Exploring the viability of fly ash bricks as an alternative material for building construction

Abstract

Fly ash, which is recovered from the gases produced when coal is burned to produce power, is essentially a fine glass powder. Fly ash is a siliceous substance that has an amorphous or glassy bulk associated with it. These tiny earth elements are mainly composed of silica, alumina, and iron. When flyash is combined with lime and water, a cementitious substance is created. Under conditions of high steam pressure and temperature, the components of flyash combine with lime to form calcium silicate-hydrate and calcium aluminate hydrate. Portland cement and this newly produced solvent have characteristics that are very comparable. Due to their similarity, fly ash and cement can be substituted as a fundamental element in concrete, with fly ash having certain clear quality advantages. The surfaces produced by this concrete's formation are smoother, tighter, and denser, improving the characteristics of fly ash. In developing countries, flyash bricks are an economical and efficient means of low and medium-rise building construction, using very less resources. This paper examines the case of Flyash bricks for load-bearing wall construction as well as filler material and also discusses the engineering viability and properties of such Flyash bricks. The paper comes to the conclusion that Flyash bricks are a practical substitute for traditional bricks with more ancillary advantages.