former research studies to cast the mortar. Additionally, a control mixture, containing
only cement, was prepared to clarify the effectiveness of replacement materials. Compressive strength tests were conducted to evaluate the
mechanical performances of the specimens. In addition, the transport tests (water absorption and capillary absorption), electrical resistivity,
rapid chloride migration test (RCMT), and acid resistance of mortars were evaluated in order to investigate the effect of SCBA and RHA on
the durability properties of mortar. Results showed that RHA was more effective at enhancing the mechanical properties of mortars than SCBA.
However, according to the durability tests’ results, both SCBA and RHA were found to be effective since ternary mixtures were more durable
when compared to the control mixture. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0002317. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Mortar; Sugarcane-bagasse ash (SCBA); Rice-husk ash (RHA); Durability; Compressive strength; Rapid chloride
migration test (RCMT); Resistivity.
showed a high pozzolanic potential and a satisfactory compressive gration tests (RCMT), electrical resistivity, and acid resistance of
strength (González-Kunz et al. 2017). The compressive strength mortars, were applied to study the effect of SCBA and RHA on the
attained a value equivalent to that of the control mortar when SCBA durability properties of mortars. The tests were selected on the basis
was used up to 20% (Arif et al. 2016). Several authors have re- of literature gaps and parameters that can generally evaluate the fea-
ported that 20% replacement is the optimal limit replacement sibility of the usage of these two important pozzolans in mortars.
for SCBA since it increased the compressive strengths of mortar
(Arenas-Piedrahita et al. 2016; Ganesan et al. 2007; Chusilp et al.
2009b). They believed that increasing the replacement of cement Experimental Program
with SCBA beyond 20% decreased permeability, chloride ion in-
gress, and the diffusion coefficient by about 50%. Several studies Materials
were conducted to examine the chemical effect or pozzolanic ac-
Portland Type I cement was incorporated, which satisfied the
tivity of SCBA. The main products of the reaction between calcium ASTM C150 requirements for portland cement specification
hydroxide and SCBA are C-S-H. The free lime values in pastes and [ASTM C150 (ASTM 2016a)]. The chemical components and
the pozzolanic products of SCBA were decreased. The differential physical analysis of the cement, SCBA, and RHA utilized in this
scanning calorimetry (DSC) proved substantial amounts of C-S-H study are provided in Table 1. The retained amounts when wet-
in the presence of SCBA. The chemical effect of SCBA was re- sieved on a 45-μm (No. 325) sieve for SCBA and RHA were
ported by measuring SCBA/calcium hydroxide and SCBA/portland 23 and 25.4%, respectively—both below the target level of less
cement pastes (Payá et al. 2002). than 34%. SCBA is classified as a Type C pozzolan based on
The effectiveness of a pozzolan is mainly attributed to its silica ASTM C618, due to having a loss of ignition (LOI) of less than
content and the crystallinity of silica. Amorphous and partially 10% and a (SiO2 þ Al2 O3 þ Fe2 O3 ) value more than 50% [ASTM
crystalline silica is important for the progress of pozzolanic reac- C618 (ASTM 2015)]. The LOI indicates that the content of unburnt
tions with calcium hydroxide. Crystallinity starts in RHA when the carbon in the used ash was negligible and the pozzolanic activity
temperature of burning processes is higher than 800°C, which leads was high enough for hydration reactions. Some researchers re-
to poor pozzolanic properties (Nagataki 1994). This is because of ported that high values of the LOI in the SCBA had negatively
the fact that after 800°C, crystallization of the ash occurs from
amorphous SiO2 to cristobalite or tridymite (Ahmed and Adam
2007). Bie et al. reported that burning rice husk in a furnace at a Table 1. Chemical analysis and physical properties of portland cement,
lower temperature (600–700°C) results in highly active RHA with SCBA, and RHA
the potential for usage as a cement replacement material (Bie et al.
Portland cement
2015). The reason is attributed to the high SiO2 content and highly Chemical component (Type I) (%) SCBA (%) RHA (%)
pozzolanic reaction, with respect to the amorphous RHA. For the
SCBA, it was reported that that at 800°C, cristobalite and calcium SiO2 21.52 55.7 87.1
Al2 O3 5.24 2.86 0.13
were formed. Controlling the crystalline phases of SCBA might be
Fe2 O3 3.06 3.51 0.28
helpful to enhance the pozzolanic activity (Cordeiro et al. 2010). CaO 61.6 15.34 1.96
Since porosity is the major factor that influences the permeabil- SO3 2.12 — 0.34
ity of concrete, durability aspects of concrete also depend on the MgO 4.16 4.08 0.77
pore structure of the mixture. On the basis of a correlation made Na2 O 0.43 0.37 0.03
between pore volume obtained by the mercury intrusion porosim- K2 O 0.68 6.1 1.87
etry (MIP) test and chloride penetration obtained by rapid chloride P2 O5 0.23 — 0.71
permeability test (RCPT), it was found that capillary pore volume TiO2 0.04 — —
LOI 0.85 8.92 5.79
is associated to the RCPT charge values (Yang and Chiang 2005).
