International Conference of Advance Research and Innovation (ICARI-2020)

Effect of Silica Fume and Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Cement on Strength of
Concrete
Aditya Pathak
Department of Civil Engineering, GNA University, Sri Hargobindgarh, Punjab, India
Abstract: Concrete is the most versatile construction material because it can be designed to withstand most stringent environments while taking
on the most inspirational forms. It is one of the most frequently used building materials. Nowadays, most concrete mixture contains auxiliary
cementitious material which forms part of the cementitious constituent. In this era, as the growth of world economy increased, the demand of
concrete made buildings are also increased. So for this the demand of cement is also increased. Unfortunately, production of cement involves
emission of large amounts of carbon–dioxide gas into the atmosphere which is very harmful for the environment. Cement manufacturing industries
emits 5% of global carbon di-oxide which in turns leads to the main causes for the global warming. To decrease the effects we can change the
cement with industrial by- product like silica fume, fly-ash and so on. Basically the Fly Ash and Silica Fumes are industrial by-products. The
consumption of these industrial by products is becoming popular throughout the world because of the minimization of their potential perilous
effects on environment. This paper investigates the individual effects of Silica Fume and Fly Ash as a partial replacement of Ordinary Portland
Cement (OPC) on compressive strength, flexural tensile strength and split tensile strength of Concrete.
Keywords: Silica fume, fly ash, Supplementary cementations materials compressive strength, flexural strength & split tensile strength.

1. Introduction Table I: Properties of Cement

Concrete is a mixture of cement, sand, coarse aggregate and water. Specific gravity 3.15
The concrete is widely used material all over the world for
construction work nowadays. Due to the use of concrete from Fineness 3.6 %
previous decades the infrastructure and construction work is Consistency 31%
improving day by day by the modern techniques. The main ingredient Initial setting of cement 35 minutes
in the conventional concrete is Portland cement that are being used in Final setting of cement 178 minutes
the construction industry for the production of cement releases large
traces of carbon dioxide which leads to rise in earth surface
temperature. However, the cement concrete remains the main
construction material used in construction industry. The process of
cement production leads to unfeasible development by diminishing
the natural resources. To protect the natural environment of the
harmful effects, use of innovative materials and construction
procedures has good option. The innovative pozzolonic materials
such as silica fume and fly ash reduces the uncontrolled use of cement
and enhances the planned use of resources and by-products from
various industries. Engineers and scientists are further trying to
increase the use with the help of innovative chemical admixtures and
various supplementary cementitious materials SCMs. Silica Fume
possess a high reactive pozzolonic property, while it is used in
concrete because of its fine particles, large surface area and high SiO2
content. Silica Fume consists of very fine vitrified particles with a
surface area between 13,000 and 30,000m2/kg and its particles are
approximately 100 times smaller than the average cement particles.
On the other hand, Fly ash is a by-product of the combustion of Fig.1: Cemented Platform
pulverized coal that is obtained from thermal power stations. It is a
substance containing aluminous and siliceous material that forms Table 2: Chemical Properties
cement in the presence of water. When mixed with lime and water,
fly ash forms a compound alike to Portland cement. This makes fly Compone Sio Cao Al2O Fe2O Na2 Mg SO
ash suitable as a prime material in blended cement, hollow blocks nt 2 3 3 O O 3
among other building materials. When used in concrete mixes, fly ash Cement 21. 62.6 4.85 3.81 0.47 1.562.3
advances the strength and segregation of the concrete and makes it 3 5
easier to pump.
FINE AGGREGATE
2. Experimental program and approach River sand passing through IS 4.75 mm sieve confirming to grading
To obtain the best percentages of mix proportions in both cases (Fly zone in table 3, was used as fine aggregate which were free from
Ash and Silica Fume) separate casting of the test specimens were organic chemicals. Crushed granite stone with a maximum size of 20
conducted. Blending of Silica Fume and Fly Ash were avoided as the mm was used as coarse aggregate.
individual effects of SF and FA were observed in this study. Concrete Table 3: Properties of Fine and Coarse aggregate
materials were mixed as per standards of IS:10262. Property Fine aggregate Coarse
2.1 Cement aggregate
OPC was used and its physical and chemical properties are tabulated Particle size and 4.75 mm 20 mm
in table 1 and 2. 43 grade of ordinary Portland cement were used. The shape
ordinary Portland cement were used to experimental purpose and Fineness modulus 3.15 6.81
before various properties are tested as per IS 4031-1988
Silt content 5.58 -
*Corresponding Author, Specific gravity 2.65 2.68
E-mail address: [email protected] Bulking of Sand 4.15%
All rights reserved: http://www.ijari.org Bulk density 1.683 g/cc 1.795 g/cc
Surface moisture 0.1% 0.5%
Water absorption 1.04% 0.45%

