Research paper Strength Properties of Sugarcane Bagasse ... · PDF fileR. A. Shuaibu et al. / International Journal of Civil and Environmental Research (IJCER) 1 (3): 110-121, 2014

International Journal of Civil and Environmental Research (IJCER) 1 (3): 110-121, 2014 ISSN 2289-6279 © Academic Research Online Publisher

Research paper

Strength Properties of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Laterised Concrete

R. A. Shuaibu

a*, R. N. Mutuku

b, T. Nyomboi

c

*aPanAfrican University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovations, Jomo Kenyatta University of

Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.

bDepartment of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture

and Technology, Kenya.

c Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Moi University, Kenya.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +2348062620806

E-mail address:[email protected]

A b s t r a c t

Keywords:

Sugarcane bagasse ash,

Laterised concrete,

Compressive strength,

Tensile strength,

Slump value,

Cost benefit.

The need for cheaper options in the construction industry has elicited a number of

researches in the area of construction materials. Concrete is often an expensive

component in construction due to the cost of its production as well as availability

of its ingredients. This paper present the findings on the strength and cost effects

of using sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil to blend traditional concrete to

produce sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete for building construction

purposes. Sugarcane bagasse ash and lateritic soil were used as blenders and

mixed with normal concrete ingredients by replacing partially (a) sand with

laterites and (b) cement with sugarcane bagasse in proportions 0, 5,10,15,20 and

25% and 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by mass respectively. Concrete mix of 1:2:4:0.55

(cement: sand: aggregate: water-cement ratio) was used in the tests to determine

the effect of individual material on the properties of concrete while same mix but

maintaining a constant slump of 30mm was used to determine the combine effect

of the two materials on concrete properties. The results of the investigations

showed that though sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete required higher water

content to produce a workable concrete, replacement of 20% of cement and 25%

of sand by sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil respectively, SB-LA-20-25C

gave a little higher than the targeted strength of 20MPa at 28 days, a tensile

strength of 2.15MPa and reduced the cost of constituent concrete material per m3

by 18%.

Accepted:16 August2014 © Academic Research Online Publisher. All rights reserved.

R. A. Shuaibu et al. / International Journal of Civil and Environmental Research (IJCER) 1 (3): 110-121, 2014

111 | P a g e

1. Introduction

Concrete is one of the oldest and the most exploited construction material in the world. This has made

the constituent materials to be of high demand. The continuous utilisation of some of these constituent

materials have posed serious environmental concerns, such as emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the

atmosphere, which is one of the greenhouse gases that cause global environmental warming, during

the production of ordinary Portland cement and also the continuous increase in the cost of concrete

production. These issues amongst others have prompted research all over the world in search for

alternative eco-friendly materials in the production of concrete. Different researchers have used

laterite soil in replacing aggregate in the production of concrete [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] while

others have blended laterised soil with other materials in concrete production [9] [10] .Laterite soil is

used to describe all the reddish residual and non-residual tropically weathered soils, which genetically

form a chain of materials ranging from decomposed rock through clays to sesquioxide-rich earth

crusts.

On the other hand, sugarcane bagasse ash has also been used in several parts of the world to replace

cement [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] and aggregate [17]. This ash is a waste from burning sugarcane

bagasse at high temperature or obtained directly as a waste product from electricity cogeneration

plants using sugarcane bagasse as fuel by sugar producing companies. However, no research work has

been done so far on the combined utilisation of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil in concrete

production for structural use. The utilisation of sugarcane bagasse ash in concrete production will

help protect the environment by not dumping this waste in dump sites and water bodies while the

utilisation of laterite soil ensures that the excavated lateritic soil on construction sites is utilised in

concrete production which also reduces the overdependent on the use of sand in concrete production.