C3 S 47.59 — —
In another study, SCBA was also evaluated in the case of pozzo- C2 S 25.81 — —
lanic activity and the filler effect on the mortar. The authors re- C3 A 8.71 — —
ported that SCBA has physicochemical properties suitable for C4 AF 9.13 — —
usage in concrete and its reactivity changed significantly according Physical properties Portland cement SCBA RHA
to the particle size and fineness of the SCBA’s particles (Cordeiro (Type I)
et al. 2008). It was reported that RHA’s influence on mortar through Specific gravity (g=cm3 ) 3.19 2.34 2.09
chemical reactions is more profound than its physical effect (Jamil Retained on #325 sieve (%) 25.6 23 25.4
Surface area (cm2 =g) 3,035 2,895 2,982
2016). The physical contribution of pozzolan particles is known to
Fig. 2. Available stages in the bagasse ash under different temperatures. Q = Quartz, C = Calcite, and FeO = Iron oxide.
Table 3. Relative intensity of the formed phases RHA had a higher reactivity because of the CaðOHÞ2 dehydroxy-
Relative lation. These reactions produced additional amounts of C-S-H gel
intensity 500°C 600°C 700°C 800°C 1,000°C that made microstructures denser (Kar et al. 2012; Van et al. 2013).
Generally, a high fineness ash can improve the pozzolanic reactiv-
IQ/IC 19.07 19.9 24.59 38.42 39.65
IQ/IT — — — 17.57 — ity (Rukzon et al. 2009).
IQ/IF 13 10.19 — 32 23.5 The microstructure of the cement, RHA, and SCBA was studied
through a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is shown
in Fig. 4. The cement particles were mostly spherical, as shown in
1000 Fig. 4(a). Some areas were rounded and entirely crystallized. The
900 microstructure of the RHA is very porous because of the higher
800
specific surface area. The RHA particles were distributed with
700
cellular, angular, and spongy particles as shown in Fig. 4(b). This
irregularity in appearance resulted in the porous microstructure.
600
Intensity
The RHA particles were comparatively finer than the SCBA par-
500
ticles. It is expected that higher amounts of RHA as cement re-
400
placement materials will provide better pozzolanic reactions. Most
300
particles in the SCBA image are sporadically shaped with a few
200 spherical particles, as shown in Fig. 4(c) (Cordeiro et al. 2016).
100 However, there were some particles with a specific shape (chiefly
0 box shaped). The observation of irregularly shaped particles of
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
2θ (Degree) SCBA was also reported by Bahurudeen and Santhanam (2015)
RHA SCBA
and Bahurudeen et al. (2015). The authors suggested that irregularly
shaped particles are rich in silica and also that the observation of
Fig. 3. XRD patterns of SCBA and RHA. spherical-shaped particles may be attributed to melting at high
temperature. The formation of needle-shaped particles, which are
mostly crystalline silica, was inevitable since a minimum level
XRD results, RHA is a siliceous material, which is mainly a con- of crystalline compound was achieved by the chosen temperature.
centrated source of amorphous SiO2 (Joshaghani et al. 2016). In Moreover, irregular silica with minor amounts of hematite exists
addition, this high reactivity is attributed to the high content of around amorphous silica. As a matter of fact, each material will
amorphous silica and the large surface area formed by the porous participate in hydration reactions based on the particle’s size and
structure of the particles, as shown in Fig. 4. The reactivity of RHA microstructure type. It was reported that spherical ash particles
results in the strength improvement of cement-based materials are mainly aluminosilicates, whereas box-shaped particles are
by pozzolanic reactions between amorphous silica and calcium silica and fibrous particles are carbon (Aigbodion et al. 2010; Batra
hydroxide liberated during the cement hydration process. The poz- et al. 2008; Bahurudeen et al. 2014). Smaller particles that pre-
zolanic reactivity of RHA and SCBA was studied with TGA. The sented rough surfaces appeared because of the removal of organic
Fig. 4. SEM images for (a) OPC; (b) RHA; and (c) SCBA.
