Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Use of sugar cane bagasse ash in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)

as cement replacement
Nengsen Wu a, b, Tao Ji c, Ping Huang b, Tengfei Fu b, Xiaoyan Zheng b, Qing Xu b, *
a
School of Intelligent Construction, Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, 28 Yuhuan Road, Changle District, Fuzhou 350202, PR China
b
College of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 15 Shangxiadian Road, Cangshan District, Fuzhou 350002, PR China
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University, 2 Xueyuan Road, University District, Fuzhou 350108, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) is the final waste material in the sugar production chain. Due to the pozzolanic
Sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) characteristic and the abundance, SCBA has been tried to utilized in construction materials. In this study, eco­
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) friendly ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) was developed with SCBA as a cement replacement. The effects
Pozzolanic reaction
of SCBA on the fluidity, setting time, compressive strength, flexural strength and autogenous shrinkage of UHPC
Compressive strength
Autogenous shrinkage
were analyzed. Hydration heat evaluation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, and mer­
Porosity cury injection (MIP) were applied to reveal the effects of SCBA on cement hydration, hydration products and
pore structure. The results indicate that the application of SCBA in UHPC as a cement replacement not only
maintains the compressive strength but also improves the workability and decreases the autogenous shrinkage of
UHPC paste. Compared to the control group, UHPC prepared at a 40% replacement rate obtained a good
comprehensive performance. Autogenous shrinkage decreased by 24.48%, and the compressive strength was
almost the same as that of the control group. This study verifies the technical feasibility of SCBA application as a
cement replacement in UHPC and may further promote the utilization of agricultural byproducts in cementitious
materials.

1. Introduction Furthermore, a high dosage of superplasticizer, steel fibers, and certain

With the rapid development of society, high-performance building
materials are desired. Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has
become a research area of heightened interest among cement-based
materials. Compared to ordinary concrete, UHPC exhibits the charac­
teristics of a high cementitious material content and a very low water-
cement (W/C) ratio. UHPC normally comprises ordinary Portland
cement (OPC), silica fume (SF), silica sand, quartz powder (QP),
superplasticizer and steel fibers. UHPC was defined by several re­
searchers using different criteria. In China, its compressive strength is
generally higher than 120 MPa according to GBT31387-2015. However,
its compressive strength is generally higher than 150 MPa in other
countries [1]. Due to its excellent mechanical properties, notable
permeability resistance and high weather resistance, UHPC has been
applied in bridge claddings, dam repair, reinforced concrete beam repair
and other structures in recent years [2].
However, the cement content in UHPC may range from 1100 to 1300
kg/m3, and the SF content may range from 200 to 350 kg/m3 [3].
fine aggregates (silica sand and QP) lead to a much higher UHPC cost
than that of ordinary concrete. In addition, the production of these
component materials occurs in an industry with high energy consump­
tion and high CO2 emissions. The high cost, energy consumption and
CO2 emission level associated with UHPC are major disadvantages that
restrict its wide application [4,5]. In contrast, because of its low W/C
ratio (0.14–0.19), the cement hydration degree only ranges from 30% to
40% [6], and the reaction ratio of SF reaches only approximately 30%
[7]. Any unhydrated cement and unreacted SF particles in UHPC
become expensive filling materials, which leads to a low efficiency of the
application of this material. Green and sustainable development is an
urgent global issue at present. It is important to develop green UHPC
options from the perspective of materials.
To promote the sustainable development of UHPC, the most effective
measures implemented by researchers include the replacement of UHPC
components (cement, SF and aggregate) with mineral admixtures
without sacrificing performance. Certain industrial byproducts, such as
fly ash, SF and blast furnace slag, have been successfully adopted in

