2.

Literature Review of the Study

In this section of the study the effect of wood ashes on fresh and hardened cement paste

properties will be explain regarding to the previous performed studies. The experiences of

previous researches will be explained in the section and the influences of wood ashes on fresh

and hardened cement paste will be observed separately. The impact of wood ashes on cement

paste properties achieved from the literature will be proved in upcoming section of the study.

2.1 The Effect of Wood ashes on fresh cement paste properties

As the carbon dioxide emission and natural resources consumption are getting increase in the

modern world. In order to promote ecofriendly material to use in cement and concrete industry

play a great role in reducing the consumption of natural resources and carbon dioxide

emission. According to the Vassilev et al., (2013) the use of wood ashes in the construction

industries lead to reduce the environmental pollution. The studies of Teixeira et al., (2016)

shows that due to usage of wood ashes in the concrete lead to reduce the content of Portland

cement as well as prove a significant results in the reduction of carbon dioxide emission and

natural resources. Beside the ecofriendly characteristic of wood ashes, it is proved by Ekinci et

al., (2020) that wood ashes are able to use in the various sectors of construction and provide a

significant results. The research of Rajabipour et al., (2020) shows that by using wood ashes as

a supplementary cementitious material due to the pozzolanic properties lead to improve the

workability of concrete. The reason of such improvement of workability of concrete is due to

plain surface and spherical shape of wood ash particles in cement pastes. During the

combustion, the wood ash particles also effect the temperature as compare to coal ashes. The

reason is the wood particles have more alkali and less alumina. According to Ekinci et al.,

(2020) the wood ashes shows best engineering properties due to alumina and silica in its

particles even there are absence of pozzolanic activities in the wood ashes. According to

Siddique et al., (2019) the use of wood ashes as a substitution material of cement in concrete

play a great role in using waste material in construction industries. Due to wood ashes used in
concretes shows reduction in carbon dioxide emission as well as the cement production also

decreased. According to statistical analysis of Aydin et al., (2019) proved that due to

increment in the world population lead to produce 1 cubic meter concrete per person. Due to

this reason in order to produce 1 ton of Portland cement 1 ton of carbon dioxide are emitted to

atmosphere. Such emission causes a severe atmospheric pollution. Such figures of huge

emission of carbon dioxide for production of cement also shows the importance of using

supplementary cementitious materials such as wood ashes as a substitution material of cement

in the concretes. According to Ekinci (2019) for reducing carbon dioxide emission the

construction industries seriously focus on the alternatives to use in the concrete production.

For this reason in all over the world most of the cement industries from around last 25 years

started to use supplementary cementitious materials. The researches of Aydin et al., (2019)

and Tamanna et al., (2020) most of the research institutes are focusing on using supplementary

cementitious materials as an alternative for cement in the concrete production. Such

alternative materials includes wood ashes, marble powder, fly and bottom ashes. Such

supplementary cementitious materials shows a positive impact on both fresh and hardened

cement paste properties. Such positive impacts of alternative materials lead to help the

construction industries to produce ecofriendly concrete with low level of cement particle as

well as the properties of concrete become improve through using Raw materials. According to

Stolz et al., (2019) among the supplementary cementitious materials the use of wood ashes in

concretes shows filler effect. Such filler effect lead to cause reduction in the porosity of

concretes. According to Siddique (2012) the wood ashes are porous and lightweight materials.

The properties of wood ashes depend on the temperature at which it has been burned, moister

and the type of trees. Different qualities of wood ashes shows different results in the

experimental analysis while using wood ashes as a substitution material of cement in the

concrete production shows a positive influences for the properties.

