Development of ternary blend cement-free binder material for construction

Abstract

This study aims to develop new ternary blend (TB) cement-free binder materials as an alternative to conventional cement by using Paper Sludge Ash (PSA) waste as the base material. During this research, the combined application of mechanical activation (grinding) and chemical activation by blending with pozzolanic: (silica fume; SF) and (rice husk ash; RHA), and high al-kalinity: (poultry litter fly ash; PLFA) and (cement kiln dust; CKD) materials were investigated. The research plan included four stages in which PSA was activated and replaced with the above-mentioned materials until reaching a ternary blend binder with the best performance (depending on the mortar compressive strength). Thereafter, the performance of this ternary blend binder was compared with the conventional cement by conducting compressive strength (at the ages of 3, 7 and 28 days) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. The findings indicated that a cement-free binder material was developed by using a combination of 60% PSA that was blended with 20% RHA and 20% PLFA. The new binder has shown higher compressive strength than the conventional cement by about 12% after 28 days of curing.