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xuqing@fafu.edu.cn (Q. Xu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125881
Received 22 August 2021; Received in revised form 6 November 2021; Accepted 24 November 2021
Available online 6 December 2021
0950-0618/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N. Wu et al.
UHPC and have produced good social and environmental benefits.
However, these industrial byproducts also face sustainability problems
because they are nonrenewable. In contrast, due to its high siliceous and
sustainable properties, biomass ash produced via the incineration of
agricultural and forestry wastes has attracted extensive interest from
researchers [8]. Studies have found that a variety of biomass ash ma­
terials, such as rice husk ash [9], palm oil fuel ash [10], elephant grass
ash [11], sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) [12,13], corn cob ash [14],
wood waste ash [15], bamboo stem ash [16], wheat stalk ash [17], and
bamboo leaf ash [18], can be applied as supplementary cementitious
materials to replace part of the cement in ordinary concrete. Similar to
fly ash, SF, blast furnace slag and other industrial waste materials,
biomass ash may not only maintain or even improve the performance of
cementitious materials but may also yield environmental and economic
benefits. Furthermore, biomass ash is produced continuously, which
makes the application of biomass ash in concrete a promising research
direction.
Sugarcane is a tropical and subtropical crop and is the main sugar
crop worldwide. When sugar cane juice is extracted from sugar cane,
approximately 50% remains as bagasse. Bagasse is usually burned as fuel
in a combined generator to produce electricity. SCBA is the final waste
material in the sugar production chain. One t of bagasse may yield
25–40 kg of SCBA [19]. For example, China, the third largest sugarcane-
producing region globally, produces approximately 2 million tons of
SCBA every year.
In Brazil and China, SCBA is often mixed with sugarcane filter cakes
to produce fertilizer [10]. Sales and Lima [19] found that SCBA appli­
cation as a fertilizer yields a low nutritional value and exhibits a po­
tential risk of soil pollution. The determination of a new and safe use of
SCBA with a high value is an important issue for scientists and envi­
ronmentalists. Many new attempts have been made to utilize SCBA, such
as SCBA application to produce glass-ceramic materials [20], geo­
polymers [21], ceramic raw materials [22], Fe2O3-SiO2 nanocomposites
to remove Cr(VI) [23], silica aerogels [24], mesoporous silica as cata­
lysts [25], and sintered lightweight aggregates [26]. However, these
attempts do not represent the mainstream research direction of SCBA
application. In 1998, Hernandez et al. [27] determined that SCBA at­
tains a good pozzolanic activity, even comparable to that of rice husk
ash. To date, most SCBA studies have focused on its application in
cementitious materials. Moreover, many attempts have been made, such
as conventional concrete [28,29], high-performance concrete [30,31],
self-compacting concrete [32-34], recycled aggregate concrete [35],
aerated concrete [36], pavement concrete [37], and lightweight con­
crete [38]. Many papers have reported the positive effects of SCBA on
concrete properties, such as maintaining or even improving its me­
chanical properties [28,39], reducing hydration heat [18,40,41],
improving durability [42–44], and improving interface compactness
[45,46], which confirms the feasibility of SCBA application in cemen­
titious materials.
Biomass ash (rice husk ash [47] and palm oil fuel ash [5,48]) has
been successfully applied in UHPC. In particular, UHPC containing rice
husk ash has achieved good mechanical and durability properties
[47,49,50]. SCBA possesses a similar microstructure and mineral
composition to those of rice husk ash. However, to date, researchers
have not considered SCBA application in UPHC. As SCBA is obtained
from power plants and the yield is very high and stable, SCBA exhibits a
greater potential in engineering applications than does rice husk ash.
In this study, SCBA obtained from sugar factories was adopted as a
cement replacement to prepare ecofriendly UHPC. The effects of SCBA
on the workability, setting time, compressive strength, tensile strength,
and autogenous shrinkage were studied. This study may promote the
high-value utilization of SCBA, decrease the UHPC cost and promote the
engineering application of UHPC.
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Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881
2. Materials and test methods
2.1. Materials
The raw SCBA adopted in this study was obtained from the Nanhua
Sugar Co., Ltd., Yunnan, China. SCBA was placed in an oven at 110 ◦ C for
24 h to thoroughly dry and then sealed prior to the subsequent tests.
Because of incomplete combustion, the raw SCBA obtained was black
and consisted of a mixture of coarse and fine fibers and fine particles
with a loss of ignition (LOI) of 26.04% (Fig. 1(a)). In addition, sand
particles of different sizes were found in SCBA. This is attributed to the
following reason: with the introduction of mechanical sugar cane har­
vesting methods, the harvesting efficiency has greatly improved. How­
ever, mechanical harvesting incorporates more sand originating from
soil into the harvested sugar cane, which ultimately leads to more sand
in SCBA.
To decrease the carbon content in SCBA, raw SCBA was calcinated in
a muffle furnace. To maintain stable SCBA properties, a fixed amount of
SCBA was calcined each time. The muffle furnace was heated to 600 ◦ C,
raw SCBA was added, and the time was monitored. After 60 min, SCBA
was removed and cooled in air with an LOI of 2.23% (Fig. 1(b)). The
calcined SCBA was stored in sealed bags for the subsequent testing. A
planetary ball mill was employed to reduce the SCBA particle size (Keq-4
L; revolutions: 270 r/min; rotations: 540 r/min). A fixed amount of
SCBA was ball-milled for 15 min once to obtain a median particle size
d50 of 12 μm.
Fig. 2 shows X-ray diffraction (XRD, CEM- DY5261/Xpert3) patterns
of SCBA. The figure patently shows that the presence of quartz. The
dispersion peak ranging from 15◦ to 35◦ verified the presence of
amorphous silica, but the peak was not obvious.
OPC (PII52.5R), SF, silica sand, QP, and polycarboxylate-based
superplasticizer with a 40% solid content by weight (a water-reducing
ratio of 25%) were applied in this study. The specific surface areas of
OPC, SF, and SCBA determined with the nitrogen absorption method
were 0.89, 22.34, and 3.78 m2/g, respectively.
Table 1 summarizes the chemical composition of the materials,
which was obtained with an X-ray fluorescence analyzer (Panaco Axios-
Advanced). According to ASTM C618-08A specifications, natural poz­
zolans with a ratio of the sum of SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 to the total mass
above 70% may be categorized as class F pozzolans. Therefore, the SCBA
adopted in the test was a class F pozzolanic material.
The particle size of the materials was measured with a laser particle
size analyzer (Malvern Mastersizer 3000), and the cumulative particle
size distribution of various UHPC mix proportions is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 shows microscopic images of OPC, SF, silica sand, QP and
SCBA. The figure clearly shows that SF is perfectly spherical with a very
small particle size (Fig. 4(a)). Due to the small particle size, SF could fill
concrete micropores and increase the density of concrete. While the high
specific surface area of SF would significantly decrease the workability
of concrete. The surface of OPC and QP is rough and irregular (Fig. 4(b,
d)). The surface characteristics of QP may also notably decrease the
UHPC workability. Large surface area and rough surface characteristic
Fig 1. Morphology of SCBA.
N. Wu et al. Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881

