PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CEMENT-BASED COMPOSITES WITH BAGASSE ASH

Bagasse ash (BA), a byproduct of sugar and alcohol production, is among the potential pozzolanic materials that can be blended with Portland cement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the properties of cement-based composites that have various particle sizes of BA and cement replacement percentages. Three particle size distributions-passing the No. 100, No. 200, and No. 325 sievesand replacement of cement at 10%, 20%, and 30% by weight of binder, were designed to cast nine BA composites. The performance of the BA specimens was compared with reference mortars produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The experimental results showed that when the replacement of BA increased, the flow spread of fresh mortars decreased. The increase in the replacement of cement with BA also reduced the compressive strength of the BA specimens. Overall, the 56-day-old specimen with 10% BA passing the No. 325 sieve demonstrated the highest performance regarding the compressive strength, drying shrinkage, water absorption, initial surface absorption, and chloride ion penetration. Moreover, this specimen showed denser microstructural properties-determined using a scanning electron microscope-compared with those of OPC. Based on these results, 10% BA passing the No. 325 sieve was considered the optimal dosage and particle size.