PROPORTION AND PROPERTY SPECIFICATIONS AND STRENGTH BEHAVIOR OF MORTAR USING WOOD ASH AS PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF LIME

Abstract

Wood ash is produced by the incineration of wood and wood products; thus, it is a waste product generated from various sources such as household fireplaces, agricultural activities, or manufacturing plants. By reusing wood ash wastes as lime-replacement additives, the resulting lime mortar would become a more practical building material. This study utilized varying proportions of wood ash (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) as partial replacement of lime in manufacturing Type N mortars through the provision of proportion and
property specifications that adhere to known industry standards. The proportion specification for Type N Mortar was modified as one-part Type 1 Portland cement, one-part Type S Hydraulic Lime and/or wood ash, and six parts of coarse sand aggregate (1:1:6). The air content, initial and final setting times, 7- and 28-day compressive strengths of the mixed mortars had been considerably affected by the presence of wood ash within the mortar mix. Furthermore, the use of wood ash as a partial replacement of lime caused an increase in air content and a decrease in setting times of the mortar mix. Mortars with 100% replacement of lime with wood
ash showed the highest compressive strength for both 7- and 28-day tests. Therefore, the incorporation of wood ash as a lime replacement was determined to be a viable option for Type N mortars