EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF FLY ASH BASED COMPOSITE MATERIAL

FOR HAUL ROAD APPLICATION IN INDIAN COAL MINES

Dr. M. K. Mishra and Ms. S. Choudhury

Department Of Mining Engineering, NIT Rourkela Odisha-769008

Abstract
India is expected to generate more than 2,83,470 MW energy during 13th five year plan
period (2017-2022). 70% of this total energy demand would be from fossil fuel out of which
40% will be contributed by coal. Surface coal mine activities have to be expanded to meet
this rising demand that would lead to use of large capacity haul trucks. It needs well-
designed haul roads. Problems associated with vehicular breakdown are due to poor
condition of haul road. The sub-grade, sub-base and/or base of haul road typically uses the
local overburden materials. This investigation focuses on replacing a part of overburden
material with another suitable and competent material. This paper evaluates influence of
lime as well as clinker on the fly ash and mine overburden material composite. Geotechnical
properties of untreated fly ash, mine overburden, fly ash-mine overburden mixes and clinker-
fly ash-mine overburden mixes were determined. Clinker percentage, curing period as well
as fly ash percentage have strong bearing on the strength parameters of the developed
FCMs. The best composite material is obtained with highest CBR and UCS values.

Keyword: Fly ash, Mine Overburden material, Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS),
California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS).

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Growth of power sector is the key to the economic development of our country. Opencast
coal mining plays a major role in meeting the demand of fossil fuel mainly for thermal power
generation. Carrying capacity of trucks/dumpers used in opencast mines has grown
remarkably from 10 T to more than 250 T in recent years, with higher capacity being
considered at places. There are about 170 opencast coal mines in India, majority nearer to
thermal power plants. Fly ash is at present an unavoidable coal combustion byproduct. The
major challenge with this production of the fly ash is in its coverage of huge land areas,
environmental hazards, air pollution etc. The problem with safe disposal of fly ash is a major
issue in India as the volume is large and the ash content in Indian coal is higher in
percentage i.e. 40% to 50%. In most of the surface mines, the material used in the haul road
is not adequate to support the wheel loads. Fly ash possesses much inherent behaviour to
be used as an engineering material in those sections/layers. The behaviour of the surface

1
course of haul road depends on the bearing capacity of the materials that are lying beneath
it. The surface course exhibits excessive rutting, potholes, settlement, sinking and overall
deterioration. There has been exponential rise in carrying capacity of dumpers. But the
construction of haul road has not been appropriately addressed to accommodate these
changes. Typically, truck haulage cost is nearly 50% of the total operating cost incurred by a
surface mine (Thompson and Visser, 2003). However, there is a need to reduce vehicle
operating cost and maintenance cost by well-constructed haul roads. Strengthening of the
base and sub-base of the surface coal mine haul road is of vital importance to improve upon
mine economics. The base and sub-base of the haul road should exhibit reduced strain to
achieve a strong and smooth road surface course. The prospects of utilizing fly ash that
would have been dumped as waste is explored, investigated, experimented and evaluated in
the investigation. Different compositions of fly ash, mine overburden and lime have been
prepared. The geotechnical properties such as Compaction characteristics, California
Bearing Ratio, Unconfined Compressive Strength, Brazilian Tensile Strength, physical
properties and leaching behaviour have been determined. This paper discusses the
development of alternate haul road material using overburden materials and fly ash. The
report reflects the geotechnical properties of lime and clinker is influenced overburden and
fly ash haul road material.

