Assessing effects of waste coal bottom ash on construction cost of reinforced concrete structures considering experimental data

Abstract

In this study, it has been examined whether the bottom ash (BA) released to the nature as waste material from the thermal power plant can be used in reinforced concrete structures (RCS) and how much cost reduction will be caused in construction technology if BA is used in RCS. For this purpose, coal BA produced by Turkey-Zonguldak Cates power plant is mixed in different ratios into the concrete mixture of the beams. The different coal bottom ash ratio (BAR) is used instead of aggregate in the mixture. The beams created for 5 different BARs are subjected to tests and it is observed that the beam with the most critical bending is the beam with 75% coal BA. This BAR is applied to bearing elements of finite element model (FEM) and then current cost of the building and the construction cost used 75% coal BAR are compared with each other. It has been observed that when 75% coal BAR is used instead of aggregate in RCSs, there is a 40% reduction in construction costs. This result is of great importance both for the recycling of BA and for revealing that BA reduces construction costs.