Methods to Characterize Fly Ash Quality in the Field

Abstract

Fly ash is applied widely in concrete. Therefore, the quality of fly ash plays a critical role in altering the compressive strength of concrete. As the fact, it is necessary to provide better insight on the characterization of fly ash based on their correlation index against the strength. This is regarded as the prior studies were merely focused on the relationship of fly ash percentage and compressive strength due to high demand and time-consuming. On the other hand, this paper offers more advanced analysis on the utilization of several methods to determine the effect of different fly ashes on the quality of mortar. In this study, 12 types of fly ash and six methods were involved. The differences between the methods consisted of how the samples were prepared and cured. In the mixture, 20% of fly ash and 80% of OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) were used as a binder. The specimens were cured in two different methods (normal curing and steam curing). After 28-day of curing, specimens were tested under compression load to obtain the strength. The test results indicated that the method, where the fly ash was sieved in the preparation phase and was cured at a high temperature increased gradually, was found to be the fastest to analyze.