Experimental Study on Effect of Fly Ash on Compressive Strength of Concrete

Energy generation is increasing day by day due to rapid industrialization. Energy generation through thermal power plants is very typical now days. Fly ash (FA) from these thermal plants is available in large quantities in fine and coarse form. Fine fly ash is used in construction industry in some amount and coarse fly ash is subsequently disposed over land in slurry forms. In India around 160 MT fly is produced and only 40% of that is being utilized in different sectors. Balance fly ash is being disposed over land. Currently around 65000 acres of land is occupied by fly ash. This experiment research study is aimed to investigate the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of fly ash cement concrete for improve the compressive strength of concrete and road construction. From research, it has been observed that the use of 30% of fly ash and 70% of cement possess a superior performance. Moreover, in construction, the use of fly ash would result in the reduction of the cost of materials and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. Experimental investigation was carried on fly ash concrete to know the effect of fly ash characteristic performance of the concrete. In the investigation, cubical specimens of size 150x 150 x 150 mm were cast for compressive strength test at the ages of 28 days curing with different fly ash % replacement (0%,3%,6%,9%,12%) for mix M-25. Results of the laboratory investigation conclude that the performance of concrete made up of fly ash is superior to achieve the required strengths at higher ages and improved performance characteristics were observed from strength and durability studies. Judicious selection of materials, appropriate mixing methods, proper curing, and appropriate dosage of superplasticizer will enable the production of high performing high volume fly ash concrete.