This study therefore investigated the possibility of utilising both sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite

soil in concrete production to produce concrete known as sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete to

be used in building construction. In this paper, the effects of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil on

workability and compressive strength were detemined and there after the combine effect of the two

matrials were also determined on water content required to produce a workable concrete, compressive

strength, tensile strength and cost of concrete.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Materials

River sand from Masinga dam in Kenya was used with a specific gravity of 2.6, water absorption rate

of 0.45% and a moisture content of 0.25%, laterite soil had a specific gravity of 2.5 and a moisture

content of 6.3%, collected from Juja area of Kenya. Both sand and the laterite were sieved through a


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5mm aperture sieve to remove particles greater than 5mm. The particle size distribution of the laterite

and the sand are shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1: Particle size distribution of sand and laterite

Chemical composition of laterite samples was carried out at the Institute of Nuclear Science and

Technology, University of the Nairobi, Kenya, with the results presented in Figure 2.

Fig. 2: X-ray fluorescence analysis for laterites

The coarse aggregate, obtained locally in Juja, was crushed stone mixed in ratio 1:2 of 10mm: 20mm

single aggregate sizes in accordance with Building Research Establishment’s design of normal

concrete mixes and specification for concrete mix design [20]. This aggregate had a specific gravity

of 2.8, water absorption rate of 3.4% and moisture content 1.9%. Ordinary Portland cement (Power

PLUS 42.5) cement manufactured by Bamburi Cement Limited, Kenya, which complies with the

requirements in EN 197 Part 1 was used. The sugarcane bagasse ash used in this study was obtained

from Mumias Sugar Company, Kenya, and sieved through an aperture of 75µm. This ash had a

-20.0

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

pan 0.074 0.105 0.250 0.420 0.840 2.000 4.760

Per

cen

tage

Pas

sin

g (

%)

Sieve sizes (mm)

Laterite Soil

River sand

0 5 10 15 20

- keV -

10

102

103

104

105

Pulses

Na

Mg Al

Si

P S

Cl

Ar

K

Ca

Ti

V Cr

Mn

Fe

Co

Ni Cu

Zn Ga

As

Se Br

Rb Sr

Y

Mo

Cd Au Hg Pb U


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density of 2.3g/cc with a chemical composition shown in Figure 3. Portable water conforming to

BS3148 was used for the mix.

Fig. 3: X-ray fluorescence analysis for sugarcane bagasse ash

2.2. Methods

Concrete mix of 1:2:4 (cement: sand: aggregate) was used throughout the study. To get the effect of

individual material on the properties of concrete, sand was replaced by laterite in the proportions of 0,

5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% by mass and cement was replaced by sugarcane bagasse ash in proportions of

0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% with a water-cement ratio of 0.55. Ninety cubes of 150mm size were cast as

shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 4: Casting of concrete cubes

All specimens were de-moulded after 24hrs and cured in a water tank maintained at room temperature

for 7, 14 and 28 days for various strength tests. Three cubes each for various replacement levels of the

two replacement materials (i.e. sugar cane bagasse ash and laterite soil) were tested. The combined

effect of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil on the compressive strength and tensile strength of

concrete were investigated by apportioning them in different proportions for different specimens

designated as SB-LA-00-00C, SB-LA-05-05C, SB-LA-10-15C, SB-LA-15-20C, SB-LA-20-25C, with

0 5 10 15 20

- keV -

10

102

103

104

105

Pulses

Na

Mg

Al

Si

P S

Cl Ar

K Ca

Ti

V

Cr

Mn

Fe

Co

Ni Cu

Zn Ga

As Se Br

Rb

Sr

Y

Mo

Cd Au Hg Pb U


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a constant workability of 30mm. Where SB and LA indicate the percentage replacements by sugar

cane bagasse and laterite soil respectively as indicated by the two respective figures that follow each

concrete designation and C represents concrete. Table 1 shows the various test methods employed in

this study. All specimens were compacted in layers by an electric vibrator as shown in Figure 4.

Table 1: Various types of tests used

Type of test Method applied

Specific gravity BS1377:1990

Sieve Analysis BS882:1983

Density of Cement BS EN 196:2010

Aggregate tests BS EN 1097-1 2013

Compressive strength BS1881:Part 4:1970

Split tensile tests BS1881:Part 4:1970

Slump test BS1881: Part 4: 1970

Compressive and tensile tests were carried out by means of a universal testing machine with a loading

capacity of 1500kN as shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 5: Tensile and compression tests setup

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Workability

Figure 6 shows the effects of material replacement levels on workability of concrete, indicating that as

the percentage of the replacement materials increase for both laterite and sugarcane bagasse ash, the

slump value decreases which makes concrete less workable. This may be due to particle size of the

replacement materials because it is a known fact that aggregate size and texture affect the workability

of concrete. Another reason for the reduction in workability may be that part of the water content in

the mix was absorbed by these replacement materials, which made less water available for mixing.


