Evaluation of the Durability of 100 Percent Fly Ash Concrete

DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The financial support provided for this work by Headwaters Resources and PPL Montana is greatly appreciated. At an individual level, Alan McKean and Nick Anderson did considerable work on the preliminary evaluation of the various fly ashes considered in this investigation; their work in this regard while they were students at Montana State University is gratefully acknowledged. Similarly, the work of Kristen Coward, also a student at Montana State University, on the early stages of the hydrogen sulfide test effort is gratefully acknowledged. Finally, this work would not have been possible without the ongoing support of Jason Vollmer and his father Jerry before him, both of whom were a vital part of the concrete community in Montana. Abstract Western Transportation Institute iv ABSTRACT Building upon previous research conducted at Montana State University on concretes in which 100 percent of the binder is Class C fly ash from the Corette power plant in Billings, MT, the specific objectives of this project were threefold: 1) to identify additional fly ashes that could be used in 100 percent fly ash concretes, 2) to develop fly ash concrete mixtures with entrained air (which is a proven mechanism to improve freeze-thaw resistance in traditional concretes), and 3) to determine the durability of these concretes under various environments. Three fly ashes similar in composition and production to the Corette fly ash were screened as potential binders in 100 percent fly ash concrete, namely, fly ashes from the Port Neal (Sioux City, IA), Dave Johnston (Glenrock, WY), and Council Bluffs (Council Bluffs, IA) power plants. Based on laboratory trial mixtures, concretes made with the …