Evaluating the effects of sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) and nanosilica on the mechanical and durability properties of mortar

Influence of nanosilica and sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) on the mechanical and durability properties of mortar, is investigated in this study. Sixteen mortar mixtures were designed with a particular water to binder ratio of 0.485 and a sand to binder ratio of 2.75. Test specimens were prepared with 3% and 6% replacement of cement weight with nanosilica and a 10–30% replacement of cement weight with SCBA. A compressive strength test was applied to evaluate the mechanical performance of mortars containing nanosilica and SCBA. In addition, transport tests, chloride permeability, electrical resistivity and mercury intrusion porosimetry of single, binary, and ternary blended mortars were conducted to investigate the influence of replacement materials on durability properties of mortars. Nanosilica improved mechanical and durability properties of mortar, while SCBA did not have a substantial influence on mortar performance according to lower strength and durability at early ages. The addition of SCBA in mixtures containing nanosilica intensely decreased compressive strength at the ages of 3 days and 7 days. However, ternary mixture results showed the best performance in the long term.