Properties of natural pozzolan and its potential utilization in environmental friendly concrete

Abstract

In Saudi Arabia, locally available natural pozzolanic material has the potential for use in environmental friendly concrete as a partial cement replacement. Local natural pozzolan was incorporated in concrete as a partial cement replacement to study the effect of replacement level, natural pozzolan fineness and its source. Chemical and physical properties of local natural pozzolan, properties of fresh concrete, compressive strength development, chloride permeability, and porosity of concrete incorporating local natural pozzolanic material as a partial cement replacement is presented. The influence of curing on the properties of concrete containing natural pozzolan and the X-ray diffraction analysis are reported. It was observed that regardless of its different sources, chemical and physical properties of local natural pozzolan are similar and conforms to the requirements of ASTM C 618, Class N. Concrete containing up to 15% natural pozzolan matches with the mix containing 20% fly ash, which is very close to the plain concrete. Higher dosages of this natural pozzolan can be utilized for economical and environmental benefits. This research is the first of its kind that addresses the investigation on Saudi natural pozzolanic material.