substances from bagasse, leaving the inorganic fraction, such as to the ASTM C109 standard. The proportion of mixtures contain-
silicon and potassium. ing RHA and SCBA are presented in Table 5. Portland cement was
The TGA was carried out to measure weight losses of OPC, replaced by RHA and SCBA at the rate of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30%
SCBA, and RHA pastes at 1, 3, 7, and 28 days, as shown in Fig. 5. and 10, 15, 20, and 25% by weight of cementitious materials, re-
Three rapid weight losses were seen in the TGA plots because of spectively. Replacement dosages were selected on the basis of for-
several reasons. The initial weight loss happened at 150–250°C as a mer research studies to cast the mortar. Also, ternary mixtures were
result of C-S-H dehydration. The next weight loss occurred be- prepared by incorporation of both additives. According to previous
tween 460 and 500°C, which might be attributed to the portlandite studies, RHA is reported to be more effective at higher dosages,
dihydroxylation. One of the pozzolanic reactivity criteria is how while no advantage was observed for SCBA incorporation at dos-
quickly the pozzolanic material reacts with portlandite after mixing. ages higher than 20%.
The first and the second weight loss can be considered as a con- The needed SP dosage to achieve the desired workability of
troller of the pozzolanic reactivity and hydration reaction degree of 110 5% in all mixes is shown in Fig. 6. The required SP content
the SCMs (Alarcon-Ruiz et al. 2005). The last weight loss appeared for the RHA specimens was more than that of other mixtures. The
at 730°C due to the decarbonation of calcium carbonate (Xu higher the dosages of RHA and SCBA, the more SP was required,
et al. 2016). which probably can be attributed to the large amount of pores in the
The weight losses of OPC, RHA, and SCBA were calculated, structure and high surface area that increased the water demand. A
as displayed in Table 4. The weight loss of the OPC was increased mixture having a greater surface area demands more water to obtain
from 39.73 to 48.68%, with the curing age from 1 to 28 days at the a specific slump flow; thus, greater amounts of SP are needed to
first stage. The same trend was observed for RHA as the weight loss keep the content of water at a constant level (Ardalan et al. 2017b;
for RHA was increased from 47.76–52.98%. This range for SCBA Joshaghani et al. 2017b). The workability of SCBA and RHA was
was obtained as 43.16 to 51.28%, which is attributed to dehydra- tested by Joshaghani (2017). He studied the relative slump flow
tion reaction. Among all three SCMs, the dehydration weight losses
loss by comparing to the control sample after 50 min of mixing.
of the RHA were higher at all ages. The SCBA had a higher value
He found that the slump flow loss increased over time for all mixes
compared to the OPC; however, the rate of hydration of SCBA was
as expected compared to the control sample. At 50 min, the mix-
lower than that of RHA. In the second stage, weight losses of the
tures containing RHA showed loss of workability compared to the
OPC, RHA, and SCBA at 28 days were 43.21, 33.90, and 35.97%,
SCBA and of increased replacement levels, more slump loss was
respectively. The main reason for the second-stage weight loss
observed. Thus, mixtures containing SCBA had better performance
was attributed to dehydroxylation. The RHA and SCBA indicated
a lower weight loss percentage in the dehydroxylation reaction in terms of maintaining the initial slump. The mixtures with high
compared to the OPC. This weight loss, which was attributed to water demand were counteracted by using the relatively large
CaðOHÞ2 dehydroxylation, indicates a better pozzolanic reactivity amount of SP and showed better slump retention. The addition of
of the RHA and SCBA. SP contributes to better fluidity and less slump loss.
The river sand gradation was conducted in accordance with To prepare mortar samples, the components were weighed.
ASTM C778 (ASTM 2016b). The water absorption, fineness mod- Then, cement, SCBA, and RHA were mixed inside a plastic bag in
ulus, and specific gravity were 2.03%, 3.41, and 1,925 kg=m3 , re- dry conditions. Subsequently, the SP was added into water, and then
spectively. A polycarboxylic-ether type SP with a specific gravity the mixture of SCBA and cement was poured into this gel gradually.
