Properties of fly ash concrete modified with hydrated lime and silica fume

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the properties of fly ash concrete incorporating either hydrated lime or silica fume to improve the early strength of concrete. Test results indicated that the addition of lime and silica fume improved the early age compressive strength of fly ash concrete. The inclusion of silica fume was also found to increase the 28 days strength significantly. The air permeability of concrete containing lime and silica fume either decreased or remained almost the same when compared to the concrete without these. The addition of lime and silica fume also improved the sorptivity of concrete.Through the use of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis (DSC/TG), it was demonstrated that the addition of hydrated lime increased the Ca(OH)₂ content; whereas the addition of silica fume decreased the Ca(OH)₂ content in the cement paste. The mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) data confirmed the beneficial action of hydrated lime and silica fume, towards decreasing the total pore volume of fly ash cement paste.