The Strength of Fly Ash-Bottom Ash (FA-BA) Mixtures as Backfill Material in Ground Improvement Works

Abstract

In Malaysia, coal has been used as a raw material to generate electricity since 1988. In the past, most of the wastage of coal burning especially the bottom ash was not managed properly as it was dumped in the waste pond and accumulated drastically. This research has been conducted to explore the physical characteristic and geotechnical properties of fly ash-bottom ash (FA-BA) mixtures that consist of 30% FA, 50% FA, 70% FA and 90% FA by weight. The physical characteristics, that include the specific gravity, particle size distribution and compaction, were tested for each mixture without any curing. However, the geotechnical properties of the mixtures that include the permeability and shear strength had been studied at various curing periods (0, 14 and 28 days) to review the effect of time on the geotechnical properties of the mixtures. The results show that mixtures with higher FA composition have lower value of specific gravity, well-graded, and need less moisture to be compacted efficiently compared to those mixtures with lower FA composition. The results also show that mixtures with higher FA composition have less drainage characteristics but can be improved by prolonging the curing period. The maximum shear strength was obtained at mixture with 50%FA and the value increased with curing periods. The friction angle obtained ranged from 270to 370. It is also found that the mixtures with lower FA composition are more compressible compared to the mixtures with higher FA composition. The results obtained could be used by others to determine the suitability of different FA-BA mixtures for various usage in Geotechnical Engineering work such as for soil improvement work in weak soils or as backfill materials in embankment construction.