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The water is used for casting and curing purposes. As per IS:456-
2.2 Coarse Aggregate 2000 local potable water is used.
Coarse aggregate obtained from local quarry units has been used
conforming to IS: 383-1970. Maximum size of aggregate used is 3. Mix Proportions of Specimen
20mm with specific gravity of 2.68. The fly ash and the silica fume both mixed in lieu of the comparison
2.3 Fly Ash of their property with the simple casted concrete and the basic test are
Fly ash is a by-product of the thermal power plants. It is a coal done.M30 grade concrete mixes of different Fly ash ratios (0% to
combustion product that is composed of the particulates that are 60% replacement of cement) and silica fume of 10% having w/c ratio
driven out of coal fired boilers together with flue gases. Fly ash of 0.45 were made. Firstly the M30 ordinary concrete sample were
normally formed from burning anthracite or bituminous coal. It casted in the form ofcube, beam and cylinder. These were casted for
purchases from Thermal power plant dealer Nalagarh for 7 days and 28 days with w/c ratio was 0.45. After that mix was
experimental purpose. The physical properties of Fly ash shown in designed partially, and replaced it by silica fume and fly ash. Three
Table 4. types of samples were casted to conduct the test regarding strength.
Standard cube specimen of dimension 150mm x 150mm x 150mm
for compressive strength test, Split tensile strength of 150mm dia.
with 300mm length was measured by cylinder specimen and flexural
tensile strength of beam specimen of dimension 100mm x 100mm x
500mm for flexural strength test were casted, measured by specimen
for 7and 28 days. During curing period, the samples were stored in a
place free from vibrations and disturbances and in relatively moist air
at temperature range from 25-27. After 24 hours the mould is
removed and marked with symbol to identify afterwards and then
cured under clean fresh water. So main thing is enhance the property
and reduce the amount of cement and in concrete. The mix
proportions of all specimens for replacement of cement with silica
fume and fly ash are shown in Table 6.

Fig.2: Sample of fly ash

Table 4: Physical properties of Fly Ash
Property Determined value
Fineness 2.40
Specific gravity 2.5
Grade C
Consistency 38%
2.4 Silica Fume
Silica fume is the one of the pozzolonic material used in research. It
is an ultrafine powder collected as a byproduct of the combustion of
lignite or sub bituminous coals and possesses cementitious
properties.It is an ultrafine material with spherical particles less than
1μm in diameter the average being about 0.15μm.It purchases from
Punjab.The physical properties of Silica Fume shown in Table 5.
Fig.4: Sample of mix structure
Table 6: Mix Proportion
S Ceme Ce Coar Fine Wa Ceme Ceme
. nt men se aggr ter nt nt
N replac t aggr egate kg/ replac repla
o ement kg/ egate kg/m m3 ement ceme
% m3 kg/m 3 by fly nt by
3 ash silica
kg/m3 fume
kg/m3
1 0% 468 1173. 560.6 180 0 0
1
2 25% 346 1173. 560.6 180 118.6 12.8
1
3 30% 315 1173. 560.6 180 139.8 15.5
1
4 35% 290 1173. 560.6 180 156.3 19.3
Fig.3: Sample of Silica fumes 1
5 40% 255 1173. 560.6 180 180.7 21.1
Table 5: Physical properties of Silica Fume 1
Property Determined value 6 45% 221 1173. 560.6 180 211.9 23.6
Colour Light to Dark grey 1
Specific gravity 2.2 7 50% 208 1173. 560.6 180 245.7 26.3
Surface area 23000m2/kg 1
Bulk density 450m3 8 55% 178 1173. 560.6 180 269.1 29.7
2.5 Water 1

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 International Conference of Advance Research and Innovation (ICARI-2020)

