Texas Department of Transportation Fly Ash Database and the Development of Chemical Composition–Based Fly Ash Alkali-Silica Reaction Durability Index
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 1
Abstract
Chemical compositions of approximately 5,500 fly ash samples from 36 power plants inside and outside Texas, compiled by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) over 18 years, were statistically analyzed in this study. The variations of oxide contents and their correlations were calculated and compared. Oxide contents of Class F fly ashes were found to be more variable than Class C fly ashes. In general, CaO and MgO contents were higher in Class C fly ashes than in Class F fly ashes, whereas the latter had higher content. Other oxide contents of the two classes of fly ashes were comparable. Then, to demonstrate the potential beneficial use of chemical composition information of fly ash, an alkali-silica reaction (ASR) durability index was proposed to predict the comparative performance of fly ash in mitigating ASR in concrete. The index value was calculated using , , , CaO, and equivalent alkali contents. Previously published research on the use of fly ash in mitigating ASR, using standardized tests, was utilized to validate the proposed index. The index was found capable of differentiating fly ashes in the same class. To verify the usefulness of the ASR durability index, tests were carried out in this study using an ASR reactive sand, two portland cements, four Class C fly ashes, and one Class F fly ash. The results were quite promising, and the use of the fly ash ASR durability index is proposed to screen fly ash for laboratory testing and construction.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
ASTM. (2001). “Standard test method for potential alkali reactivity of aggregates (mortar bar method).” ASTM C1260, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2004). “Standard test method for determining the potential alkali-silica reactivity of combinations of cementitious materials and aggregate (accelerated mortar-bar method).” C1567, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2008a). “Standard specification for coal fly ash and raw or calcined natural pozzolan for use in concrete.” C618, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2008b). “Standard test method for determination of length change of concrete due to alkali silica reaction.” C1293, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bokern, J., and Siebel, E. (2004). “Alkali-silica reaction in Germany—Transfer of laboratory results to practice.” Proc., 12th Int. Conf. on Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete, Beijing, China, 490–498.
Brindle, J. H., and McCarthy, M. J. (2006). “Chemical constraints on fly ash glass compositions.” Energy Fuels, 20(6), 2580–2585.
Davis, R. E., Carlson, R. W., Kelly, J. W., and Davis, H. E. (1937). “Properties of cements and concretes containing fly ash.” J. Am. Concr. Inst., 8, 577–612.
Du, L., Arellano, M., Folliard, K. J., Nazarian, S., and Trejo, D. (2006). “Rapid-setting CLSM for bridge approach repair: A case study.” ACI Mater. J., 103(5), 312–318.
Folliard, K. J., et al. (2006). Preventing ASR/DEF in New Concrete: Final Report, Center for Transportation Research, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX, 254.
Kakodkar, S., Ramakrishnan, V., and Zimmerman, L. (1994). “Addition of Class C fly ash to control expansions due to alkali-silica reaction.” Transportation Research Record 1458, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 109–117.
Kawamura, M., and Iwahori, K. (2004). “ASR gel composition and expansive pressure in mortars under restraint.” Cem. Concr. Compos., 26(1), 47–56.
Liu, G., Zhang, H., Gao, L., Zheng, L., and Peng, Z. (2004). “Petrological and mineral characterizations and chemical composition of coal ashes from power plants in Yanzhou Mining district, China.” Fuel Process. Technol., 85(15), 1635–1646.
Malvar, L. J., and Lenke, L. R. (2006). “Efficiency of fly ash in mitigating alkali-silica reaction based on chemical composition.” ACI Mater. J., 103(5), 319–326.
Manz, O. (1999). “Coal fly ash: A retrospective and future look.” Fuel, 78(2), 133–136.
McCarthy, G. J., Solem, J. K., Manz, O. E., and Hassett, D. J. (1990). “Use of a database of chemical, mineralogical and physical properties of north american fly ash to study the nature of fly ash and its utilization as a mineral admixture in concrete.” Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., 178, 3–33.
Mielenz, R. C. (1983). “Mineral admixtures—history and background.” Concr. Int., 5(8), 34–42.
Saeki, T., and Saito, T. (2006). “Fundamental study on C-S-H formed by pozzolanic reaction of fly ash.” JCA Proc. Cem. Concr., 59, 8–13.
Shehata, M. H., and Thomas, M. D. A. (2000). “The effect of fly ash composition on the expansion of concrete due to alkali-silica reaction.” Cem. Concr. Res., 30(7), 1063–1072.
Shehata, M. H., Thomas, M. D. A., and Bleszynski, R. F. (1999). “The effects of fly ash composition on the chemistry of pore solution in hydrated cement pastes.” Cem. Concr. Res., 29(12), 1915–1920.
Shon, C., Sarkar, S. L., and Zollinger, D. G. (2004). “Testing the effectiveness of Class C and Class F fly ash in controlling expansion due to alkali-silica reaction using modified ASTM C 1260 test method.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 16(1), 20–27.
Taylor, H. F. W. (1997). Cement Chemistry, 2nd Ed., Thomas Telford, London, 459.
Taylor, H. F. W., Mohan, K., and Moir, G. K. (1985). “Analytical study of pure and extended portland cement pastes: II, fly ash- and slag-cement pastes.” J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 68(12), 685–690.
Thomas, M. D. A., Shehata, M. H., and Shashiprakash, S. G. (1999). “The use of fly ash in concrete: Classification by composition.” Cem., Concr., Aggregates, 21(2), 105–110.
Vassilev, S. V., Menendez, R., Alvarez, D., Diaz-Somoano, M., and Martinez-Tarazona, M. R. (2003). “Phase-mineral and chemical composition of coal fly ashes as a basis for their multicomponent utilization. 1. Characterization of feed coals and fly ashes.” Fuel, 82(14), 1793–1811.
Vassilev, S. V., Vassileva, C. G., Karayigit, A. I., Bulut, Y., Alastuey, A., and Querol, X. (2005). “Phase-mineral and chemical composition of composite samples from feed coals, bottom ashes and fly ashes at the Soma power station, Turkey.” Int. J. Coal Geol., 61(1–2), 35–63.
Zhao, Y., Zhang, J., Sun, J., Bai, X., and Zheng, C. (2006). “Mineralogy, chemical composition, and microstructure of ferrospheres in fly ashes from coal combustion.” Energy Fuels, 20(4), 1490–1497.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 25, 2011
Accepted: Apr 19, 2012
Published online: Apr 24, 2012
Published in print: Jan 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.