2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Class F type fly ash was collected in dry state by electrostatic precipitator from a thermal
power unit of Rourkela Steel Plant. The overburden used for the investigation was collected
from Basundhara opencast coalmine, Odisha. The additive material selected for the study,
was lime and clinker. The tests carried out to determine specific gravity, particle size
distribution, pH, compaction characteristics, California Bearing Ratio, Unconfined
Compressive Strength, etc. were as per the prescribed Indian Standards. The specific
gravity of mine overburden and fly ash were determined using Volumetric Flask Method as
per IS: 2720 part-III. Free swell index was determined as per IS: 2720 part-40. Grain size
distributions were carried out through a standard set of sieves as per IS: 2720 part-IV. The
Atterberg Limits of mine overburden and fly ash were determined as per IS: 2720 part-V and
part-VI. Liquid Limit was determined using standard liquid limit apparatus designed by
Casagrande. The pH value was determined as per IS: 2720 part-26 to identify acidic or
alkaline behaviour of mine overburden and fly ash. The measurement of pH was carried out
(make: Systronics, India); with accuracy up to ± 0.02 units. Chemical compositions of mine
overburden, fly ash and clinker were determined from EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray)
technique. The Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and Maximum Dry Density (MDD) of
different compositions of (Fly ash – Overburden – Lime – Clinker) were determined by

2
modified Proctor Test as per IS: 2720 part-VIII. The prepared samples were compacted in
five layers in the proctor mould.

3.0 PREPARATION OF SAMPLE

The fly ash-overburden-clinker composite materials were prepared at their respective
optimum moisture content and maximum dry density obtained from the modified proctor
compaction test for determination of Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), California
Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS). The raw materials viz. fly ash,
mine overburden and clinker were blended together in required proportions in dry state.
Then the required amount of water was added to respective mixtures and mixed thoroughly.
Then the wet mixtures were compacted in the mould as per guidelines. The fly ash amount
was kept at more than 50% for mixture with clinker (Table 1).
Table 1: Various proportions of fly ash, mine overburden and clinker
Sl. Fly ash Overburden Clinker
No. FA (%) O/B (%) CL (%)
1. 90 10 0
2. 86 10 4
3. 82 10 8
4. 78 20 2
5. 74 20 6
6. 70 30 0
7. 66 30 4
8. 62 30 8
9. 58 40 2
10. 54 40 6

The availability of free lime enhances the pozzolanic activity of materials so the composition
of fly ash-overburden-lime has also taken in this investigation. A varying percentage of lime
2%, 6% and 9% were used in preparing the fly ash-overburden-lime composites (Table 2).
Table 2: Compositions (%) of (FA+O/B) +L
Sl. Fly ash Overburden Lime
No. (FA) (%) (O/B) (%) (L) (%)
1 15 85 2
2 15 85 6
3 15 85 9
4 20 80 2
5 20 80 6
6 20 80 9
7 25 75 2
8 25 75 6
9 25 75 9
10 30 70 2
11 30 70 6
12 30 70 9

3
The samples used for CBR test were prepared as per IS: 2720-Part 16 (1987). Samples
were cured for 7 days and 28 days respectively. The samples prepared for UCS test were
as per IS: 2720-Part 10 (1991). The samples used for Brazilian Tensile Strength test were as
per ASTM D3967.

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Physical Properties of FS+O/B
The physical properties of fly ash and mine overburden are reported in Table 3 and 4. The
specific gravity of fly ash and mine overburden obtained are 2.16 and 2.6 respectively. The
specific gravity of fly ash is found to be less than that of mine overburden, due to the
presence of cenospheres and less iron content. The materials with higher iron content have
relatively high specific gravity (Sridharan and Prakash, 2007).

Table 3: Physical properties of fly ash and mine overburden

Property Fly ash Overburden
Specific gravity 2.16 2.6
Particle size analysis (%)
Gravel (>4.75 mm) ---- 9.71
Sand (4.75 mm – 0.075 mm) 22.17 32.91
Silt (0.075 mm – 0.002 mm) 75.04 43.73
Clay (<0.002 mm) 2.79 13.65
2
Specific Surface Area (m /kg) 458 943
Consistency limits
Liquid limit (%) 30.75 25.7
Plastic limit (%) Non-plastic 15.04
Shrinkage limit (%) ---- 13.44
Plasticity index (%) ---- 10.66
Free swell index (%) Negligible 20