herein refers to the sum of cement, SCBA and SF. C-20%, C-40%, and C-
60% denote UHPC with 20, 40 and 60 wt%, respectively, of the cement
substituted with SCBA. The cumulative particle size distribution of the
UPHC mixtures with the different SCBA contents is shown in Fig. 3.
The UHPC samples were prepared with a mortar mixing pot in the
laboratory. The preparation process comprised the following steps: (1)
All OPC, SF, QP and silica sand were weighed and placed in the mortar
mixing pot. First, the dry materials were stirred and mixed at a slow
speed for 3 min. (2) Two-thirds of the required superplasticizer volume
was added, and the materials were slowly stirred for 3 min. (3) The
remainder of the superplasticizer solution was added, the mixture was
first slowly stirred for 1 min and then quickly stirred for 2 min until the
materials were evenly mixed with a good fluidity. All the materials were
well mixed throughout the process.
In the flexural and compressive strength tests, the prepared UHPC
mix was cast in 40 × 40 × 160 mm3 molds. All mixtures were vibrated
20 times on a vibration compacting platform and then cured with film at
room temperature for 24 h. After demolding, the samples were cured
under standard curing conditions (20 ◦ C; normalized relative humidity:
95%) until the day of testing. Samples without quartz sand and QP were
Fig 2. XRD patterns of raw SCBA. prepared for microstructure measurements (XRD and thermogravi­
metric (TG) analysis). The samples were cast in a sealed plastic container
(ø 33 × 54 mm) and cured at 20 ◦ C for 28 d.
Table 1 After 28 d under standard curing conditions, the samples were
Chemical composition of the raw materials as a mass percentage (%). broken into small pieces and immersed in anhydrous ethanol to termi­
Raw SCBA Silica sand QP OPC SF nate cement hydration. The anhydrous ethanol was replaced once at 24
SiO2 62.44 92.79 98.11 22.81 96.63 h. After 48 h, the samples were removed and placed in a vacuum dryer
Al2O3 12.1 / 0.61 2.52 0.24 containing silica gel and dried to a constant weight. After drying, the
Fe2O3 9.44 0.28 0.23 3.37 0 samples were ground to a powder, passed through a 75-mm sieve and
MgO 1.97 0.56 0.16 0.97 0.48
then sealed for later XRD and TG testing.
CaO 2.52 0.48 0.11 56.85 0
Na2O 0.64 2.95 0.35 0.24 0.03
In the pore structure test, first, UHPC samples were cut into pieces
K2O 4.82 0.27 0.08 0.55 0.17 with a thickness ranging from 3 to 4 mm. Then, cement hydration was
P2O5 1.3 0.05 0.02 0.03 0 terminated with the same above method, and the samples were vacuum
TiO2 1.24 / / 0.22 0.01 dried to a constant weight prior to the mercury injection test.
SO3 0.02 0.11 0.02 3.29 0
MnO / 0.03 0.01 0.03 0.02
Total 96.49 97.52 99.7 90.88 97.58 2.3. Test methods