According to the Shi et al., (2019), due to use of wood ashes in fresh cement paste shows low

compressive strength due to filler effect of wood ashes. The study prove that due to weak
pozzolanic activity of wood ashes in the fresh cement paste lead to reduce the strength but as

time pass on the fresh cement paste the compressive strength start increasing. According to

Shi et al., (2019) maximum compressive strength were being achieved and wood ashes

activities were also seems improved after passing 90 days over the cement paste. According

to Siddique et al., (2019) in the fresh cement paste due to internal curing the wood ashes need

more water. As in the fresh cement paste the wood ashes shows hydrophilic properties that

lead to provide a strong bond between the particles in later stages. According to Kunther et al.,

(2015) in the fresh cement paste the addition of wood ashes increases the ratio of calcium and

silica. Such increase of ratio increase the expansion of the fresh cement paste. The study of

Lothenbach et al., (2015) prove that due to wood ashes in fresh cement paste the silica and

alumina ratio lead to develop a strong bond between the cement particles. Due such strong

bonding the structure stability become increase in later stages of the cement paste. According

to Ivan et al., (2021) in order to replace cement with wood ashes in the fresh concrete paste

causes to reduce the workability of the concrete. The reason of such low workability is due to

the fluidity that are cause by adding more water in the fresh paste. According to Yang et al.,

(2016) due to porous wood ash particles the spherical shape particle with high surface area are

formed in the fresh cement paste. Such spherical shape particle are built in the fresh cement

paste due to water demand of wood ashes. And due to such hydrophilic properties of wood

ashes in fresh cement paste lead to decrease the workability. According to Sakai et al., (2009)

the wood ashes in the fresh cement paste cause ball bearing effect. Such effect are observed

due to spherical shape particles built in the fresh cement paste while adding wood ashes. Such

spherical shape particles also lead to reduce the friction between the particles of fresh cement

paste during flowing. The research work of Sakai et al., (2009) also proved that due wood ash

in the fresh cement paste causes filling effect. Due to filling effect of wood ashes in the fresh

cement paste, the empty spaces between the particles are filled out by the cement particles and

the trapped water are released that also increase the compressive strength. According to Mehta

et al., (2006) the use of wood ashes in the fresh cement paste causes the incrementing of

workability. The reason of such decrease of workability in fresh cement paste is the increasing
of solid surface area that cause to adsorb water from the paste. The porosity caused by the

wood ashes in the fresh cement paste also increase the specific surfaces.

Figure 1. Scanning Electron Microscopy of Wood ash Sample (Ekinci

et al., 2020)

The experimental analysis of Berra et al., (2015) prove that in the fresh cement paste due to

addition of wood ashes, the workability and water shows an in direct proportionality. That

means as the water in the fresh cement paste increases the workability start decreasing.

According to results achieved by Rajamma et al., (2015) the wood ashes in the fresh cement

paste causes slightly increase in the temperature of the paste regarding to the reference mix .

The research study of Ivana et al., (2020) prove that wood ash in the fresh cement paste causes

the increment of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide level. Such increasing of the level of

magnesium and calcium oxide due to wood ashes effect the other mixture of the fresh cement

paste as well.
2.2 The Effect of Wood ashes on hardened cement paste properties

In this section of the study the impact of the wood ashes on hardened cement paste will be

observed through previous studies. The literature studies suggest that the wood ashes shows

different impact in hardened cement paste properties as compare to the fresh cement paste

properties. According to the Ressanen et al., (2019) the compressive strength of the hardened

cement paste with wood ashes start increasing by passage of time. In the compressive strength

test of the first day of mortar and seventh day of hardened cement paste shows great in

fluctuation. According to Ivana et al., (2020), the highest compressive strength was observed

on the 28th day of the compressive test of hardened cement paste. In hardened cement paste the

pozzolanic reactions become decreases that lead to cause increasing of compressive strength

of hardened cement paste. The experimental analysis of Ivana et al., (2020) prove that in

hardened cement paste the capillary absorption start decreasing by the time. As the hardened

cement paste with high wood ash particle seems to effect capillary absorption. Such reducing

of capillary absorption of the hardened cement paste is consider to be a main reason of

reducing of drying shrinkage in hardened cement paste. The research work of Yang et al.,

