Predicting the splitting tensile strength of concrete incorporating anacardium occidentale nut shell ash using reactivity index concepts and mix design …
The prevalence of global warming and climate change are associated with carbon dioxide (CO2) emitting from fossil fuel combustion and Portland cement (PC) production. However, in a bid to minimize over-reliance on PC, this study recycled a supplementary cementitious material (SCM), anacardium occidentale nutshell ash (AONSA), for the production of green concrete. AONSA was used as a replacement for Portland limestone cement (PLC) at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 % using the mix design proportions (MDPs) of grades 25 (M 25), 30 (M 30), and 40 (M 40) concrete. The chemical compositions of both AONSA and PLC were analyzed. Moreover, the chemical moduli of each and mixed binder were determined and evaluated, hence quantifying the reactivity indexes (RIs). Consequently, RIs and MDPs were applied to predict the splitting tensile strength. Compared with the experimental results, the predictive splitting tensile strength relative to the RIs and the MDPs yielded a high precision with 95 % R2 at 28 days curing. Therefore, the model equations proposed by this study can be applied to the concrete mix design procedure for the splitting tensile strength of green concrete incorporating SCMs provided the chemical compositions of each and mixed material are established