of 1.06 was used to attain the target workability of 110 5% in all The gel, cement, and remaining water continued to be mixed until
mixtures. the sand was added, and mixing continued until the proper integrity
was achieved. The final part was the mechanical mixing to ensure
consistency of the mixture design. Mortar specimens with dimen-
Mixture Design sions of 5 cm were made per ASTM C109 (ASTM 2016d). Spec-
Sixteen mortar mixtures were proportioned with a particular water- imens were cast in two layers and the vibration table was used for
to-binder ratio of 0.475 and a sand-to-binder ratio of 2.75 according entrapped air removal. Then, specimens were demolded after 24 h
92
90 10SCBA 522 331 1,527 58 —
15SCBA 493 331 1,527 87 —
88
20SCBA 464 331 1,527 116 —
86 25SCBA 435 331 1,527 145 —
84 10RHA 522 310 1,527 — 58
82 15RHA 493 310 1,527 — 87
80 20RHA 464 310 1,527 — 116
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 25RHA 435 310 1,527 — 145
Temperature (C) 30RHA 406 310 1,527 — 174
(a) 1-day 3-day 7-day 28-day 5SCBA þ 15RHA 464 283 1,527 29 87
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92
90
88
3
86
84
82 2.5
80
SP dosage (% by binder weight)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Temperature (C) 2
(b) 1-day 3-day 7-day 28-day
100 1.5
98
96
1
94
TGA (%)
92
90 0.5
88
86 0
84 Control 10 15 20 25 30
Replacement Level (%)
82
SCBA RHA
80
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Temperature (C)
Fig. 6. SP dosage of binary concrete mixes to obtain target fluidity.
(c) 1-day 3-day 7-day 28-day
Fig. 5. TGA analysis at 1, 3, 7, and 28 days for (a) OPC; (b) RHA; and
and cured in calcium hydroxide–saturated water at 24 2°C until
(c) SCBA.
testing time.
Table 4. Weight losses of OPC, RHA, and SCBA at the ages of 7 and
Testing Methods
28 days
Compressive Strength Test
Weight loss with
respect to the total Three 50 × 50 × 50-mm3 samples were produced according to
Weight loss (%) weight loss (%) ASTM C109 (ASTM 2016d). The compressive strength test was
Cementitious applied using a hydraulic testing jack with the loading rate of
material Stage 7 days 28 days 7 days 28 days
1,300 N=s after 3, 7, 28, and 90 days of curing in accordance with
OPC 1 6.10 6.77 43.85 48.68 ASTM C39 (ASTM 2016c). Also, the strength activity index (SAI)
2 4.40 6.06 31.37 43.21 was measured in accordance with ASTM C311 (ASTM 2017).
3 4.50 4.53 25.56 25.72
Transport Tests
RHA 1 5.12 5.50 49.29 52.98
2 4.00 5.05 26.84 33.90 Water absorption was evaluated on the basis of BS 1881-Part 122
3 3.49 3.48 23.66 23.59 (BSI 1983). This method would evaluate water absorption that
happened in pores. These tiny voids were emptied by oven drying
SCBA 1 5.60 6.12 48.75 51.29 and occupied again with water after the immersion. In another
2 4.19 5.49 27.44 35.97 approach, capillary absorption was evaluated through the non-
3 4.05 4.03 25.85 25.72
saturated mortar specimens. The test was performed to measure
color through the chemical reaction. The chloride penetration was this trend was reported previously (Kumar et al. 2016). The low
then implemented to measure the migration coefficient according strength of ternary mixtures may be attributed to the high water ab-
to NT BUILD 492 (1999), ASTM C1202 (ASTM 2012), and Pilvar sorption capacity of both pozzolans, which resulted in a higher poros-
et al. (2016)
ity in the mentioned mixtures. In addition, the reduced compressive
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ! strength at early ages may be happened due to the low free lime dur-
0.023ð273 þ TÞL ð273 þ TÞLxd
Dnssm ¼ xd − 0.0238 ð1Þ ing the process of hydration. This might result in excess silica dis-
ðU − 2Þt U−2 charge and cause a strength loss. The compressive strength of
concrete containing both SCBA and RHA also relatively improved
where Dnssm = nonsteady-state migration coefficient in the long term because of the filler effect and the use of CaðOHÞ2
(×10−12 m2 =s); T = mean value of early and final temperatures formed during hydration reactions of the cementitious materials.
in the anolyte solution (°C); U = absolute value of applied voltage; As shown in Fig. 7, the compressive strength was increased by
L = thickness of the sample (mm); t = duration (hours) of experi- replacing cement with SCBA up to 20%. According to the results,
ment; and xd = average of penetration depths (mm). low SCBA replacement compressive strength increased because
Electrical Resistivity of the pozzolanic reaction and reduction of capillary pores. The
The electrical resistivity was performed on water-saturated mortar greatest increase in compressive strength was mortar with a 20%
cylinders of 100 × 200 mm in the lime water tank after 7, 28, and replacement of SCBA, which achieved the strength of 70.1 MPa
90 days of curing. Experiments have been done with the Wenner after 90 days, which was 5% larger than the reference sample.