Table 4: Chemical composition (% by weight) of mine overburden (O/B), fly ash and clinker
Constituents SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO K2O
Mine Overburden O/B 48.24 29.18 8.36 1.1 0.4
Fly Ash 53.11 33.64 6.44 0.55 1.45
Clinker 20.46 4.52 3.57 66.4 0.68
Constituents MgO TiO2 Na2O SO3 LOI
Mine Overburden O/B 1.3 0.69 --- --- 10.7
Fly Ash 0.83 2.05 0.13 --- 1.8
Clinker 2.01 --- 0.16 1.39 0.75

4
 Table 5: Chemical composition of lime
Minimum Array (Acidimetric) 95.0%
Maximum Limits of Impurities
Chloride (Cl) 0.1%
Sulphate (SO4) 0.5%
Iron (Fe) 0.1%
Lead (Pb) 0.02%
Losson Ignition 10%

5.2 Compaction Characteristics

Modified Proctor Compaction has been carried out to incorporate higher standard of
compaction. Maximum Dry Density (MDD) of the composites decreased with increase in fly
ash percentage. The Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) of all the composites was between
14% and 20%. The highest OMC found was 22.3% for fly ash only. The highest MDD
obtained was 1941 kg/m3 for mine overburden only whereas lowest MDD was 1296 kg/m3
for fly ash only due to its non-cohesive nature (Figure 7). Tests with additive showed an
increasing trend in MDD and decreasing trend in OMC as compared to that in samples
without additive material (Figure 8, 9 and 10). As specific gravity of clinker is higher than that
of fly ash and mine overburden, replacement of certain percentage of fly ash or mine
overburden by clinker resulted in increased MDD.

Figure 7: Compaction curves of fly ash and Figure 8: Compaction curves of untreated
overburden composites

5
5.3 Unconfined Compressive Strength

5.3.1 UCS for untreated Composite

The UCS values of untreated fly ash and overburden composites immediately after
preparation failed after loading due to weak development of bonds. The UCS values were
observed at different curing periods (Figure 11).

Figure 11: UCS values of fly ash-mine overburden mixes

5.3.2 UCS for treated Composite

The fly ash-overburden composite materials exhibited dramatic increase in UCS values as
compared to that for untreated samples, when treated with lime and clinker. The composites
achieved UCS value between 0.15 to 1.1 MPa when treated with clinker and 1.2 to 7.1 when
treated with lime. The composite with 40%, 30%, 20% & 10% of O/B with clinker composition
of 2% to 8% have taken in experiment and graph shows that maximum UCS value obtained
at 30% O/B+ 70% FA as compared to other composites at 7 days curing (Figure 12). Also
the composites with lime content of 1 to 8 % have taken in experiment with 85%, 80%, 75%
& 70% of O/B with Fly ash as shown in the (Figure 12) and it was observed that maximum
UCS obtained at 70% of O/B as compared to other composites at 7 days curing. The same
composite (30% O/B) stabilized with 8% clinker achieved UCS value of 1.4 MPa and 9%
lime content of the composite with 70% O/B achieved UCS value of 1.64 MPa at 28 days
curing (Figure 13). It showed availability of additional clinker and proportionate lime
produced enhanced bonding between reactive elements. Post failure profile of some UCS
specimen shows the profile of failure under compression testing of treated specimen (Fig
14). Each composition exhibited higher strength values with an increase in clinker content

6
and curing period. These values are far above the minimum value suggested for sub-grade
(Bowels, 1992).

Figure 12: Effect of clinker & lime at 7 days Figure 13: Effect of clinker & lime at 28 days

Figure 14: Post failure profiles of a few UCS specimens

5.3.3 CBR for treated Composite

CBR value is used as an index of material strength and its bearing capacity. This method is
well established and popular for design of the base and sub-base material for pavement. In
this investigation, CBR tests were carried out to characterize the strength and the bearing
capacity of the untreated fly ash-overburden composite as well as lime and clinker treated fly
ash-overburden composite materials as shown in (Figure 15).

