Investigating the Effect of Bamboo Trunk Ash Blended Cement in Engineering Properties of Mortar

The assessment of pozzolanic activity of cement replacement materials is becoming increasingly important because of the need for more sustainable cementing products. This paper was aimed to investigate the compressive strength and pozzolanic of bamboo trunk ash (BTA) as it partially replaces cement in varying percentages in mortar when silica sand is used as an aggregate. The BTA was partially used to replace cement at 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %, 25 % and 30 % by weight. The physical properties of silica sand was determined, Soundness, Setting time, Strength and Durability tests of ordinary portland cement (OPC) were carried out. A total of 84 mortar cubes of size 50mm x 50mm x 50mm were cast and cured in water for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days respectively. From the results obtained, compressive strength increased from 1.3MPa (0 %, control sample) to 2.1MPa (25 % replacement) at 28 days curing period. Partial replacement of cement with bamboo trunk ash in the mortar significantly improved its water absorption and compressive strength when compared with the control sample. In view of this, mortar produced from silica sand aggregate, OPC with a blend of bamboo trunk ash as binder could be used for bedding and jointing unit masonry.