HYPERBOLIC MODEL PARAMETERS OF PHILIPPINE COAL ASH

Abstract

In the 2016 Annual Energy Sector accomplishment report of the Philippine’s Department of
Energy, power generation in the Philippines relied on the coal-fired power plant at 46%. An increase of
19.47% was observed from 2003 to 2016. The increase in demand would result in an increase in production
of waste material from the power plant namely, coal ash. Furthermore, the disposal of these waste materials
can be an issue because it can cause a shortage in storage facilities. To address this, there is a need to study
on the possibility of reusing these waste materials. A probable use of the waste material is by using it as a
construction material for road embankments. In the Philippines some of these structures are constructed on
areas exposed to seawater in order to address traffic congestion. This study proposes to use coal ash as the
material for road embankment. Triaxial test under consolidated drained condition was performed considering
the exposure to seawater. Three conditions were implemented namely, no exposure, immediate exposure and
prolonged exposure. Based on the results, 100% fly ash had the highest strength. The hyperbolic model was
employed to simulate the material’s stress-strain response. The hyperbolic model was chosen since it has the
capability of predicting the load-displacement behavior of the waste material under monotonic loading. The
Hyperbolic model prediction shows that the material can still handle higher stresses. With this, the ash
mixtures tested has a potential to be used as a construction material for a road embankment.