Fly Ash in Shale Stabilization for Highway Construction

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Saleh ◽  
Joakim G. Laguros

ABSTRACTThe expansive shales used for roadbeds in Oklahoma are traditionally stabilized with lime. Stabilization with a Class C (high-calcium) fly ash was explored and compared to an optimum design utilizing the conjunctive use of fly ash, lime and cement, in the laboratory and in a field experimental project. Periodic visual observations indicated that the performance of test sections was excellent. Analyses of field samples showed that fly ash, either alone or mixed with lime and cement, was effective in ameliorating the texture and plasticity of the shale by reducing the amount of clay size particles and by imparting higher strength levels to the shale. Laboratory samples showed better stabilization than field samples, but the field samples performed at an acceptable level in measurements of compressive and beam strength, cohesion, angle of internal friction and resistance to deflection. The microstructure of stabilized shale was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nonbasal (hkl) reflections in stabilized oriented specimens suggest that the clay particles acquire high resistance to dispersive forces. The reduction of the areas under the peaks help explain the strength gain observed. The SEM observations indicated newly formed hydration products, possibly calcium aluminum silicate hydrate crystals, and a rather dense degree of packing as manifested by the substantial reduction of void areas as a result of stabilization.

1989 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joakim G. Laguros ◽  
Curt Hayes

AbstractAn expansive shale roadbase, stabilized with a Class C (high-calcium) fly ash received an 11–inch full–depth asphaltic concrete surface layer and the highway was opened to traffic six years ago. Periodic sampling and visual observations indicate that the performance of the pavement test sections are above average.Analyses of field samples showed that fly ash was effective in ameliorating the texture and plasticity of the shale and imparting strength to it on a long term basis. Pavement deflections and the extent of cracking have not increased beyond acceptable levels during the six year period.X-ray diffraction studies show a reduction of the areas under the peaks and the SEM observations reveal a dense degree of packing and reduction of the void areas. These modifications occur during the first two years of service and any changes beyond that period appear to be minor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 2082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdalla Mohammed Shihab ◽  
Jasim M Abbas ◽  
Amer M Ibrahim

When soft clay soils are included in engineering projects, it’s stabilized usually with some kinds of admixtures named as stabilizers. The common stabilizers that highly practiced are OPC, lime, high calcium fly ash (FA), etc. Each one of these stabilizers has its shortcomings. Geopolymers are the product of alkali activated aluminosilicate sources that excelled as an alternative to ordinary binders due to its sustainability, low cost and good mechanical properties. This study investigates the effects of some key elements like liquid over fly ash ratio (Liq/FA), initial duration curing time (D) and its temperature to soil – FA based Geopolymers samples characterized by its unconfined compressive strength testing (UCS), volumetric measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The Liq/FA taken as 2.71, 3.167, 3.8 and 4.75 respectively and the duration time taken were 1, 6, 18 and 24 hrs. respectively. The tests results showed that the maximum peak strength gain when Liq/FA is 3.8 at 90 oC with 24 hrs. D. It was observed that Young’s Modulus increased with increasing curing temperature for certain D. Volumetric strain increased by increasing D and its temperature. SEM and XRD analyses confirmed the Geopolymers gels formation for a selective precursor while EDX analyses showed that silicon over aluminium ratio is 1.38 for selective spectrum within the gel to the same mixture. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. 118143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ampol Wongsa ◽  
Ronnakrit Kunthawatwong ◽  
Sakchai Naenudon ◽  
Vanchai Sata ◽  
Prinya Chindaprasirt

1987 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Schlorholtz ◽  
Ken Bergeson ◽  
Turgut Demirel

ABSTRACTThe physical and chemical properties of fly ash produced at Ottumwa Generating Station have been monitored since April, 1985. The fly ash is produced from burning a low sulfur, sub-bituminous coal obtained from the Powder River Basin near Gillette, Wyoming. One-hundred and sixty samples of fly ash were obtained during the two year period. All of the samples were subjected to physical testing as specified by ASTM C 311. About one-hundred of the samples were also subjected to a series of tests designed to monitor the self-cementing properties of the fly ash. Many of the fly ash samples were subjected to x-ray diffraction and fluorescence analysis to define the mineralogical and chemical composition of the bulk fly ash as a function of sampling date. Hydration products in selected hardened fly ash pastes, were studied by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The studies indicated that power plant operating conditions influenced the compressive strength of the fly ash paste specimens. Mineralogical and morphological studies of the fly ash pastes indicated that stratlingite formation occurred in the highstrength specimens, while ettringite was the major hydration product evident in the low-strength specimens.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 900
Author(s):  
Chamila Gunasekara ◽  
Peter Atzarakis ◽  
Weena Lokuge ◽  
David W. Law ◽  
Sujeeva Setunge