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Fig. 6: Effect of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite on the workability of concrete

3.2 Compressive strength

The effect of material replacement level on concrete compressive strength was considered in two

categories. There was the individual effect of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite soil on concrete

strength which was determined with 1:2:4 (cement: sand: aggregate) concrete mix with a constant

water-cement ratio of 0.55 and also a combined effect of the two on concrete strength which was also

determined with the same concrete mix but with a constant slump of 30mm.

3.2.1 Individual material effect on compressive strength of concrete

Figures 7 and 8 shows the individual effect of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterite respectively on the

compressive strength of concrete with water-cement ratio of 0.55.

Fig. 7: Effect of sugarcane bagasse ash on the compressive strength of concrete

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 5 10 15 20 25

Slu

mp

val

ue

(mm

)

Percentage material replacement (%)

Laterite soil

Sugarcane bagasse ash

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

0 5 10 15 20

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ngth

(M

Pa)

Percentage replacement of cement by bagasse ash (%)

7 Days Compressive Strength14 Days Compressive strength28 Days Compressive strength


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Fig. 8: Effect of laterite soil on the compressive strength of concrete

From the results in figure 7 it was observed that as the replacemrnt level of cement by sugarcane

bagasse ash increases, the strength increased at 5% replacement and then continued to decrease. The

increase in strength may be due to the pozzolonanic properties of sugarcane bagasse ash as chemical

composition showed the presence of SiO2 , Al2O3 and Fe2O3 in the ash, indicated by the values of Si,

Al and Fe metals seen in the x- ray fluorescence analysis. Figure 8 shows that as the laterite content

increased, the compressive strength decreased. This showed that sugarcane bagasse ash concrete and

laterised concrete neededs a platisizer to produce a workable concrete or better still higher water

content in accordance with the study carried out by [18]. To increase the concrete mix, higher water

content was used to maintain a constant slump of 30mm for sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete.

3.2.2 Combined material effects on the compressive strength of concrete

Table 2 shows the compressive strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete with different

materials proportion at a constant slump of 30mm. This workability of 30mm produced a concrete

with an acceptable workability. The amount of water required to produce a workability of 30mm for

different mixes in Figure 9 shows that the as the replacement level increase, the water content increase

which indicates that sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete requires more water to be workable.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 5 10 15 20 25

Co

mp

ress

ive

Str

ength

(M

pa)

Percentage replacement of sand by laterite (%)

7 Days Compressive Strength




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Table 2: Compressive strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete with constant slump of 30mm

Specimen

type

Material combination (%) Compressive strength fcu, (MPa)

Sand Laterite Cement Sugarcane

bagasse ash

7 days 14

days

28

days

fcu7/fcu28

SB-LA-00-

00C

(Control)

100 0 100 0 24.47 30.23 33.25 0.74

SB-LA-05-

05C

95 5 95 5 18.80 24.20 27.10 0.69

SB-LA-10-

15C

85 15 90 10 17.80 25.10 26.10 0.68

SB-LA-15-

20C

80 20 85 15 15.30 18.70 23.54 0.65

SB-LA-20-

25C

75 25 80 20 13.35 16.40 21.30 0.63

SB-LA-XX-YYC: The first two numbers (XX) represent the percentage cement replacement by sugarcane bagasse ash while the last two numbers (YY)

represent replacement of sand by laterite soil. C represents concrete.

Fig. 9: Water-cement ratio for sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete with a slump of 30mm

A total of 45 cube specimens were tested as shown in Table 2 with each value representing the mean

of the triplicate test results. The results of the 7 days to 28 days compressive strength for each

specimen shows that none of the replacement level attained up to 70% of their 28 days strength at 7

days as seen in the control specimen which attained 74% of its 28 days strength at 7 days. The

compressive strength was found to increase with age of the concrete but decreases with increase in the

replacement level of sand and cement. Figure 10 shows the strength of sugarcane bagasse ash

laterised concrete cubes (SB-LAC) expressed as a ratio of the control specimen (SB-LA-00-00)

strength of the same age.

