Performance Evaluation of Untreated Sugarcane Bagasse Ash as a Cement Alternative for Sustainable Concrete

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) is attracting considerable attention as an eco-friendly pozzolanic material for economical and sustainable concrete production. Its high content of amorphous silica makes SCBA an effective pozzolanic material in concrete. This study investigates the use of untreated SCBA (Ut-SCBA) as a partial cement substitute in various mix proportions up to 25%. This paper primarily focuses on fresh and mechanical properties, such as workability, compressive strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and modulus of elasticity (MoE) to determine the mechanical strength of Ut-SCBA mix concrete. The results indicate that substituting up to 15% of cement with Ut-SCBA significantly enhances concrete's mechanical properties compared to the control mix, due to increased pozzolanic activity and pore refinement. In this paper, physical and chemical characterization of raw materials such as ordinary Portland cement (OPC), aggregates, and Ut-SCBA are also evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF).