Properties of ternary blended cement containing ground granulated blast furnace slag and ground coal bottom ash

The combination of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and ground coal bottom ash (GCBA) as cement replacement material is not reported in the present works on ternary blended cement. Therefore, the present work was aimed to assess the physical and mechanical properties of cement containing GGBS and GCBA at various cement replacement ratios. GCBA was used as cement replacement material between 0 and 20% by weight of binder in GGBS blended cement. The mechanical and fluid transport properties of the mortar was examined. The slag activity index (SAI) result revealed that the optimum binder combination ratio for mortar was 45% OPC, 50% GGBS and 5% GCBA. The result of mortar flow shows that 0.6% of polycarboxylate ether (PCE) superplasticizer is the optimum dosage for ternary blended paste consisting up to 10% of GCBA. The optimum cement replacement level with GCBA was 10% when water to binder ratio was fixed at 0.4. The incorporation of GCBA as cement replacement material in combination with GGBS enhanced both the me-chanical and physical properties as compared to GGBS binary blended cement mortar.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the physical and mechanical properties of cement containing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and ground coal bottom ash (GCBA) at various cement replacement ratios. The optimum cement replacement level with GCBA was found to be 10%. Additionally, the appropriate binder combination ratio and dosage of superplasticizer were crucial for ternary blended paste. In conclusion, the incorporation of GCBA in combination with GGBS enhanced both the mechanical and physical properties compared to GGBS binary blended cement mortar.