High Volume Fly Ash Green Concrete mixed with Glass Fibre for Ordinary Civil Engineering Purposes

Abstract Concrete is the most common material used in the construction of civil engineering structures and the global demand for concrete is significantly increased due to infrastructure growth worldwide. The production of Portland cement which is the main ingredient of concrete is not only costly but energy intensive. It consumes approximately 7.0 GJ (Gigajoule) of energy per ton of cement production and also cement production process results in the emission of large amount of CO2, a greenhouse gas. To overcome these problems, there is a need to find some replacement to some extent. By the use of green concrete, it is possible to reduce the CO2 emission in atmosphere towards eco-friendly construction technique. Fly ash, a much potential industrial waste product that replaces cement in the concrete, is discussed in depth in this particular paper. In this study, the potential use of siliceous/class F fly ash from power plant Kolaghat as a partial replacement of cement is studied. Concrete mix M20 is designed with water-cement ratio 0.42 by adding 50% of fly ash (Siliceous/Class-F) as a partial replacement of cement, without using any other chemical admixture. Six concrete cubes of size 150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm were cast and tested for compressive strength at 28 days, 56 days and 90 days curing for all mixes. The analysis of results shows the promising values with respect to compressive strength as well as workability. Thus, green concrete may be used as a partial replacement of cement by means of fly ash as it is cheaper, because it uses waste products, saving energy consumption in the production. The result also shows that at initial stages strength gain is less for fly ash mixed green concrete and the strength is becoming higher at later ages. To overcome this delayed curing and lower initial values of compressive strength glass fibres are mixed with this high volume fly ash concrete. So the required compressive strength value is achieved within the curing time. Also the crack widths become lesser. Above all, glass fibre mixed high volume fly ash green concrete has greater strength and durability than the normal concrete using for ordinary civil engineering construction purposes. Keywords Concrete, Green technology, High volume fly ash, Eco-Friendly construction material, Glass fibre, Timely curing, More durability.