4-probe meter (Proceq Asia Pte. Ltd., Singapore). Three readings Replacing by more than 20% SCBA decreased the compressive
were gathered from the data logger for each cylinder sample. The strength compared to the control mixture because of the slow re-
bulk resistivity was calculated as follows [Eq. (2)]: activity of SCBA particles.
RHA usage resulted in improved strength, which is due to the
V A A quick consumption of crystalline CaðOHÞ2 . Both pozzolanic reac-
ρ¼ × ¼R× ð2Þ
I L L tivity and the filler effect are the main decisive parameters for op-
timum cement replacement dosage, in which the progress of RHA
where ρ = electrical resistivity (kΩ · cm); R = bulk electrical resis- hydration will result in gel formation and thus an increase in com-
tance (kΩ); A = cross-sectional area (cm2 ); L = distance between pressive strength. The mortar mixtures with RHA show equivalent
two electrodes (cm); I = measured current; and V = voltage. It is strength values to that of the control sample, as displayed in Fig. 7,
important to keep all the testing circumstances, such as moisture rather than SCBA. At 28 days, the compressive strength of mixtures
and temperature, constant to reduce the test errors. containing RHA was slightly higher than the control sample, with
replacement levels up to 20%, which was previously reported by
Acid Resistance of Mortars
other researchers (El-Dakroury and Gasser 2008). Afterward, there
In order to resemble the sewer environment, sulfuric acid was
was a considerable reduction in strength by increasing the RHA
selected with 1% solution (Soroushian et al. 2010). The sulfuric
dosage.
acid resistance of mortars with SCBA and RHA was evaluated by
The compressive strength of concrete containing both SCBA
weight and strength loss of the mortar cubes before and after acid
and RHA also relatively improved in the long term. The progress
exposure. The compressive strengths of mortars subjected to sul-
of compressive strength was because of the filler effect and the
furic acid for 28 and 90 days were examined. The weight loss of
use of CaðOHÞ2 formed during hydration reactions of the cementi-
the mixtures that received no acid exposure was compared with the
tious materials. SCBA recovered the particle packing density and
acid-exposed samples after 7, 28, and 90 days. Weight loss in the
bridged the gel pores, which resulted in the volume of larger pores
acidic solution was used to determine the resistance of 10-cm cubic
reduction. The high pozzolanic reactivity of RHA results in a
specimens against sulfuric acid (pH ¼ 1). The acid solution was
relatively high impact in the case of compressive strength devel-
circulated to keep pH constant everywhere.
opment. The RHA particles are relatively coarse, which looked
clumped. It was expected that the higher amounts of small particles
Results would result in an active pozzolanic reaction. These observations
were in accordance with previous studies (Venkatanarayanan and
Rangaraju 2015; Antiohos et al. 2014; Karim et al. 2014). A
Compressive Strength
15SCBA + 20RHA mix showed the most substantial influence on
The results of the compressive strength test are displayed in Fig. 7. improving the compressive strength at late ages (11% increase in
According to Fig. 7, the compressive strength was improved in strength at 90 days compared to the control mixture), while the
all mortar mixtures with time. However, samples prepared with early age compressive strength is still lower than the control
70
60
40
30
20
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10
specimen. Incorporating both RHA and SCBA at the same time between its compressive strength and the strength of the control
does not necessarily increase the strength. The reduced compres- samples. Samples with a significance factor greater than 0.05 have
sive strength in early stages may be explicated in low free lime an eligible difference with the control sample (Tabatabaeian et al.
during the process of hydration. This might result in excess silica 2017). The significance factor of SCBA samples was more than
discharge and cause a strength loss. 0.05 for all replacement levels. Therefore, the incorporation of
The values of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are displayed SCBA did not improve the compressive strength considerably com-
in Table 6. The data show that the compressive strength difference pared to the control sample. By replacing 25 and 30% RHA, the
between the samples fabricated by the incorporation of SCBA and compressive strength was increased in samples significantly, and
RHA and the control sample is significant. On the basis of a defined there was a great difference between the samples with RHA and the
level of 0.05, when the significance factor of specimens with SCBA control sample.
