The mechanical performance and quality control of granular roadbed materials made from coal ash as an industrial by-product

Across the nation, the amount of coal ash as an industrial by-product of the operation of coalfired power generation plants is increasing. Therefore, it is important to find applications for the effective use of this mountain of coal ash. We carried out this study for the purpose of creating granulated material with low abrasion loss required in road construction. While attempting in this study to develop a new type of granulated material from coal ash, various types of granular material were created from coal ash. These substances were subjected to a crush strength test and an abrasion test. In addition, as a measure of the quality of the granular materials, the correlation was examined between each granular material's crush strength (an easily measured parameter) and its abrasion loss. It was found that some of our granular materials satisfied the abrasion loss requirement for crushed stone used in road construction (35% or less) when used in the following conditions: the diameter of the granulator machine was 3.5m, 220kg of cement was used, and the cumulative temperature was more than 400°C-day. It was thus confirmed that a granular material made from coal ash as an industrial by-product can have the necessary mechanical characteristics for use as a roadbed material.