The workability of fresh UHPC was measured according to modified

Fig 3. Cumulative particle sizes distribution of UHPC mixes with different
SCBA content.
make QP notably decrease the UHPC fluidity.
2.2. Mix proportions and specimen preparation
To investigate the effects of SCBA on the UHPC fluidity, setting time,
flexural compressive strength and autogenous shrinkage, four mix pro­
portions of UHPC were designed, as listed in Table 2. The dosage of
superplasticizer remained fixed at 2.5 wt% of the cementitious material,
and the water-binder ratio was set to 0.18. The cementitious material
GB/T 2419–2005. Fresh UHPC was cast in a cone-shaped mold on a
jumping table. Then the cone was lifted vertically without jumping, the
diameter (mm) of the fresh UHPC mix was measured along two
perpendicular directions. The average diameters (mm) were considered
to evaluate the workability of fresh UHPC.
After the above workability measurement, the setting time of UHPC
was investigated in accordance with GBT1346-2011.
Flexural and compressive strength tests of UHPC were conducted
according to GB/T17671-1999. At the corresponding test ages (28 and
91 d), the 40 × 40 × 160 mm3 specimens were first subjected to flexural
tests and then to compressive tests, respectively.
The UHPC autogenous shrinkage test was performed according to the
US Mortar and Paste Self-Shrinkage Test Method (ASTM C1698-09). To
ensure accuracy, three parallel samples were tested at each composition.
Since autogenous shrinkage mainly occurred at the early stage, data
changes were measured every 3 h on the first day after final setting,
twice a day from 2 to 7 d, and once a day from 8 to 28 d. The total test
time was set to 28 d.
The heat release amount and heat release rate of a given mixture
were measured with an isothermal calorimeter (TAM Air, TA In­
struments). The test environment was maintained at 23 ◦ C to ensure
stability of the reference line during instrument calibration. The test
temperature and duration were adjusted according to the specific test
requirements. After sample preparation, approximately 6.5 g of a given
sample was added to the bottom of an ampoule bottle with a plastic bag
without touching the bottle wall. After sealing, the ampoule bottles were
placed in the isothermal calorimeter test channel, and standard sand was
placed in another channel as a reference sample. The samples were

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N. Wu et al. Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881

Fig 4. SEM images of (a) SF; (b) OPC; (c) silica sand; (d) QP; and (e, f) SCBA.