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

SB-LA-00-00C SB-LA-05-05C SB-LA-10-15C SB-LA-15-20C SB-LA-20-25C

wat

er-c

emen

t ra

tio (

%)

specimen type


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Fig. 10: compressive strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete as a ratio of its control at the same age

The reason for the weak compressive strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete may be due

to the presence of laterite soil that contains lower compressive strength in compasrison to sand it is

replacing in the concrete mix. However, since the targeted strength of 20 Mpa was still attained for

SB-LA-20-25C, laterite soil and sugarcane bagasse ash could therefore can be used as a partial

replacement of sand and cement respectively in the production of concrete.

3.3 Split Tensile Strength

An average of three cylinders specimens were tested for 7 days and 28 days tensile strength making

the total tested specimen to be 36.Table 3 shows the results of the 7 days and 28 days split tensile

strength

Table 3: tensile strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete with a constant slump of 30mm

Specimen types

Combination (%) Tensile strength, ft (MPa)

Sand Laterite Cement Sugarcane bagasse ash

7 days 28 days ft7/ft28

SB-LA-00-00C (Control)

100 0 100 0 1.87 2.50 0.75

SB-LA-05-05C 95 05 95 05 1.60 2.25 0.71 SB-LA-10-15C 85 15 90 10 1.50 2.20 0.68 SB-LA-15-20C 80 20 85 15 1.36 2.18 0.62 SB-LA-20-25C 75 25 80 20 1.30 2.15 0.60

From the results of the split tensile test for sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete, it was observed

that the tensile strength increases with age but decreases with increase in replacement level of cement

and sand. The ratio of the 7 days to 28 days strength shows that there is a reduction in the rate of

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

SB-LA-00-00CSB-LA-05-05CSB-LA-10-15CSB-LA-15-20CSB-LA-20-25C

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ngth

rat

io

Specimen type

7 days

14 days

28 days


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strength gain as the replacement level increases. Figure 11 shows the relationship between

compressive strength and split tensile strength for sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete.

Fig. 11: Relationship between compressive and cylinder split tensile strength for sugarcane bagasse ash laterised

concrete.

The relationship between compressive strength at 28 days and the corresponding cylinder split tensile

strength at 28 days is represented in Equation 1 with an R2 value of 0.9776.

(1)

3.4 Cost Benefit

The use of sugarcane bagasse ash and laterites in concrete offers several economic benefits. Apart

from saving the environment from the dumping of these materials, the results of this study show that

it offers a reduction in the price of concrete per m3 up to 18% since the sugarcane bagasse ash and

laterite are not been presently being sold at a price but are obtained from waste dumps and borrow pit

respectively. Furthermore, the strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete may yield

additional economic benefits when utilised in infrastructure developments such as in low cost

constructions.

4. CONCLUSIONS

It was observed that although the strength of sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete decreases as the

replacement levels increased as compared with the control specimen. However, the replacement level

of up to 20% of cement and 25% of sand (SB-LA-20-25C) yielded a compressive strength of

21.3MPa and a tensile strength of 2.15Mpa, which gave targeted strength for 1:2:4 concrete mixes. It

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

2.10 2.20 2.30 2.40 2.50 2.60

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ngth

(M

pa)

Tensile strength (Mpa)

Main data line

Trendline


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was also observed that sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete gained strength at a little lower rate

than the control concrete as represented by the ratio of its 7 days to that of 28 days strength.

5. Recommendations

It is recommended for similar future research work on the strength properties of laterised concrete

that:-

i. Ashes other than sugarcane bagasse such as rice husks, fly ash and wood ash should be

used as partial replacements of cement in laterised concrete production.

ii. The behavior of structural elements such as beams, columns and slabs made with

sugarcane bagasse ash laterised concrete should also be investigated

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The first author will like to thank Pan African University for their scholarship and funding of this

research work.

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Research paper Strength Properties of Sugarcane Bagasse ... · PDF fileR. A. Shuaibu et al. / International Journal of Civil and Environmental Research (IJCER) 1 (3): 110-121, 2014

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