| Title |
Early-age mechanical performance of cement mortars incorporating treated wood ash |
| Authors |
Lescinskis, Oskars ; Bumanis, Girts ; Sahmenko, Genadijs ; Tambovceva, Tatjana ; Vaiciukyniene, Danute ; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat ; Bajare, Diana |
| DOI |
10.1016/j.rineng.2026.112573 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Results in engineering.. Amsterdam : Elsevier. 2026, vol. 32, art. no. 112573, p. 1-14.. ISSN 2590-1230 |
| Keywords [eng] |
wood ash ; Portland cement ; partial cement replacement ; cement mortar ; compressive strength |
| Abstract [eng] |
Wood ash (WA), a by-product of biomass combustion, is generated in large quantities, yet its utilization as partial replacement of Portland cement (PC) remains limited due to variability in its properties and performance. This study investigates the early-age mechanical performance of treated WA as a 20% partial replacement of PC in cement mortars. Four types of WA (fly ash, two bottom ash fractions, and a slag fraction) were subjected to five sequential treatment routes comprising ball-milling alone, ball-milling followed by water-washing, ball-milling followed by slaking, ball-milling followed by calcination, and ball-milling followed by water-washing and calcination. Compressive strength was measured at 2, 7, and 28 days, and a Strength Activity Index (SAI) was calculated from the compressive strength results to compare the mechanical performance of WA-containing mortars. The 75% SAI value specified in ASTM C618 was used as a comparative benchmark, and none of the investigated WA mortar mixtures reached this reference value after 28 days of curing. The best-performing mixtures were bottom ash-based mortars, with SAI values reaching 65–71% at 28 days. In contrast, ballmilled fly ash-based mixtures showed the lowest performance, with early-age compressive strength as low as 4.1 MPa at 2 days. Overall, the findings indicate limited early-age mechanical performance at a 20% cement replacement level. The study provides comparative experimental data on the influence of different treatment methods on the early-age mechanical performance of WA. |
| Published |
Amsterdam : Elsevier |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2026 |
| CC license |
|