Table 2
Mixture proportions of the UHPC samples (kg/m3).
Sample OPC SF Silica sand QP SCBA Superplasticizer Water

Ref 1212.9 282.8 605.1 192.0 0 37.4 246.7

C-20% 970.3 282.8 605.1 192.0 242.5 37.4 246.7
C-40% 727.7 282.8 605.1 192.0 485.2 37.4 246.7
C-60% 485.2 282.8 605.1 192.0 727.2 37.4 246.7

continuously tested until the specified time. Two parallel samples were
tested at each composition to ensure data accuracy.
TG analysis was performed on a TG-differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC) combined thermal analyzer (STA449F5, Germany) to determine
the content of Ca(OH)2 in the samples. The test temperature ranged from
30 to 1000 ◦ C, the heating rate was set to 10 ◦ C/min, and argon gas was
applied as a protective atmosphere. All analyses occurred via the dif­
ferential method.
The pore size distribution was measured via mercury intrusion
porosimetry (MIP, Quantachrome PM 60). Considering one composi­
tion, 2 or 3 pieces of approximately 4–6 g were used for MIP. The pore
size distributions of the samples were obtained by fitting the results
obtained from low- and high-pressure tests. In this study, the pore sizes
were divided into 0–10 nm, 10–50 nm, 50 nm–10 μm and >100 μm [51].
3. Results
3.1. Workability
The workability of UHPC at the different SCBA contents is shown in
Fig. 5. The figure clearly shows that increasing cement substitution with
SCBA, the workability of the mixture first increased and then decreased.
The best workability of the UHPC mixture with a 40 wt% cement
replacement ratio was 250 mm. The workability of the UHPC mixture
with a 60 wt% cement replacement ratio decreased but remained the
same as that of the control group.
3.2. Setting time

Fig. 6 shows the setting time of the UHPC mixtures with the different
SCBA contents. Compared to the control group, the addition of SCBA to

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N. Wu et al.
Fig 5. Workability of UHPC at the different SCBA contents.
Fig 6. Setting time of UHPC at the different SCBA contents.
UHPC resulted in a notable delay in the final UHPC setting time. When
20 wt%, 40 wt% and 60 wt% of the cement was substituted with SCBA,
the initial setting time of UHPC exhibited little change, but the final
Fig 7. Compressive and flexural strength of UHPC at the different SCBA contents.
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Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881
setting time was extended by 79, 83 and 99 min, respectively, which is
consistent with the results reported in previous studies [39].
3.3. Strength development
Fig. 7 shows the flexural and compressive strength development of
UHPC at the different SCBA contents at 28 and 91 d.
As shown in Fig. 7, when SCBA replaced less than 40 wt% of the
cement, the compressive strength of UHPC at 28 d was basically un­
changed, while when the cement replacement ratio exceeded 40 wt%,
the compressive strength of UHPC at 28 d greatly decreased. Further­
more, the compressive strength of UHPC containing SCBA at 91 d was
notably higher than that at 28 d. The higher the SCBA content, the larger
the improvement in the compressive strength of UHPC containing SCBA
was. The compressive strength of UHPC with SCBA replacing 60 wt% of
the cement was the same as that of the reference group. However, the
compressive strength of the control group increased little from 28 to 91
d. This indicated that SCBA exerted a positive impact on the late strength
development of UHPC.
However, SCBA negatively affected the flexural strength of UHPC.
Compared to the control group, the flexural strength of UHPC with the
different SCBA contents at 28 d decreased to varying degrees. The
flexural strength of UHPC with SCBA replacing 60 wt% of the cement
was 20.7% lower than that of the reference group. However, at 91 d, the
flexural strength of UHPC with a 20 wt% cement replacement ratio was
greatly improved, even higher than that of the control group. This
indicated that SCBA may promote the development of flexural strength
at a certain dosage.
3.4. Autogenous shrinkage
Fig. 8 shows the development curve of UHPC autogenous shrinkage
over time at the different SCBA contents. As shown in Fig. 8, the
autogenous shrinkage of any proportion notably increased 12 h after
final setting. Subsequently, the autogenous shrinkage plateaued and
basically remained unchanged. After 48 h, the autogenous shrinkage
increased again. After 10 d, the autogenous shrinkage of UHPC
increased at a lower rate. Fig. 8 also shows that the autogenous
shrinkage of UHPC without SCBA (the reference group) reached
1505.23 ppm at 28 d. The autogenous shrinkage of UHPC containing
SCBA as a cement replacement decreased to different degrees. When 20,
40 and 60 wt% of the cement was replaced with SCBA, the autogenous
shrinkage of UHPC decreased by 19.20%, 24.48% and 30.25%, respec­
tively. This indicated that the higher the SCBA content was, the smaller
the autogenous shrinkage of UHPC.
N. Wu et al. Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881