(2016) shows that due to the properties of wood ash the level of drying shrinkage of hardened

cement paste start decreasing. The hardened cement paste with 5% of wood ashes shows that

the wood ash do not act as a good binder but act as best filler. The experimental results of Viet

et al., (2019) prove that in hardened cement paste with wood ashes shows decreasing of

density. Such decreasing of density is due to loss of water in the hardened cement paste. The

results of Viet et al., (2019) also prove that due to wood ashes in the hardened cement paste

with passage of time there seems a slightly increase in the binding strength. The 28 th day of

the hardened cement paste with wood ashes shows increase in absorption power as well as

increase in the heat capacity. The results also shows that in hardened cement paste the wood

ashes shows a good thermal properties as compare to ordinary cement paste. Due to this

reason the heat capacity and absorption power of the hardened cement paste with wood ashes

shows increment by time.

The caparison of wood ashes in hardened cement paste compare with ordinary cement paste

by Naik et al., (2003) prove that hardened cement paste with wood ashes shows lower specific

gravity as compare to ordinary cement paste. Due to this reason the weight of the hardened

cement paste with wood ashes is much lower. In the same context Chowdhury et al., (2015)

also prove that wood ashes in the hardened cement paste directly affect the specific gravity

and weight of the hardened cement paste. Due to such property of wood ash in the hardened

cement paste, it can be prefer to be used in the light weight concrete production. According to

experimental analysis of Ekinci et al., (2020) prove that while using 5% and 10% of wood

ashes as substitution of cement causes to increase the compressive strength in hardened

cement paste. The study also shows the porosity decrease of wood ashes in hardened cement

paste.

(A) (B)
Figure 2. Scanning Electron Microscopy of hardened cement paste
with Wood ashes (A) 500times enlarge (B) 10,000 times enlarge
(Ramos et al., 2013)
According to Yang et al., (2016) in order to observe the workability of hardened cement paste

the sand are used as replacement of wood ashes. The result achieved from such substitution

shows the decreasing of slump. Such decrease of slump effect the workability of hardened

cement paste as compare to the hardened paste having wood ashes. The research of

Skripkiunas et al., (2017) prove that during testing the specimens of 5, 10 and 20% of wood

ashes as substitution of cement the 10 % of wood ashes in the hardened cement paste shows

low viscosity and yield stress. The reason of such low viscosity and yield stress is due to the

type and size of the wood ashes. This means that sometimes the results shows variation due to

characteristic of wood ashes used during the experiment. According to the Grau et al., (2015)

during focusing research work of Yang et al., (2016) it is prove that the in hardened cement

paste the wood ashes shows more compressibility as compare to sand. The use of sand as a

substitution of wood ashes cause to reduce the compressibility while the wood ashes due to its

porous characteristics lead to improve the compressibility in hardened cement paste.

According to Yang et al., (2016) the increase of wood ashes quantity in the cement paste lead

to reduce compressive strength. The main reason of such low compressive strength caused by

high amount of wood ashes is the unburned carbon particles. Due to these unburned carbon

particles disturb the cement particles that causes the decrease of compressive strength in the

hardened cement paste. The research work of Cheah et al., (2012) and Kaminskas et al.,

(2014) also proved that during increasing the amount of wood ashes causes the decrease of

compressive strength in the hardened cement paste. The research of Rissanen et al., (2017)

shows that due to wood ashes in the hardened cement paste increases the hydration rate.

During dealing with several sample paste the Rissanen et al., (2017) observe that wood ashes

with 10% cement replacement shows high rate of hydration. The heat of hydration also

increase in the 10 % of wood ashes in hardened cement paste. According to Cheah et al.,

(2012) and Garcia et al., (2013) the low in density of hardened cement paste was observed
while dealing with the various quantity of wood ashes. Such decrease of density of hardened

cement paste is due to strong hydration by the wood ashes. Such strong hydration of wood

ashes in the hardened cement paste causes a strong binding among the cement particles. Such

strong binding also cause to increase the compressive strength of hardened cement paste with

passage of time. The research work of Raheem et al., (2012) shows that it is necessary to focus

on compressive strength because all the structural properties such tensile strength and flexible

strength directly depend on the compressive strength of the hardened cement paste. According

to Raheem et al., (2012) the increase of wood ash amount in the hardened cement paste

reduces the flexible and tensile strength. Such decrease of structural properties is due to

decrease in compressive strength. So it is necessary to use a specific percentage of wood ashes

for cement replacement in order to maintain the compressive strength of hardened paste.

