Investigating the Effect of Underground Water on Mechanical and Durability Properties of Brick Kiln Ash Concrete

Abstract

The need for water has increased worldwide and access to potable water in developing and developed countries is quite a big challenge nowadays. The quality of mixing water plays a vital role in the properties of fresh and hardened concrete including strength and durability. Nowadays sustainable material in the form of waste is being utilized in concrete as well as in a mortar. Brick kiln ash is one of the pozzolanic materials being used in the replacement of cement. Brick Kiln Ash is abundantly produced waste material that is disposed of in large areas of land which not only occupies land but also creates environmental pollution. These problems could be reduced by recycling these waste materials in concrete which can be used as a partial replacement for cement. In this research work, the effect of underground water in the partial replacement of cement with brick kiln ash has been studied. Concrete mix ratio of 1:2:4 with w/c 0.5 and 10 % replacement of brick kiln ash with cement used throughout the experimental work. A total number of 36 samples of cube specimens of size 4x4x4 inch and 36 cylindrical specimens of size 4x8 inch were cast using potable water and underground water collected from village Faiz Muhammad Bhangwar, Bhutta village Khadhar road and New Naka Sakrand road. The control mix samples were cured in potable water while the other three samples were cured in the underground water collected source for 3, 14, and 28 days respectively. A decreasing trend has been observed in compressive strength, tensile strength, density, and pulse velocity tests. The underground water taken from village Faiz Muhammad Bhangwar Nawabshah having a chloride content is 500 ppm used for mixing and curing concrete is comparatively good as compared to other underground water sources.