Parke, Mitchell (2023) Mechanical Performance of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) with Substitution of Fly Ash by Pond Ash. [USQ Project]
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Abstract
Pond ash is a residual waste material from coal combustion which poses significant environmental challenges when it comes to disposal, often leading in landfill. Previous literature demonstrates potential to adopt this waste material as a partial substitution for cement or fine aggregate in ordinary concrete. To contribute to the ongoing research in this area, effects on Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) were investigated to address the traditional weaknesses of conventional concrete.
ECC, also known as ‘bendable concrete’, is well known due to its crack width control, fatigue durability and flexural strength. This fibre reinforced mortar typically requires fine sand, fibres and an increased cement content as replacement for all coarse aggregate, generally increasing construction costs.
This study is the first to evaluate the performance of pond ash in ECC, more specifically as a partial substitution for fly ash. A typical control fly ash ECC batch was prepared to compare with the pond ash ECC samples, volumetrically replacing fly ash with 25%, 50% and 100% pond ash. A three-step mix process was adopted to optimise the fibre distribution and rheological properties to ultimately increase the performance of the samples.
Cube specimens were formed to assess the compressive strength of the specimens at both 7 and 28 days. Similarly, flexural beam test specimens were formed to evaluate the flexural strength and briquette specimens for the uniaxial tensile strength.
The results indicate that pond ash is a viable substitution for fly ash in ECC. Compressive strength results showed significant strength increase at 25% and 50%, with smaller increases reported for 100% pond ash replacement. Pond ash was not seen to provide any notable changes in strength for flexural strength and was generally consistent for all replacement levels. Similar to compressive strength, the uniaxial tensile strength increased at 25%, however demonstrated extremely poor strength at 100% replacement. Ultimately, 25% replacement reported the best overall mechanical performance, therefore warranting further research.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Engineering (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Lokuge, Weena |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil) |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Sep 2025 05:45 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Sep 2025 05:45 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | pond ash; concrete |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52986 |
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