According to Udoeyo et al., (2006) the wood ashes act as a filler in the hardened cement paste

rather than binder. Due such filling characteristics of wood ashes causes to increase the

surface areas that lead to decrease the cement quantity and decrease the compressive strength

as well.

Figure 3. Load deflection curve of concrete with Wood ash Sample

(Subbaramaiah, 2016)
According to the Subbaramaiah (2016) the stiffness in the hardened cement paste become

decrease as the amount of wood ashes in cement paste increases. According to Figure 3

mentioned above suggest that by using 10% of wood ashes as replacement of cement provide

improvement in the stiffness of hardened cement paste. But as the amount of wood ashes

increase the stiffness of concrete start decreasing.

3. Experimental Program
In this section the experimental analysis will be observe for the study. The section is

distributed into three subsections. The first section shows the details about the materials used

during the experiments. The second section shows the mixes of sample design selected for the

experiment. The third section of the study shows the test program performed for the fresh and

hardened properties of the cement paste.

3.1 Materials
The materials that are used for performing the experiment are Portland cement, wood ashes

and water. The chemical composition and amount of all the materials used for the experiment

will be discuss in this section of the study. The following are the details for the materials used

in the experiment:

3.1.1 Portland Cement

The Portland cement with the Blaine fineness of 289 m2 /kg is used in the experiment. The
chemical analysis of the Portland cement is given below in Table 1 as follow:

Compound Portland cement (%)

SiO2 21.2
Al2O3 5.1
Fe2O3 2.5
CaO 64.7
MgO 0.9
K2O 0.2
SO3 1.5
 Loss on ignition 2.5

Table 1. Chemical analysis of Portland cement

3.1.2 Wood Ashes
The wood ashes used in the experiment are obtained from burned olive tree. The chemical

composition of the wood ashes are mention in the Table 2 mentioned below:

Compound Wood ashes (%)

SiO2 18.1
Al2O3 3.3
Fe2O3 2.8
CaO 44.4
MgO 2.8
K2O 5.2
SO3 0.9
Loss on ignition 22.1

Table 2. Chemical analysis of Wood ashes

3.1.3 Water

The distilled water is used in the experiment for mixing and curing process.

2.1 Mix Design

In this section four mixes were design for the experiment as Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix 4.
For the Mix 1 the Portland cement with water was used in the experiment as mentioned below:

Mix Design for Mix 1 (100 % Portland cement)

Water Portland cement Wood ashes

 494g 1300g 0g

For the Mix 2 the amount of Portland cement will be reduce and about 5% of the wood
ashes will be added as mentioned below:

Mix Design for Mix 2 (5 % Wood ashes)

Water Portland cement Wood ashes

494g 1235g 65g

For Mix 3 the amount of the Portland cement will be reduced and 10% of wood ashes
will be added in the mixture as follow:

Mix Design for Mix 3 (10 % Wood ashes)

Water Portland cement Wood ashes

494g 1170g 130g

For the Mix 4 the amount of wood ashes will be increase to 15% and the Portland cement
will be reduce as mentioned below:

Mix Design for Mix 4 (15 % Wood ashes)

 Water Portland cement Wood ashes

494g 1105g 230g

The fresh and hardened test for all the four mixes will be performed in the next section of
the study. For each mix design the hardened test will be performed with 7 days, 14 days,
21days and 28 days for time period.

2.2 Test Program

In this section of the study all the test performed for testing fresh and hardened cement

properties will be discussed. The fresh testing include mini slump and flow table. For

hardened testing the compressive strength test, flexural testing and water absorption test will

performed for each mixture with the period of 7 days, 14 days, 21days and 28 days.