and RHA is less than or equal to 0.05, a significant difference exists
Strength Activity Index
Fig. 8 shows the results of SAI. The SAI increased by aging in both
SCBA and RHA. For example, mixtures containing 10% of SCBA
Table 6. Results of water absorption versus time
exhibited a SAI of 70 and 94% at 7 and 90 days, respectively. Re-
Time (h) sults indicated that SAI improved with higher replacement dosages
0.5 1 3 24 72 168 for both RHA and SCBA mixtures having 10–20%. However, mix-
tures with 25 and 30% of RHA exhibited lower SAIs. According to
Mix design identifier Water absorption (%)
ASTM C311 (ASTM 2017), any material can be considered as an
Control 2.39 3.2 4.11 4.53 4.91 5.32 active pozzolan if SAI is more than 75%. All mixtures incorporat-
10SCBA 2.36 3.14 4.09 4.35 4.84 5.28 ing RHA and SCBA up to 25% showed SAI greater than the stated
15SCBA 2.35 3.12 4.09 4.28 4.83 5.26 limit. This conclusion was strongly supported by previous studies
20SCBA 2.35 3.11 4.08 4.23 4.81 5.19
(Antiohos et al. 2014; Abbas et al. 2017). In addition, RHA can be
25SCBA 2.31 3.08 4.03 4.23 4.72 5.09
10RHA 2.31 3.09 3.98 4.31 4.78 5.23 more effective than SCBA in strength enhancement, in the same
15RHA 2.27 3.04 3.92 4.19 4.68 5.19 cement replacement percentage. Similarly, it was reported that mor-
20RHA 2.26 3.01 3.88 4.11 4.62 5.19 tars with a 10% replacement level showed SAIs above the required
25RHA 2.21 2.28 3.85 4.09 4.57 5.11 75% (Sirirat and Supaporn 2010).
30RHA 2.15 2.24 3.81 4.02 4.52 5.07
10SCBA þ 15RHA 2.3 3.03 3.89 4.25 4.66 5.08
15SCBA þ 15RHA 2.24 2.9 3.75 4 4.46 4.91 Transport Tests
10SCBA þ 20RHA 2.11 2.71 3.52 3.7 4.17 4.61 For measuring transport performance, the water absorption and
15SCBA þ 20RHA 2.07 2.28 3.43 3.6 4.06 4.46 capillary absorption of the mortar samples containing RHA and
20SCBA þ 15RHA 2.17 2.35 3.56 3.74 4.19 4.61 SCBA were measured at different time intervals. The performance
25SCBA þ 15RHA 2.19 2.38 3.59 3.78 4.23 4.65
of RHA was slightly better than SCBA in absorption. As shown
100%
60%
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40%
20%
0%
10SCBA 15SCBA 20SCBA 25SCBA 10RHA 15RHA 20RHA 25RHA 30RHA
in Table 6, increasing the curing time and percentages of RHA re- Table 7. Results of capillary absorption index values of mortar mixtures
sulted in a reduction in the volume of permeable gel pores because (compared to the control sample)
of the filler effects of pozzolan particles that close the connections 7 days 28 days
between the pores. The percentage of water absorption of RHA
Mix design identifier 3h 6h 24 h 72 h 3h 6h 24 h 72 h
mortar decreased by 0.19% when the percentage replacement of
RHA was increased from 10 to 25% at 168 h. Water absorption 10SCBA 1.05 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.98 0.91 0.91 0.92
of both RHA and SCBA mortars was lower than the control sample 15SCBA 1.04 0.99 0.99 0.97 0.94 0.81 0.88 0.88
20SCBA 1.04 0.98 0.99 0.96 0.81 0.78 0.88 0.88
because of the filler effects, pozzolanic activity of RHA particles,
25SCBA 1.03 0.98 0.99 0.96 0.76 0.76 0.88 0.86
and secondary C-S-H products, which fill the pores (Ardalan et al. 10RHA 0.98 0.97 0.99 0.97 0.83 0.77 0.88 0.89
2017a). The same conclusion about the water absorption of con- 15RHA 0.98 0.96 0.98 0.97 0.79 0.74 0.86 0.87
crete with RHA as cement replacements was reached in previous 20RHA 0.97 0.95 0.98 0.95 0.75 0.73 0.86 0.84
investigations (Jamil et al. 2016; Memon et al. 2011; Kartini 2011). 25RHA 0.96 0.95 0.98 0.94 0.68 0.72 0.85 0.83
The total specific pore volumes of mortar decreased. The effect of 30RHA 0.96 0.94 0.97 0.94 0.67 0.7 0.81 0.82
SCBA on the sorptivity of the specimen was insignificant, and the 10SCBA þ 15RHA 0.87 0.95 1.01 1.02 0.72 0.83 0.89 0.88
further replacement of SCBA in mixtures had a slight effect on the 15SCBA þ 15RHA 0.81 0.91 0.96 0.97 0.79 0.86 0.95 0.93
10SCBA þ 20RHA 0.84 0.93 0.99 0.99 0.6 0.77 0.83 0.81
improvement of capillary absorption.
15SCBA þ 20RHA 0.78 0.87 0.9 0.93 0.65 0.73 0.86 0.83
The results of the capillary absorption tests at 7 and 28 days for 20SCBA þ 15RHA 0.76 0.82 0.86 0.83 0.72 0.72 0.8 0.8
various time intervals are displayed in Table 7. It also shows that 25SCBA þ 15RHA 0.69 0.77 0.84 0.84 0.74 0.79 0.91 0.91
every mortar mixture’s water absorption decreased at both ages
compared to the control sample. Although the effect of incorporat-
ing RHA into mortar mixtures is very slight at early ages, it signifi-
cantly decreases the amount of capillary absorption into specimens had the maximum drop in capillary absorption at 7 and 28 days,
at both ages because of gel pore reduction. which were 17.2 and 20.4% less than the control sample.
In mixtures with SCBA, capillary absorption of mortar speci-
mens improved slightly from 7 to 28 days. Moreover, increasing
the SCBA rate from 10 to 25% led to a higher loss in capillary Rapid Chloride Migration Test
absorption, which means getting a development in gel properties; The RCMT was carried out consistently with the NordTest Build
however, the differences are not significant. A greater reduction in 492 method at 28 and 90 days. Fig. 9 displays the nonsteady-state
the capillary absorption test by increasing RHA and SCBA content chloride migration coefficients calculated for each mixture at differ-
indicates denser gel pores, which is probably due to the early age ent ages, up to 90 days. The results agreed with other tests, such as
pozzolanic reaction. These kinds of reactions, which are very ef- water absorption, where penetrability decreased by using RHA and
fective based on pozzolanic performance, may lead to the develop- SCBA. Thus, both replacement materials improved the migration
ment of the C-S-H gel. The binary specimens have shown better coefficient at 28 and 90 days. In addition, by increasing the replace-
performance compared to other mixture designs at both the early ment level, the migration coefficient decreased considerably. This
and late ages. Among the ternary mixtures, 20SCBA þ 15RHA is attributed to a higher amount of SCBA, which delivers more SiO2
30
20
15
10
5
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28 days 90 days
to react with CaðOHÞ2 because of a larger volume of C-S-H gel and Table 8. Electrical resistivity of different mixtures of all ages
denser microstructure. Resistivity (Ω · m)
In binary specimens, RHA decreased the migration coefficient
more than SCBA and had better performance in durability improve- Mixture identifier 7 days 28 days 90 days
ment. This is due to the fact that the RHA had higher pozzolanic Control 50 61 113
activity than SCBA, which led to the quicker cement hydration and 10SCBA 31 80 151
greater magnitudes of hydration products, resulting in a denser mi- 15SCBA 34 103 199
20SCBA 37 124 242
crostructure. Therefore, the ability of RHA as a cement replacement
25SCBA 39 142 293
to enhance the chloride ions’ penetration resistivity in mortars is 10RHA 41 94 147
excellent. It seems that 28 days did not meet the criterion for a de- 15RHA 43 132 221
cision on the durability impact of RHA and SCBA. The further 20RHA 48 141 289
performance of cement replacement materials marginally emerged 25RHA 49 152 340
after 28 days of curing and was evident at later ages due to the 30RHA 41 188 364
progression of hydration reactions. Based on Fig. 9, the increasing 10SCBA þ 15RHA 38 111 229
rate of chloride resistivity is more perceptible between the ages of 15SCBA þ 15RHA 40 115 237
10SCBA þ 20RHA 43 137 354
28 and 90 days. The RCMT results obtained in this study were
15SCBA þ 20RHA 41 141 379
found to be in agreement with previous results obtained for the re- 20SCBA þ 15RHA 40 152 340
sistance of mixtures containing SCBA and RHA against chloride 25SCBA þ 15RHA 42 149 331
ion ingress (Cordeiro et al. 2012).
