Characterisation of ultra-fine fly ash as sustainable cementitious material for masonry construction

Abstract The study aims to understand the strength improvement and microstructural behavior of ultra-fine fly ash particles through synthesis and characterization techniques by analyzing the fly ash mortar and masonry prism. The process of grinding alters the particle size and specific surface area but not shown any variation in chemical composition are concluded from the microstructural analysis. The multiphase crystalline structures were found through the X-Ray Diffraction. From XRD, a pattern was incorporated to measure the micro-cracks size decrease and the strain was not obtained for a lattice. The reading shows the good amplification in the use of ultra-fine fly ash blended cement mortar associated with raw fly ash. The ultra-fine fly ash masonry block shows higher compressive strength, higher resistance to shear, higher bonding between two bricks compare to conventional masonry blocks. Overall, investigations show that additional use of 45% ultra-fine fly ash in construction applications without compromising the quality.