2.2.1 Fresh Testing

In this section the fresh testing of the mixtures will be performed through mini slump and flow

table. The section is distributed to following sub section:

 Mini Slump. The concrete mixtures was put in the mould and distributed

equally. The mould was kept in smooth area to achieve a proper level. The

mould was stroke 15 time for proper distribution of concrete inside the mould.

The mould was inverted carefully vertically on a smooth surface. The highest

point of the slump and change of mould was calculated for each concrete

mixtures.
 Flow Table. In order to achieve the fluidity of the mix concretes the flow test

was performed. The concrete was filled with the cone shape mould and

slightly inverted vertically on the midpoint surface of the plate for spreading

of the concrete. The flow table will be raise to 40mm height and tested for 15

times. The concrete mixture was fall from the height of 40mm up to 15 times

to achieve a proper flow diameter of the concrete. The diameter of the spread

concrete was noted to observe the fluidity of the concrete mixtures.

2.2.2 Hardened Testing

In this section of the study the hardened properties of the four mixtures will be observed

through testing the compressive strength test, Flexural and water absorption test for 7days, 14

days, 21days and 28 days. The following are the tests performed during the experiment:

 Compressive Strength. The compressive strength of all the four mixtures

was performed according to the number of days. The first compressive test

was performed for 7 days for each of the Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix4. The

results of weight, force and strength of all the mixtures was achieved from the

machine. The 7th day results for the all the four mixtures are mentioned in the

table mentioned below:

Mixture Weight (g) Force (KN) Strength(N/mm2)

Mix 1 508 3.85 9.03
Mix 2 510 3.65 8.56
Mix3 252 64.76 40.47
Mix4 273 61.21 38.26
Table 3. 7th day of the results achieved for Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix 4

The second compressive test was performed on the 14 th days for all the mixtures. The results

achieve from the machine for all the mixture for the 14 th day are mentioned in the table 4

mentioned below:

Mixture Weight (g) Force (KN) Strength(N/mm2)

Mix 1 506 4.53 10.61
Mix 2 518 4.94 11.58
Mix3 265 73.18 45.74
Mix4 258 66.33 41.46
Table 4. 14th day of the results achieved for Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix 4

The third compressive test was performed on 21 st day for all the mixtures. The results of

weight, force and strength of all the mixtures was achieved from the machine. The following

table 5 shows the 21 days results of all the mixtures:

 Mixture Weight (g) Force (KN) Strength(N/mm2)
Mix 1 523 4.99 11.70
Mix 2 513 5.67 13.29
Mix3 271 74.24 46.40
Mix4 235 56.30 35.19
Table 5. 21th day of the results achieved for Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix 4

The final compressive strength test for all the mixtures was performed on the 28 th day. All the

results value of all the mixtures was obtained from the machine are mentioned in the table 6

mentioned below:

Mixture Weight (g) Force (KN) Strength(N/mm2)

Mix 1 518 5.07 11.87
Mix 2 515 4.23 9.91
Mix3 289 66.55 41.59
Mix4 239 57.51 35.94
Table 6. 28th day of the results achieved for Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and Mix 4

 Flexural. The second test that was performed to the hardened cement paste is

the flexural test. The flexibility of the mixtures will be measured through split

cylinder test. Through using the results of the compressive strength of the

mixtures the flexural test will be performed. Firstly the mixtures will be

weighted and then put in the compression testing machine that will provide

load to the mixtures. In order to calculate the flexibility of the samples the

following equation will be used:

……………… Equation (1)

 The flexural of the mixture are consider as (F t). The value of “P” will be

consider as the compressive load while “D” is the diameter of the cylinder and

“L” is the length of the cylinder.

