Performance of saw dust ash (SDA) as cement replacement on the compressive strength of concrete

Abstract

This research considered the potential of saw dust ash as partial replacement of cement to the compressive strength and other mechanical strength of concrete. Saw dust ash was used as it one of industrial wastes product from wood processing operations in many country that continue to increase gradually every day because its demand. By implying saw dust ash in concrete material, the tremendous amount of waste can be manage as it may cause nuisance to environment and health problem if not properly disposed. Test were done with two state of concrete that have different content of SDA varies from 0% to 30%, fresh concrete and hardened concrete. Slump test is the test for fresh concrete and mechanical strength of concrete was more focused on hardened concrete such as compressive test and flexural test. Chemical composition of SDA was evaluated using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analytical method. SDA was used as a partial cement replacement level at 10%, 20%, and 30% by total binder volume. Water to binder ratio was held constant at 0.54 for all concrete mixtures. All result data present that workability of the concrete decrease as the SDA content increase. While for compressive and flexural, the strength generally less when compare to control concrete with the same age of curing. As for water absorption test, the concrete have high rate of absorption as the SDA content increase with indicate that SDA have high porosity. The replacement of 10% SDA by volume of cement appears to be the optimum amount that can produce concrete with acceptable strength properties but gradually decrease as the SDA content increases.