Density and Strength of Mortar Made with the Mixture of Wood Ash, Crushed Gneiss and River Sand as Fine Aggregate

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to study the feasibility of using wood bottom ash to partially replace natural fine aggregate or crushed gneiss sand in the manufacturing of mortars. The experiment uses wood ash as fine aggregates, which passes through 5 mm sieve, in proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight to replace partially river sand and crushed gneiss, and the both sand of the same size as the aggregate respectively. Experimental results show that density of mortar and the compressive strength of mortar decrease globally with the increase in wood ash content. At 56 days, and for all replacements with wood ash, compressive strengths values of mortar obtained with the mixture of wood ash and river sand is greater than 20 MPa, which is not the case for mortar made with crushed gneiss and wood ash. Moreover, for 5% of replacement with wood ash, compressive strengths of mortar obtained with the mixture of wood ash and river sand and the mixture of wood ash and crushed gneiss are respectively 37 MPa and 32 MPa at 56 days. These values satisfied the strength requirements. Hence, 5% replacement of crushed gneiss with wood ash is suggested and could be benefit for mortar. In addition, the replacement of sand by wood ash is preferable with river sand which contains fewer fines than crushed gneiss. The compressive strength of mortar with 25% wood ash + river sand could be suitable.