Mixture Weight (g) Force (KN) Strength(N/

mm2)
Mix 3 piece A 252 64.76 40.47

Mix3 piece B 265 73.18 45.74

Mix3 Piece C 271 74.24 46.40

Mix3 Piece D 289 66.55 41.59

Mix 4 piece A 273 61.21 38.26

Mix4 piece B 258 66.33 41.46

Mix4 Piece C 235 56.30 35.19

Mix4 Piece D 239 57.51 35.94

 Water Absorption. The water absorption test will be performed on day 7 th

and day 28 for the mixtures. On the 7 th day the sample from the mixtures will

be taken and weighted. After the weight the sample was put in the water tub

for 24 hours. On the next day the sample was removed from the water tub and

weighted. The sample was then keep in the oven for 24 hours with 100

degrees Celsius of temperature. After the next day the sample was removed

from the oven and was weighted. The same procedure was repeated on the

28th day of the mixtures.

ABSORTION DAY 7

Sample Sub merged weight Weight after Absorption (%)

oven

Mix 1 508 545.25 37.25698758

 Mix 2 510 548.69 38.69875238

Mix3 252 290.77 38.77698754

Mix4 273 311.98 38.98123658

ABSORTION DAY 28

Sample Sub merged weight Weight after Absorption

oven (%)

Mix 1 518 556.99 38.99987348

Mix 2 515 554.12 39.12587499

Mix3 289 328.25 39.25965849

Mix4 239 278.31 39.31256988

Table 7. Absorption for day 7th and day28th for Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 and
Mix 4

3. Results and Discussion

In this section of the study the results achieved from the experimental analysis of the mixtures

will be discussed. The section is subdivided into two section. The first section will show the

result achieved from the fresh testing of mixtures while the second section will discuss the

results collected from the hardened test of all the mixtures.

3.1 Fresh Testing Results

The fresh testing results include the results achieved from the slump test and flow

table results. The results achieved from the slump test is as followed:

Wood ashes 5% of wood ashes 10% of Wood ashes 15% of wood ashes
(%) (Mix2) (Mix3) (Mix 4)
 Slump test 15mm 7mm 2.5mm
(mm)
Table 8. Results of the Slump test

The table 8 mentioned about shows that high level of slump are achieved by using 5 %

of wood ashes as a substitution of cement. The slump test prove that as the amount of

the wood ashes in the concrete increased the diameter of the slump start decreasing.

The minimum slump of diameter of 2.5 mm are achieved in 15% of wood ashes in

mixture 4. The reason of such low slump in mixture 4 is due to hydrophilic character

of wood ashes. As the amount of wood ashes increase more water are required for

mixing of paste such phenomena lead to cause decrease in the slump. According to Ivan

et al., (2021) in order to replace cement with wood ashes in the fresh concrete paste causes to

reduce the workability of the concrete. The reason of such low workability is due to the

fluidity that are cause by adding more water in the fresh paste. The results from the slump test

prove that as the amount of wood ashes increases the slump diameter start decreasing.

The second result that is achieved from fresh testing is the flow table results. The results of the

flow table are mentioned below in table 9 as followed:

Wood ashes 5% of wood ashes 10% of Wood ashes 15% of wood ashes
(%) (Mix2) (Mix3) (Mix 4)
Flow table 175mm 177.5mm 135mm
(mm)
Table 9. Results of the Flow Table Test

The result achieved from the table 9 shows that maximum fluidity were noted in the 10% of

wood ashes in Mix 3. The results shows that Mix 3 and Mix 2 shows near results of flow table

while minimum fluidity were being noticed in the Mix 4 with having 15 % of wood ashes. The

reason of such variation is due to the filler effect of the wood ashes in the concrete. According

to Kunther et al., (2015) in the fresh cement paste the addition of wood ashes increases the
ratio of calcium and silica. Such increase of ratio increase the expansion of the fresh cement

paste. The study of Lothenbach et al., (2015) prove that due to wood ashes in fresh cement

paste the silica and alumina ratio lead to develop a strong bond between the cement particles.

Due such strong bonding the structure stability become increase in later stages of the cement

paste. The flow table results shows that in fresh cement paste the increase in amount of wood

ashes lead to decrease the diameter of the flow table of the mixtures.

3.2 Hardened Testing Results

The result achieved from the hardened testing includes compressive strength test, flexural and
absorption of water test by the mixtures.
4. Conclusion
5. References