the SCBA replacement ratio of cement is lower than 40 wt%, the effect of
SCBA on cement hydration is not obvious.

3.6. XRd

Fig. 10 shows the XRD patterns of the various UHPC samples with the
different SCBA contents at 28 d of age. Fig. 10 shows that the phase of
the reference group without SCBA mainly comprised cement clinker,
such as C3S, and a small amount of Ca(OH)2 and ettringite (AFt).
However, no obvious calcium aluminate hydrate (AFm) phases were
found, as shown in Fig. 10. The phase peaks of C3S and Ca(OH)2 and AFt
became increasingly inconspicuous with increasing SCBA content. It is
worth noting that the SiO2 peak became increasingly obvious with
increasing SCBA replacement ratio, which was mainly caused by the
SiO2 contained in SCBA. The SiO2 peak was so prominent that the other
phases were difficult to observe via XRD.
Fig 8. Autogenous shrinkage of UHPC at the different SCBA contents.
3.7. Thermogravimetric analysis
3.5. Hydration heat evaluation
In this experiment, it is assumed that any crystalline silica in SCBA is
Among the various cement components, the C3A, C3S and gypsum inert. Fig. 11 shows TG-derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves of
contents impose a significant influence on the thermal evolution char­ the UHPC paste without quartz sand nor QP. The endothermic peak
acteristics of cement [52]. Fig. 9 shows heat release rate and cumulative corresponding to Ca(OH)2 of the reference group was the highest, and
heat release curves of a unit cement in UHPC with SCBA replacing 0 wt% the endothermic peak corresponding to Ca(OH)2 of the UHPC pastes at
(control group), 20 wt%, 40 wt%, and 60 wt% of the cement.
As shown in Fig. 9(a), the addition of SCBA greatly affected the peak
value of the maximum heat release rate. However, the occurrence time
of the maximum heat release rate remained basically unchanged. When
the SCBA substitution ratio of cement increased from 0 to 20 wt%, the
peak value of the maximum heat release rate notably decreased from
0.0023 to 0.00126 W/g cement, and the time to reach the peak value of
the maximum heat release rate advanced from 18.98 to 17.74 h.
Nevertheless, with increasing cement replacement ratio, the peak value
of the maximum heat release rate continuously increased. When the
replacement ratio reached 60 wt%, the peak value of the maximum heat
release rate obviously increased to 0.005 W/g cement. However, the
time to reach the peak value of the maximum heat release rate basically
remained the same as that of the control group. Accordingly, Fig. 9(b)
shows that compared to the reference group, the cumulative heat release
per unit cement of UHPC with SCBA replacing 20 wt% of the cement
decreased significantly, while the cumulative heat release per unit
cement of UHPC with SCBA replacing 60 wt% of the cement greatly
increased.
In summary, when the SCBA replacement ratio of cement is higher
than or equal to 40 wt%, early hydration heat release of cement in UHPC
is accelerated. This result may be triggered by the dilution effect of
Fig 10. XRD of the UHPC pastes with the different SCBA contents at 28 d.
SCBA, which provides more hydration space for the cement [53]. When

Fig 9. Heat evolution of UHPC at the different SCBA contents.

