FLY ASH

Fly Ash - A Replacement of Portland Cement in Concrete Mixture

Fly Ash - A Replacement of Portland Cement in Concrete Mixture

1.0 Introduction

The purpose of this report was to delve into the intricacies that come into play when concrete is used as a building material. In particular, the discussion will give importance to the role of concrete as a construction component. Over time, it has been observed, researched and confirmed that Cement (which serves as the fundamental component in concrete) releases carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is one of the most damaging pollutants for the environment (Bhikshma & Florence, 2013; Patel & Charkha, 2012). Yet, the utility of concrete continues to rival arguments against the use of concrete as a building material.

This report will give consideration to structures that were reportedly constructed with a less than average use of cement. The purpose of doing so is to shed light on the possibility that there are other possibilities that can be explored in order to replace cement; while getting the same results that would be achieved in the case of cement (Herki, Khatib & Negim, 2013; Ramesh, Arunachalam & Chakravarthy, 2013). Factors that merit recognition and importance in this regard include those that pertain to the areas of tensile strength, compression and the like.

More specifically, the research process will explore the possibility of using fly ash as an ingredient in the preparation of concrete (Rao, Murthy & Kumar, 2011; Roy, 2011). In order to do so adequately, the comparison will incorporate areas pertaining to the cost-benefit relationship that exists with regard to the use of fly ash in concrete. Another area that will be explored in this regard is the degree to which the use of fly ash brings about the bonding effect when used with cement in order to form a better form of concrete. This form of concrete can be referred to as reinforced concrete (Sejnoha, Broucek, Novotna, Lehky, Frantik & KerSner, 2012; Rao, Murthy & Kumar, 2011). The focus of the research is to converge on the assertion that there is a viable need to consider alternatives to cement in order to execute the concrete development and usage process without causing damage to the environment.

2.0 Aim

This report will look into the possibility of constantly producing concrete as a building material while drawing attention to methods through which the production can be integrated with an eco-friendly characteristic. For this purpose, fly ash will be used as a representative alternative that can be used to present a case for a replacement of the traditional Portland cement.

2.1 Literature Review

As growth and development trends around the world continue to accelerate, the demand of concrete also grows in line with the increased need for construction. However, while concrete has evolved to become a critical construction element around the world, the use of concrete requires the use of cement and limestone in addition to the burning of fuel in large volumes (Patel & Charkha, 2012; Murthy & Reddy, 2010). The result of this exercise is that ...