Hydro-Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Cemented Fly Ash

Abstract

Class-F fly ash exhibits inappropriate engineering properties under compaction due to its low pozzolanic behavior. As fly ash contains a signifying amount of aluminosilicates, stabilizing with cement and lime enhances its pozzolanic behavior and supports various geotechnical applications. Hence, in the present study, fly ash was stabilized with different proportions of cement (0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12%) and polyester fiber (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%). For stabilized fly ash mixes, the compaction characteristics such as optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD), hydraulic conductivity, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and California bearing ratio (CBR) were determined. It was observed that the MDD increases and OMC decreases with the addition of cement. The stabilized fly ash became more impermeable and exhibited higher UCS and CBR due to the formation of cementitious gels in the inner pore network. With the inclusion of fiber, these engineering properties of the cement-stabilized fly ash were further improved.