7
 Figure 15: Variation of CBR with the addition of fly ash to mine overburden

5.3.3.1 CBR behaviour of lime & clinker stabilized fly ash composites

Generally additives like cement or lime improve the strength of the soil or fly ash (Consoli et
al., 2001; Ghosh and Subbarao, 2006; Mackos et al., 2009). CBR values were determined
for fly ash-overburden material stabilized with lime. Lime was added between 2% and 9% to
observe the effect of lime. As the lime was added, each composition showed significant
improvement in CBR values. The results represented are for the soaked and cured
conditions. In soaked condition the composite with 15% fly ash exhibited maximum CBR
value 77.08 at 9% lime content (Figure 16 &17). It is observed that the CBR values
increased from 15.18% to 79.94% and 58.88% to 139.3% at 7 and 28 days of curing
respectively as clinker percentage increased from 2% to 8% for 70% FA+ 30% O/B.
However as the lime and clinker content increased the composites with higher fly ash
content showed more CBR values. Thus confining that availability of silica, alumina and
clinker added the strength gain over time.

8
Figure 16: Variation of CBR with the addition Figure 17: Variation of CBR with the addition
of Lime and Clinker of Lime and Clinker

5.3.4 Brazilian Tensile Strength (BTS) of lime & clinker stabilized fly ash composites

Tensile strength is an important property to predict the cracking behaviour of pavement,

structures using stabilized soils. The behaviour of composites changed dramatically due to
the addition of clinker and lime. The treated composites were cured for 7 and 28 days. At 7
days curing, all the specimens failed more or less at the middle through an induced force,
which is tensile in nature (Figure 18). The failure occurred within 60 to 100 seconds. At 28
days curing, all composites showed more than 40 kPa strength values with maximum values
at 8% clinker with 62% fly ash and 30% overburden. The sample (62% FA+ 30% OB+ 8%
CL) exhibited 150 kPa at 28 days curing. Brazilian tensile strength of all the composites was
between 40 to 150 kPa at 28 days of curing. However at 28 days curing, all composites
showed more than 50 kPa strength values with maximum values at 9% lime with 30% fly ash
and 61% overburden. The sample exhibited 291 kPa at 28 days curing (Figure 17). The
mine overburden mixed with 30% fly ash and 9% lime exhibited maximum tensile strength as
compared to that of other composites at 7 and 28 days of curing respectively.

9
 Figure 18: Variation of BTS with the addition of Lime and Clinker

5.0 CONCLUSION
The experimental investigation evaluated the geotechnical characteristics of different
composite materials with fly ash, overburden material, clinker and lime as a replacement of
conventional material in the sub-base of surface coalmine haul road. The following
conclusions are drawn from the investigation-
i. Addition of clinker and lime enhances strength values significantly.
ii. The curing period as well as the percentage of clinker and lime has strong influence on
the strength of composites.
iii. At different percentage of clinker and lime, different enhanced values of UCS, CBR and
BTS have been observed.
iv. The UCS and CBR values of the optimum composite exceed the minimum required
values for use in sub-base of haul road. A value of more than 380 kPA is
recommended for hard sub grade which would enhance the bearing capacity of the
haul road (Das, 1994)
v. The composite with 15% fly ash, 7% clinker and 85% lime with O/B, exhibits best result
for haul road application in 28 days curing than 7 days as a sub-base material.

6.0 REFERENCES
[1] Tannant, D.D. and Kumar, V. (2000), Properties of fly ash stabilized haul road
construction materials, Int. J. Surf. Mining, Reclamation Environ. 14, pp. 121 – 135.
[2] Thompson, R.J. and Visser, A.T. (2003), Mine haul road maintenance management
systems, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, pp. 303 – 312.
[3] Krishna K.C., CBR behaviour of fly ash-soil-cement mixes, Ph.D thesis, Indian Institute
of
Science, Bangalore, India, 2001.
[4] Das B., Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 3rd ed., PWS- Kent Publishing
Company, Boston, 1994.