9 60% 145 1173. 560.6 180 287.9 31.9 40 2.62 4.06

1 45 2.73 5.11
50 2.91 6.21
4. Testing of Specimens 55 3.03 6.56
The Cubes were tested in compression testing machine after 7 and 28 60 3.23 6.61
days with uniformly increasing load. The loading was conducted
from loading machine to the specimen by steel plates on both the
sides of specimen. The load was applied until the dial gauge needle 7
reading started deflecting backward after it becomes started crushing
and the last reading was noted in this way. 6
The Beams were casted and tested in a frame with two point load test, 5
the specimens were divided in three parts equally and two point loads
were kept at the end of middle third part of the specimen and the load 4
was applied cylindrically below the dial gauge. 3
The Cylinders were tested in compression testing machine. The tests
2
consists of applying concrete cylinder placed with its axis horizontal
between the compressive platens. 1
5. Result Analysis 0
The result analysis of 7 and 28 days Compressive strength of Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9
concrete, Flexural strength of concrete and Split tensile strength of
concrete are shown in Table 7, 8 and 9. 7 DAYS Flexural Strength 28 DAYS Flexural Strength
Table 7: Compressive Strength
Mix 7 Days Compressive 28 Days Compressive Fig.6: Flexural Strength
Designation Strength Strength
0 22.22 39.65
25 23.1 41.34
30 23.9 42.8 7
35 25.4 43.76 6
40 25.9 44.98
45 26.0 45.65 5
50 28.05 46.91 4
55 28.56 47.87
60 29.6 49.32 3
2
50 1
40 0
30 Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9
20
7 DAYS Split tensile strength 28 DAYS Split tensile strength
10
0 Fig.7: Split Tensile Strength
Mix 1 Mix 2 Mix 3 Mix 4 Mix 5 Mix 6 Mix 7 Mix 8 Mix 9 6. Conclusions
Based on the experimental investigation the following conclusions
7 DAYS Compressive Strength were drawn on the strength characteristics.
1. With 25% of replacement the compressive strength at the
28 DAYS Compressive Strength end of 7 and 28 days 23.1 and 41.34 N/mm2 respectively
2. Similarly with 35% of replacementthe compressive
Fig.5: Compressive Strength strength at the end of 7 and 28 days increased from 25.4
Table 8: Flexural Strength and 43.74 N/mm2 respectively
Mix Designation 7 Days Flexural 28 Days Flexural 3. With 55% of replacement the compressive strength at the
Strength Strength end of 7 and 28 days 28.56 and 47.8 N/mm2 respectively
0 3.54 5.02 4. With 25% of replacement the Flexural strength at the end
25 3.75 5.32 of 7 and 28 days 3.75 and 5.32N/mm2 respectively
30 3.87 5.82 5. Similarly with 35% of replacement the Flexural strength at
35 4.02 5.78 the end of 7 and 28 days increased from 4.02 and 5.78
40 4.13 5.89 N/mm2 respectively
45 4.18 6.02 6. With 55% of replacement the Flexural strength at the end
50 5.01 6.32 of 7 and 28 days 5.13 and 6.34 N/mm2 respectively
55 5.13 6.34 7. A similar increase in the split tensile strength was observed
60 5.17 6.46 when the replacement is increase till 35% (2.51 N/mm2 at
Table 9: Split Tensile Strength the end of 7 days and 4.11 at the end of 28 days)
Mix Designation 7 Days Split 7 Days Split 8. With 60% of replacement the split strength at the end of 7
Tensile Strength Tensile Strength and 28 days 3.23 and 6.61 N/mm2 respectively
0 2.15 3.6 9. Conclude that the use of both SF and FA will be overall
25 2.24 3.79 beneficial
30 2.32 3.91 10. The properties of concrete like bleeding, segregation and
35 2.51 4.11 slump will improved

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 International Conference of Advance Research and Innovation (ICARI-2020)

11. The replacement of cement with silica fume is environment

friendly in nature. One of the enormous benefits of using
silica fume is reduction in CO2 emissions, which is the
main cause of Green – house effect.
By the use of Silica fume and Fly ash the better strength will be
achieved which will result in less amount of cement in use and if we
use it for long time work this can prove more than 70% of cement
replacement by doing the certain change which tells how to use waste
of coal power plant waste in good amount.
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