Permeation Behaviour of Coal Bottom Ash Concretes

Abstract

Low volume Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) was introduced as a substitute for Portland Cement (PC) and Fine Natural Aggregates (FNA) in concretes that were tested for permeation performance. Carbonation and chloride resistance was measured through accelerated carbonation tests and rapid chloride tests respectively while water penetration was evaluated through capillary water absorption tests for the aforesaid concretes. This paper particularly investigates the effectiveness of CBA in regard of permeation behaviour in concrete. The experimental investigation inferred that as level of CBA increases, the resistance towards carbonation, chloride penetration and water penetration decreases to some extent for low volume alterations while higher decrements were observed for higher replacements. The joint replacement of CBA as PC and FNA for the level of 10% and 25% respectively resulted in satisfactory behaviour comparing to control concrete demonstrating the efficacy and potential of CBA for its successful application in concrete.