Earlier notion of
using high amounts of cement for concrete has now changed on favour of
increased use of high amounts of mineral ad-mixtures and super plasticizers
with reduced amounts of cement and water in the concrete mixtures. Energy plays
a crucial role in growth of developing countries, like India. In context of low
availability of non-recoverable energy sources coupled with requirements of
large quantities of energy to materials like cement, steel etc., the importance
of industrial wastes as building materials cannot be underestimated.
In India about 110 million tones of fly ash has been produced by 68 major thermal power stations and are likely to be doubled within next 10 years. It has been a published fact from research that waste materials like fly ash; silica fume etc, through their use as construction materials can be converted into meaningful wealth. Also, a partial replacement of cement with fly ash is desirable, and indeed essential due to a variety of technical, economical and ecological reasons. Researchers have reported that silica fume smaller in size and round shape fills the voids between the coarser cement particles which may be otherwise occupied with water. A properly proportional fly ash and silica fume in concrete mix improves properties of the concrete that may not be achievable through the use of Portland cement alone. The resulting concrete mix becomes strong, durable and economical and also eco-friendly as it utilizes an ecological hazardous material.
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