Strength, drying shrinkage, and water permeability of concrete incorporating ground palm oil fuel ash

In this study, palm oil fuel ash (POFA) was used as a pozzolanic material in concrete. The POFA was ground to obtain two different finenesses: coarse (CP) and fine (FP). A portion of ordinary type I Portland cement (OPC) was replaced by CP and FP at 10%, 20%, and 30% by weight of binder to cast concrete. Compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, and water permeability of concretes containing ground POFA were measured. The results showed that the compressive strength of the concrete increased with the fineness of the POFA. With 10% and 30% replacement of OPC by CP and FP, respectively, the compressive strength of the resulting concrete was as high as that of OPC concrete at 90 days. Moreover, the use of 10–30% of FP as a cement replacement in concrete reduced its drying shrinkage and water permeability. Finally, there was also a strong correlation between the compressive strength and the water permeability of ground POFA concrete.