Cow Dung Ash in Mortar: An Experimental Study

This study investigated the impact of using cow dung ash (CDA) as a partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in mortar. Mortar mixes are prepared by replacing OPC with CDA at varying levels: 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%. The chemical composition of CDA shows that it is composed prim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2023-05, Vol.13 (10), p.6218
Main Authors: Worku, Muluken Alebachew, Taffese, Woubishet Zewdu, Hailemariam, Behailu Zerihun, Yehualaw, Mitiku Damtie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum oxide
Ashes
Bulk density
Carbon dioxide
Cattle manure
Cement industry
Chemical composition
Compressive strength
cow dung ash
Dung
durability
Ferric oxide
Gels
Infrared analysis
Infrared spectroscopy
Investigations
microstructure
mortar
Natural resources
Organic compounds
Portland cement
Portland cements
Quality standards
Silicon dioxide
sustainability
Thermal stability
Waste materials
Water absorption
Workability
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Summary:This study investigated the impact of using cow dung ash (CDA) as a partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in mortar. Mortar mixes are prepared by replacing OPC with CDA at varying levels: 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%. The chemical composition of CDA shows that it is composed primarily of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, with a significant amount of loss of ignition. The workability, hardened properties, and microstructure of CDA-containing mortars are also analyzed. The increasing CDA content in mortar reduces workability and, beyond 5%, it causes high water absorption due to CDA’s porous nature and unremoved organic compounds. This impacts the density and compressive strength of the hardened mortar as well as compromising its homogeneous characteristics. When using 5% CDA, the bulk density and compressive strength of the mortar are comparable to those of the control mixes. Nonetheless, as the proportion of CDA increases, both the bulk density and compressive strength of the mortar diminish. The thermal stability of mortar mixes with 10%, 20%, and 30% CDA is unaffected at temperatures between 500 °C and 600 °C. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis reveals the presence of unreacted particles and wide stretched C–S–H gels in the mortar samples. In general, the results suggest that CDA can be utilized as a substitute for OPC at a ratio of up to 10% in the manufacturing of mortar and can serve as a feasible alternative cementitious material.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app13106218