The use of sugarcane wastes in concrete

Abstract

Cement production is held responsible of polluting the atmosphere with carbon dioxide (CO2). The researchers have shown that manufacturing of one ton of cement releases about half ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So, there is a need to produce alternative cement instead of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Waste materials such as sugarcane bagasse are difficult to dispose which result in environmental hazard. This study investigates the use of sugarcane wastes in concrete, where two forms of sugarcane wastes were used in this study. The first form was using the sugarcane bagasse ash as partial replacement of cement in both mortar and concrete mixes, where, in mortar, the used ratios were 5, 10, and 20% of the total weight of cement. But in concrete, the used ratios were 5, 7.5, and 10%. The samples were tested in compression and split tension. The results showed that the optimum ratio of using sugarcane bagasse ash as a partial replacement of cement was 5%. Similar results were obtained in both mortar and concrete sample. For the bagasse fibers, adding the fibers to the concrete mixture led to the reduction of compressive strength. But on the other hand, the addition of bagasse fibers reduced the crack width formed in the slab.