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N. Wu et al.
Fig 11. TG and DTG curves of UHPC with different SCBA content at 28 days.
the different SCBA contents consistently decreased. The higher the
replacement ratio, the lower the endothermic peak was corresponding to
Ca(OH)2. This indicated that the content of hydration product Ca(OH)2
in the samples decreased with increasing SCBA replacement ratio of
cement.
Fig. 12 shows the content of Ca(OH)2 per 100 g of cement in the
samples calculated and analyzed based on the TG curve. Compared to
the control group without SCBA, the content of Ca(OH)2 per 100 g of
cement in the samples containing SCBA all declined. The higher the
SCBA replacement ratio of cement, the lower the content of Ca(OH)2 per
100 g cement was. The hydration heat test (3.5) revealed that SCBA
accelerated early cement hydration, and the content of Ca(OH)2 per 100
g of cement in UHPC containing SCBA increased. However, the values
for UHPC containing SCBA all decreased, which suggested that SCBA
reacted with Ca(OH)2, which led to the low Ca(OH)2 content in the
pastes. Therefore, the decrease in Ca(OH)2 content based on the TG-DTG
curve was caused by two factors. On the one hand, cement substitution
with SCBA reduced Ca(OH)2 production. On the other hand, the
pozzolanic reaction between SCBA and Ca(OH)2 consumed Ca(OH)2 in
Fig 12. Portlandite contents in UHPC with different SCBA content at 28 days.
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Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881
the UHPC paste. When 60 wt% of the cement was replaced with SCBA,
the content of Ca(OH)2 per 100 g of cement in UHPC was basically zero.
3.8. Porosity
In this study, the pore classification was determined based on pre­
vious studies [51]. Pores ranging from 0 to 10 nm were classified as gel
pores, pores ranging from 10 to 50 nm were classified as small capillary
pores, pores ranging from 50 to 10000 nm were classified as large
capillary pores, and pores larger than 10 μm were classified as bubble
pores.
Fig. 13 shows the specific porosity values in the various pore size
ranges of UHPC. When the SCBA replacement ratio of cement was 20 wt
%, the porosity in each pore size range was the minimum. With
increasing replacement ratio, the porosity attributed to the gel and
capillary pores increased, which slightly increased the total porosity of
UHPC. The replacement ratios of 40 and 60 wt% led to a notable in­
crease in porosity within each pore range, which notably impacted the
compressive strength of UHPC.
4. Discussion
In earlier studies, it has been found that the water requirements of
concrete increase with increasing SCBA replacement ratio in ordinary
concrete [39,54–56]. However, other studies have also determined that
when the SCBA replacement ratio is lower than 30%, the workability of
concrete containing SCBA increases linearly [46,57]. The workability of
UHPC mixtures generally attains a distinct relationship with the mixture
proportion. In this study, it was found that the replacement of cement
with SCBA improved the workability of the tested UHPC mixtures,
where a 40% cement replacement ratio achieved the best workability,
which may partly be attributed to the glassy texture of SCBA and low LOI
[46,57] and to the optimized proportion. This effect of SCBA on UHPC is
important because it reduces the need for superplasticizer and yields a
compact structure.
Many previous studies have reported that partial substitution of the
cement in concrete with SCBA may prolong the initial and final setting
times of ordinary concrete [39,54,55]. Due to the low water-binder ratio
and large amount of superplasticizer, the setting time of UHPC is rela­
tively long. With increasing SCBA replacement rate of cement, the initial
setting time of UHPC changed little, but the final setting time was pro­
longed. This may be due to the decreased cement content [58]. How­
ever, owing to the low water-binder ratio in UHPC, the proportion of
cement hydration was relatively low, so the decrease in cement content
Fig 13. Porosity of UHPC with different SCBA content at 28 days.
N. Wu et al.
imposed no remarkable effect on the setting time.
The SCBA content exerts a major effect on the strength development
of UHPC. When SCBA replaces 20% of the cement, the UHPC porosity is
the lowest, and the compressive strength is the highest. When 60% of the
cement is replaced, the UHPC porosity is the highest, and the
compressive strength is the lowest. The UHPC flexural and compressive
strength levels of the 40% replacement group are similar to those of the
reference group. This may be caused by the following two factors: (1)
