Effect Of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash On Compressive Strength And Workability Of Concrete

Abstract

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is one of the main ingredients used in concrete production and remains largely irreplaceable in the civil construction industry, despite being a versatile but relatively high-cost material. Large scale cement production causes significant environmental problems, including CO₂ emissions, while also contributing to the depletion of natural resources. This has led researchers to investigate the use of agricultural and agro-industrial by-products as supplementary cementitious materials in concrete. The main parameter investigated in this study is normal concrete (1:2:4 at 0.5 w/c) with partial replacement of cement by sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) at 0%, 5%, and 10% by weight. This paper presents a detailed experimental study on compressive strength at 7 and 28 days, along with workability. Test results indicate that the use of SBA in concrete improved performance in strength up to an optimum replacement level, with the highest 28-day compressive strength of 25.9 MPa recorded at 5% SBA replacement, compared to 22.5 MPa for the control mix.