Potential utilization of sugarcane bagasse ash in cementitious composites for developing inorganic binder

The sugar industry uses raw bagasse to generate electricity and subsequently produces tonnes of bagasse ash annually. This bagasse ash is dumped into a landfill, causing an adverse effect on the ecosystem. Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) has gained widespread acclaim due to its sustainability and ease of use as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM). SCM has been successfully used in concrete structures, but they are rarely used for the rehabilitation of concrete structures. This investigation's primary goal is to evaluate the mechanical strength of cement mortar which contains Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Silica Fume (SF), to serve as an inorganic binder for the fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM). Analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) revealed the existence of amorphous and crystalline phases with silicon dioxide, which was identified as making up more than 70% of the sample. The scanning Electron microscopic (SEM) examination divulges the appearance of fibrous and tetrahedral shape in SCBA, which signify the presence of quartz mineral. The cement mortar was prepared by partially substituting cement with SCBA in a ratio ranging from 0% to 30% by weight and silica fume (SF) at a rate of 5% and 10%. Mechanical strength tests results exhibit that after 28 days of curing, the strength of cement mortar containing 10% SCBA and 10% SF was increased by 2.65% and 5.73%, respectively. A regression analysis was performed to derive a mathematical expression for the prediction of mechanical properties of mortar. This expression provides a high correlation to predict the strength with different mix proportion ratio.