Effect of high-volume coal waste on strength properties of concrete

Abstract

The rapid growth in the construction industry has increase in the consumption of raw materials whereby it depletes the natural resources. Therefore, the need of abundant and cheap materials is increased. Also, coal waste is abundantly available from coal generating power plan. The aim of this research is to investigate the performance of concrete incorporating high volume coal waste as cement and aggregates replacement. The specimens are prepared by using 30% coal fly ash as cement replacement and fully replacement of aggregates with coal bottom ash. The specimens are cast using 100 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm cubes. There are several test conducted in this study for example, the test for characteristic of the materials, fresh and hardened properties of concrete. It was found that the workability of concrete decreases with the inclusion of coal waste. Overall, it is found out that the coal waste can be used as aggregates replacement in concrete since it has a comparable strength with a conventional concrete.