The cumulative particle size distribution diagram of the various UPHC
mixtures (Fig. 3) reveals that with increasing SCBA replacement ratio of
cement, the cumulative particle size distribution curve increasingly
deviates from the ideal curve, indicating that the bulk density decreases,
which leads to pore structure deterioration. ② SCBA promotes cement
hydration in UHPC (3.5) and reacts with Ca(OH)2 (pozzolanic reaction),
so the higher the SCBA content, the more notable the promoting effect
on the formation of C-S-H gel to fill any capillary pores and reduce the
porosity. However, if the replacement ratio is too high (40% or 60%),
the substantial decrease in cement content in UHPC may result in a
decrease in hydration products. Without adequate hydration product
filling, the UHPC porosity increases. These two factors comprehensively
influence the pore structure of UHPC. With increasing SCBA replace­
ment ratio of cement, the total porosity of UHPC first decreases and then
increases so that its compressive strength first increases and then de­
creases. The compressive strength of UHPC with a 40% replacement
ratio approaches that of the reference group. It should be noted that with
increasing curing age, the compressive strength of the UHPC samples
containing SCBA is higher than that of the control group, indicating that
SCBA yields a promoting effect on UHPC compressive strength
development.
Autogenous shrinkage of concrete is the result of self-drying due to
the continuous hydration process. Due to the high cement content and
ultralow water-binder ratio, the autogenous shrinkage of UHPC is more
notable [59]. This is mainly caused by the rapid decline in the internal
relative humidity during the cement hydration process [49,59]. It is
found that with increasing SCBA substitution rate of cement, the
autogenous shrinkage of UHPC significantly decreases. In a previous
study, it was found that porous rice husk ash decreases the autogenous
shrinkage of UHPC as an internal curing compound [60]. SCBA exhibits
the same porous structure and may highly absorb water during mixing.
In the later curing process, SCBA may also function as an internal curing
compound and provide a continuous water supply for internal hydra­
tion, thus reducing UHPC internal drying, which constrains the decline
in internal relative humidity and reduces the autogenous shrinkage of
UHPC.
5. Conclusions
In this study, Sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA), was adopted as a
cement replacement to prepare ecofriendly ultra-high performance
concrete (UHPC). According to the test results, the following conclusions
are drawn:
(1) With increasing proportion of SCBA replacing cement, the
workability of UHPC first increased and then decreased. The
highest workability was obtained at a 40 wt% cement replace­
ment ratio. The initial setting time of UHPC was slightly pro­
longed, but the final setting time was greatly prolonged.
(2) With increasing proportion of SCBA replacing cement, the
compressive strength of UHPC at 28 d first increased and then
decreased. SCBA exerted a significant promoting effect on the late
strength development of UHPC.
(3) With increasing SCBA substitution ratio of cement, the autoge­
nous shrinkage of UHPC notably decreased. Replacing 60 wt% of
the cement with SCBA reduced the autogenous shrinkage of
UHPC by 30.25%. This was mainly caused by the decrease in
cement content in UHPC or by the enhanced internal curing due
8
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125881
to SCBA, which constrained the decline in internal relative
humidity.
(4) In terms of workability, compressive and flexural strength and
autogenous shrinkage, the best comprehensive effect was ob­
tained by replacing 40 wt% of the cement in UHPC with SCBA.
Compared to the control group, the autogenous shrinkage
decreased by 24.48%, and the flexural compressive strength was
almost the same as that of the control group. This study verified
the technical feasibility of SCBA application as a cement
replacement in UHPC.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Nengsen Wu: Writing – original draft. Tao Ji: Methodology. Ping
Huang: . Tengfei Fu: . Xiaoyan Zheng: Writing – review & editing.
Qing Xu: Supervision, Methodology.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The authors earnestly acknowledge the financial support from the
special science foundation of Fujian provincial department of finance,
PR China (KLE18014A), NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of
China) (51878179), Engineering Research Center of Prevention and
Control of Geological Disasters in Northern Fujian, Fujian Province
University (WYERC2020-4).
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