Despite extensive in-depth research into high calcium fly ash geopolymer concretes and a number of proposed methods to calculate the mix proportions, no universally applicable method to determine the mix proportions has been developed. This paper uses an artificial neural network (ANN) machine learning toolbox in a MATLAB programming environment together with a Bayesian regularization algorithm, the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm and a scaled conjugate gradient algorithm to attain a specified target compressive strength at 28 days. The relationship between the four key parameters, namely water/solid ratio, alkaline activator/binder ratio, Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio and NaOH molarity, and the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete is determined. The geopolymer concrete mix proportions based on the ANN algorithm model and contour plots developed were experimentally validated. Thus, the proposed method can be used to determine mix designs for high calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete in the range 25–45 MPa at 28 days. In addition, the design equations developed using the statistical regression model provide an insight to predict tensile strength and elastic modulus for a given compressive strength.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Antoni . ◽  
Hendra Surya Wibawa ◽  
Djwantoro Hardjito

This study evaluates the effect of particle size distribution (PSD) of high calcium fly ash on high volume fly ash (HVFA) mortar characteristics. Four PSD variations of high calcium fly ash used were: unclassified fly ash and fly ash passing sieve No. 200, No. 325 and No. 400, respectively. The fly ash replacement ratio of the cementitious material ranged between 50-70%. The results show that with smaller fly ash particles size and higher levels of fly ash replacement, the workability of the mixture was increased with longer setting time. There was an increase in mortar compressive strength with finer fly ash particle size, compared to those with unclassified ones, with the highest strength was found at those with fly ash passing mesh No. 325. The increase was found due to better compactability of the mixture. Higher fly ash replacement reduced the mortar’s compressive strength, however, the rate was reduced when finer fly ash particles was used.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giri Raj Adhikari

Blended cements were studied for their efficacy against sulphate attack and alkali-silica reaction using six different types of fly ashes, a slag, a silica fume and four types of General Use Portland cement of different alkalinity. The study results showed that low calcium fly ash, silica fume and ground granulated blast furnace slag enhanced the sulphate resistance of cement with increased efficacy with the increase in the replacement level. However, slag and silica fume, especially at low replacement levels, exhibited increased rate of expansion beyond the age of 78 weeks. On the contrary, high calcium fly ashes showed reduced resistance to sulphate attack with no clear trend between the replacement level and expansion. Ternary blends consisting of silica fume, particulary in the amount of 5%, high calcium fly ashes and General Use (GU) cement provided high sulphate resistance, which was attributable to reduced permeability. In the same way, some of ternary blends consisting of slag, high calcium fly ash and GU cement improved sulphate resistance. Pre-blending optimum amount of gypsum with high calcium fly ash enhanced the latter's resistance to sulphate attack by producing more ettringite at the early stage of hydration. In the context of alkali-silica reaction permeability was found to be a contributing factor to the results of the accelerated mortar bar test. High-alkali, high-calcium fly ash was found to worsen the alkali silica reaction when used in concrete containing some reactive aggregates. Ternary blend of slag with high calcium fly ash was found to produce promising results in terms of counteracting alkali-silica reaction.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 7109
Author(s):  
Wei Yang ◽  
Pinghua Zhu ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Xinjie Wang ◽  
Wei Ge ◽  
...  

Geopolymer binder is expected to be an optimum alternative to Portland cement due to its excellent engineering properties of high strength, acid corrosion resistance, low permeability, good chemical resistance, and excellent fire resistance. To study the sulfuric acid corrosion resistance of geopolymer concrete (GPC) with different binding materials and concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH), metakaolin, high-calcium fly ash, and low-calcium fly ash were chosen as binding materials of GPC for the geopolymerization process. A mixture of sodium silicate solution (Na2SiO3) and NaOH solution with different concentrations (8 M and 12 M) was selected as the alkaline activator with a ratio (Na2SiO3/NaOH) of 1.5. GPC specimens were immersed in the sulfuric acid solution with the pH value of 1 for 6 days and then naturally dried for 1 day until 98 days. The macroscopic properties of GPC were characterized by visual appearance, compressive strength, mass loss, and neutralization depth. The materials were characterized by SEM, XRD, and FTIR. The results indicated that at the immersion time of 28 d, the compressive strength of two types of fly ash-based GPC increased to some extent due to the presence of gypsum, but this phenomenon was not observed in metakaolin-based GPC. After 98 d of immersion, the residual strength of fly ash based GPC was still higher, which reached more than 25 MPa, while the metakaolin-based GPC failed. Furthermore, due to the rigid 3D networks of aluminosilicate in fly ash-based GPC, the mass of all GPC decreased slightly during the immersion period, and then tended to be stable in the later period. On the contrary, in metakaolin-based GPC, the incomplete geopolymerization led to the compressive strength being too low to meet the application of practical engineering. In addition, the compressive strength of GPC activated by 12 M NaOH was higher than the GPC activated by 8 M NaOH, which is owing to the formation of gel depended on the concentration of alkali OH ion, low NaOH concentration weakened chemical reaction, and reduced compressive strength. Additionally, according to the testing results of neutralization depth, the neutralization depth of high-calcium fly ash-based GPC activated by 12 M NaOH suffered acid attack for 98 d was only 6.9 mm, which is the minimum value. Therefore, the best performance was observed in GPC prepared with high-calcium fly ash and 12 M NaOH solution, which is attributed to gypsum crystals that block the pores of the specimen and improve the microstructure of GPC, inhibiting further corrosion of sulfuric acid.


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