Optimising pervious concrete design with partial replacement of cement with fly ash

Abstract

Pervious concrete is a light-weight concrete that does not contain fine aggregates (sand) and of enhanced porosity compared to conventional concrete. Partial replacement of cement paste bywastematerial, reduces environmental impact both by reducing carbon footprint of cement usage and usage of waste material. Partial replacement of cement by fly ash in conventional concrete is an accepted substitution that also significantly enhance mechanical properties. However, porous concrete being different from conventional concrete, studies are scarce in applicability of such replacements in porous concrete. This study aims to optimise partial replacement of cement by fly ash in porous concrete. By changing the aggregate to cement ratio (A/C) and water cement ratio (W/C) mix designs were formulated, cubes were cast and slump and compressive strength of fresh concrete were monitored. Having obtained highest strength of A/C of 2.5 cubes were cast with varying W/C ratio (0.3, 0.35, 0.4 and 0.45) and the percentage of replacement of cement by fly ash (5, 10, 15 and 20%). Replacement of 10% was observed to be optimum replacement while higher theW/Cwas advantageous for compressive strength. However, for porous concrete the slump of the fresh concrete should be below 15 mm. Therefore, the optimum W/C was 0.3. Finally, the mix design with 2.5 Aggregate to cement ratio, 0.3 water to cement ratio and 10% replacement of cement by fly ash gives 15.22 MPa (95% CI 14.8–15.6 MPa) strength. It is 13% extra strength than using 100% cement for binder.