EFFECTS OF FLY ASH ON

HARDENED CONCRETE
Fly ash can modify the hardened concrete
properties in the following ways:

• Increases strength (long-term)

• Has minimal effect on modulus elasticity
• Has variable effects on creep and shringkage
• Decreases permeability
• Improves durability
• Reduces alkali-aggregate expansion
 STRENGTH
Properly designed concrete mixtures
containing fly ash can exhibit higher ultimate
compressive strength than portland-cement-only
mixtures. Using 28-day strengths for comparison,
over time, plain portland cement concrete
generally gains about 30% additional strength
whereas portland cement/fly ash concrete can
gain 50 to 100% additional strength.
 STRENGTH

The compressive strength of concrete. for a

given set of materials, is primarily dependent
upon the water-cementitious materials ratio
(w/cm). For example, suppose the proportions in
Table 6.2 gave mixtures with the same slump for
the fresh concrete, and the same compressive
strength at 28 days of age.
1 2
 STRENGTH

Curves of w/cm versus compressive strength at

any given age can be developed for prediction of
proportions necessary to yield desired strengths.
The three-point curve procedure commonly
utilized for plain cement mixtures works well with
fly ash mixtures where w/cm replaces w/c.

1 2
 STRENGTH

Rate of strength gain is dependent upon the

cement, fly ash, and water contents. Concrete
mixtures proportioned using fly ash as a partial
replacement for portland cement can be expected
to experience slower strength development at
early ages due to the reduced portland cement
content.
1 2
 STRENGTH
Concrete mixtures proportioned for
performance at 28 days of age can use partial
cement replacements from 15 to 25% Class F fly
ash, depending upon the characteristics of the
materials and proportioning. With strength
requirement delayed to 56 days, 90 days, or later,
dosage rates can be increased to 30 to 50% or
more.
 STRENGTH

Many concretes containing Class C fly ash, up to

35%, have similar 28-day strength gain
characteristics as plain cement concrete. Where
early-age strengths are needed, it's also possible
to use other ingredients like chemical accelerators
or silica fume to improve the rate of strength gain
of the mixture at early ages.
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