10
[5] Baghdadi Z.A., Fatani M.N. and Sabban N.A., Soil modification by Cement kiln dust,
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 7 (1995): pp. 218-222.
[6] Behera, B. and Mishra, M.K. (2011), Strength behaviour of surface coalmine
overburden-fly ash mixes stabilized with quick lime, Int. J. Surf. Mining, Reclamation
Environ, pp. 1-17.
[7] Sivapullaiah, P.V., Prasanth, J.P. and Sridharan, A. (1995), Optimization of lime content
for fly ash, Journal of Testing and Evaluation, JUTVA, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp 222-227.
[8] Singh, S.P. and Kumar, P. (2005), Utilisation of fibre reinforced fly ash in road sub-
bases, Fly Ash Utilization Programme (FAUP), TIFAC, Fly ash India, DST, New Delhi.
[9] Chu, T. Y., Davidson, D. T., Goecker, W. L and Moh, Z. C. (1955), Soil stabilization with
lime fly ash mixtures: preliminary studies with silty and clayey soils. Highway Research
Board Bulletin 108, pp. 102-112.
[10] Di Gioia, A. M. and Nuzzo, W. L. (1972), Fly ash as structural fill, Journal of Power Div.,
ASCE,vol. 98 (1), pp. 77-92.
[11] Gopalan, M.K. and Haque, M.N. (1986), Strength development of clinically cured plain
and fly ashconcretes, in Proceed. of Aus. Road Research Board, Vol. 13, Pt. 5, pp. 27–
33.
[12] Joshi, R.C., Natt, G.S. and Wright, P.J. (1981), ‘Soil improvement by lime-fly ash slurry
injection’ in Proc. 10th Int. Conference on Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engg.,
Stockholm, vol. 3, pp. 707-712.
[13] Raymond, S. (1961), Pulverized fuel ash as embankment material, In Proc., of The
Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. 19, pp. 515-536.
[14] Xu, A. and Sarkar, S. L. (1994), Micro structural developments in high-volume fly ash
cement system. Journal of Materials in Civil Engg., ASCE, Vol. 1, pp. 117-136.
[15] Lin, Y. Kuo, S.F., Hsiao, C. and Lai, C.P. (2007), Investigation of Pulse Velocity-
Strength Relationship of Hardened Concrete, ACI Materials Journal, 104(4), pp.344–
350.
[16] Ottosen N.S. (1984), Evaluation of concrete cylinder tests using finite element, Journal
of engineering mechanics ASCE, Vol. 110, No.3, pp. 465-481.
[17] Hopkins T.C., Beckham T.L., Sun C. and Ni B., Resilient Modulus of Kentucky Soils.
Research Report, Kentucky Transportation Centre, University of Kentucky, 2001.
[18] Huang, W.H. and Lovell C.W., Bottom ash as embankment material, Geotechnics of
waste fills – theory and practice, ASTM STP1070, A. Landva and G. D. Knowles, eds.
American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, pp. 71-85.
[19] Husrulid W. and Kuchta M., Open pit mine planning and design: Vol-I Fundamentals,
2nd ed., Taylor and Francis Plc., London, UK, 2006.
[20] Indraratna B., Nutalaya P., Koo K.S. and Kuganenthira N., Engineering behaviour of a
low carbon, pozzolanic fly ash and its potential as a construction fill, Journal of Can.
Geotech., 28 (1991): pp. 542-555.
[21] Ismaiel H.A.H., Treatment and improvement of the geotechnical properties of different
soft fine-grained soils using chemical stabilization, Unpublished Ph.D thesis, Martin
Luther University Halle, Wittenberg, 2006.
[22] Jackson N.M. Schultz S. Sander P. and Schopp L., Beneficial use of CFB ash in
pavement construction applications, Journal of Fuel 88 (2009): pp. 1210-1215.
[23] Jadhao P.D. and Nagarnaik P.B., 2008, Strength Characteristics of Soil Fly Ash
Mixtures Reinforced with Randomly Oriented Polypropylene Fibers, in: proc. of First Int
Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology, IEEE,
DOI10.1109/ICETET.2008.208, pp. 1044-1049.
[24] Bowels J., Engineering Properties of soil and their measurements, 4 th ed., Mc
Graw-Hill, Boston, 1992.

11