The ternary blended mixtures containing both SCBA and RHA
showed that SCBA and RHA enhanced the migration coefficient
better in comparison with other mixtures. Based on the obtained The values of all the samples were increased with aging, pri-
results, it is apparent that a 15SCBA þ 20RHA mixture design marily in the initial days. This high rate increase was attributed to
proved to have relatively higher resistance against chloride penetra- hydration and hardening. The porosity of mixtures reduced gradu-
tion in all cases, whereas the migration coefficient was enhanced by ally, and the electrical resistivity growth decreased. The samples
375% compared to the control mixture specimen at the age of used in this evaluation were cured by keeping the samples in lime-
90 days. This improvement in durability was attributed to the de- saturated water between test measurements. The replacement levels
velopment of the gel pore structure by the addition of pozzolanic of SCBA improved the electrical resistivity and showed incremen-
materials. tal trends. By adding 25% SCBA as a cementitious replacement
material, electrical resistivity increased up to 159% at the age of
90 days, whereas the RHA showed better durability in respect to
Electrical Resistivity
electrical resistivity with a 222% increase at the age of 90 days in
The bulk electrical resistivity of the mortar is a crucial factor that the 30RHA mixture design.
specifies the permeability of the mortar to harmful agents. It had a Another fact about electrical resistivity is its dependency on
significant correlation with the mortar microstructure, pore struc- sample age. Based on the obtained results, samples had lower elec-
ture, and conductive ions. The electrical resistivity results for mix- trical resistivity than the control mixture at the age of 7 days be-
tures are shown in Table 8. cause of their slow reactivity and low pozzolanic activity at earlier
30 Weight Loss
The results were submerged at 28, 56, 90, 120, and 180 days sub-
25
y = 4148.8x-1.153 merged in acid after 28 days curing. The weight of the specimens
20 R² = 0.8639 after submersion was compared with their weight before exposure
15 to acid, and the weight loss was obtained, as shown in Fig. 11.
Almost all the specimens had the same weight loss until the 56th
10
day of exposure to acid. As shown in Fig. 11, the control sample
5 had the highest weight loss, which was more than 49%. The spec-
0
imens with SCBA experienced less weight loss, which may be be-
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 cause of a high resistance of SCBA to loss of cement bonding in
Electrical Resistivity (Ω.m) the presence of an acid attack. The optimum dosage for SCBA in-
corporation was found to be 20%, which confirmed the results ob-
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Fig. 10. Scatter diagram of RCMT and electrical resistivity test results. tained in previous studies (Arenas-Piedrahita et al. 2016; Ganesan
et al. 2007). In RHA specimens, a composition of silica and poz-
zolans performed better than SCBA specimens. Among all the sam-
ages. This is principally attributed to the combined effect of poz- ples, ternary mixtures had better durability during the acid attack
with respect to weight loss. The slope of diagrams for the second
zolanic activity and filler packing. At the age of 7 days, pozzolanic
month of exposure was the highest rate, and then the slope de-
materials have little meaningful activity, and therefore fillers could
creased gradually. In Fig. 12, visible changes of specimens caused
not develop the mortar durability (Ramezanianpour et al. 2013).
by the acid attack are displayed. The dissolved sulfate ions may
However, the electrical resistivity values improved at later ages.
enter the capillary samples by placing them in a solution of sulfate,
Over time, pozzolanic materials’ hydration became higher at the
which expedites the process of degrading.
ages of 28 and 90 days in comparison to the control mixture. The
In high sulfate concentrations and pH conditions, the possibility
ternary blended mixtures have a higher resistivity, corresponding to
of transforming gypsum to ettringite exists, and the ettringite struc-
using both SCBA and RHA at the ages of 28 and 90 days, com-
ture is stable. Therefore, it can be concluded that fewer changes in
pared to binary mixtures.
pH could be the reason for more degradation in a sulfate solution.
To show the relationship between rapid chloride migration and
electrical resistivity test results at the two ages of 28 and 90 days, a Strength Reduction
parabolic curve is plotted as a scatter diagram in Fig. 10. As shown The compressive strengths of the mortars exposed to 1% sulfuric
in Fig. 10, the R2 value is 0.864, which indicates a high correlation acid solution after curing for 28 days in lime water are shown in
between the RCMT and electrical resistivity test results. It implies Table 9 at 3, 7, 28, and 90 days. The compressive strength of mor-
that high chloride migration coefficients correspond to the low elec- tars exposed to acid decreases for all mixtures compared to spec-
trical resistivity of mortars. imens cured in water at the same age.
50
45
40
35
Weight Loss (%)
30
25
20
15
10
Fig. 12. Mortars with SCBA and RHA replacing cement at 20% by mass exposed to 1% sulfuric acid solution for 7, 28, 56, 90, 120, and 180 days.
Table 9. Compressive strength results of mortar mixtures both RHA and SCBA at the same time does not necessarily in-
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