Evaluation of Characteristics of Concrete Mixed with Bamboo Leaf Ash

Abstract

Background: Concrete production around the globe is in billions of tons. Consequently, million metric tons of carbon dioxide are produced annually due to the cement consumption and production which, in turn, cause environmental menace. Objective: This research work examines the use of Bamboo Leaf Ash (BLA) as supplementary cementitious materials. Methods: The physical, mechanical, and durability properties were studied by partial substitution of cement with BLA at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% sequentially. Concrete cubes were cast and cured at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days. Beams were cast and cured at 28 days. A total number of five mixes were investigated, four out of the mix were dedicated to examining the impacts of BLA on the characteristics of concrete. Results: Soundness, consistency, initial and final setting time of cement paste values were lower than bamboo blended paste values at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% percentage replacement, respectively. The split tensile, compressive, and flexural strength values of conventional concrete were lower than bamboo leaf ash concrete accordingly. Water absorption, permeable voids, sorptivity, and bulk dry density of conventional concrete were higher than bamboo leaf ash concrete at all level of replacements. Conclusion: According to the analysis and experimental results obtained, BLA improved split tensile, compressive, and flexural strength benchmark at 10% as the optimum level of replacement. BLA reduced setting time, consistency, compacting factor, slump, water absorption, permeable voids, sorptivity, and density. To this end, BLA can be considered as a good pozzolanic material which can save the cost of construction, and improved concrete properties.