Abstract
There has been a growing interest in using agricultural waste in concrete construction lately, because of environmental friendliness, resource conservation and economic considerations. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the possibility of using palm frond waste ash, as an additive in cement-based composites. The parameters investigated included the effect of palm frond waste ash at 10%, 20%, and 30% admixing levels by weight of cement, on normal consistency and setting times of cement paste, flow, compressive and flexural strength of mortar at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days, and chloride ion permeability of mortar at 28 and 90 days. Similar experiments were also performed on commercially available mineral admixture such as
F
type fly ash for comparison purposes. Palm frond waste ash additions to portland cement (PC) mortars somewhat increased the water required for normal consistency, prolonged the setting times, marginally lowered the workability, and improved considerably the compressive strength and chloride ion permeability at 28 and 90 days compared to control mixes without ash. Test results indicated that, up to 30% of palm frond waste ash can be added to PC cement mortar without compromising the strength and durability properties and compare fairly well with similar test results reported on a commercial admixture for concrete such as
F
type fly ash.