Table 1. Summary of main test methods... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Summary of main test methods used for characterising fly ash during the study

Property	Method/Standard	Specimen details	Test arrangement
Moisture content	Oven drying	250 g powder sample	Mass of sample taken before and after drying in an oven at 105°C
Fineness/particle size distribution	BS EN 451-2^a (BSI, 1995)	1.0 g powder sample	Wet-sieving (45 μm sieve) for 1 min at fixed pressure. Residue after oven drying compared with original sample mass
	LASER particle size analysis	1.0 g powder sample in 50 ml of water dispersed in ultrasonic bath	Particle size distribution determined from scattering of collimated LASER beam passing through the sample and using equipment software
LOI	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	1.0 g powder sample	Oven dry sample in crucibles located in furnace. Difference in weight before and after ignition as a percentage of the initial mass, taken as the result
Water requirement	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	Standard PC mortar and PC/30% fly ash mix (w/c ratio 0.5; C/S 1 : 3)	Truncated cone mould filled with PC and PC/fly ash test mortars and hand compacted. Spread after fixed number of jolts on table measured. Ratio of water content in PC/fly ash to PC mortars for equal flow given as a percentage
Activity index	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	Standard PC mortar and PC/25% fly ash mix (w/c ratio 0.5; C/S 1 : 3)	40 × 40 × 160 mm³ prism cast and water cured to 28 and 90 days. At these ages compression tests made. Activity index is the ratio of PC/fly ash to PC mortar strength as a percentage
Bulk oxide composition	X-ray fluorescence	Homogenised sample pressed into a powder pellet	X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with Rh source. Calibration made for evaluating results to international standards
Mineralogical composition	X-ray diffraction	Homogenised powder sample	X-ray diffractometer with Cu Kα source. Reference made to standard samples. Area under main peaks of mineralogical trace measured with commercial software

Property	Method/Standard	Specimen details	Test arrangement
Moisture content	Oven drying	250 g powder sample	Mass of sample taken before and after drying in an oven at 105°C
Fineness/particle size distribution	BS EN 451-2^a (BSI, 1995)	1.0 g powder sample	Wet-sieving (45 μm sieve) for 1 min at fixed pressure. Residue after oven drying compared with original sample mass
	LASER particle size analysis	1.0 g powder sample in 50 ml of water dispersed in ultrasonic bath	Particle size distribution determined from scattering of collimated LASER beam passing through the sample and using equipment software
LOI	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	1.0 g powder sample	Oven dry sample in crucibles located in furnace. Difference in weight before and after ignition as a percentage of the initial mass, taken as the result
Water requirement	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	Standard PC mortar and PC/30% fly ash mix (w/c ratio 0.5; C/S 1 : 3)	Truncated cone mould filled with PC and PC/fly ash test mortars and hand compacted. Spread after fixed number of jolts on table measured. Ratio of water content in PC/fly ash to PC mortars for equal flow given as a percentage
Activity index	BS EN 450-1 (BSI, 2012)	Standard PC mortar and PC/25% fly ash mix (w/c ratio 0.5; C/S 1 : 3)	40 × 40 × 160 mm³ prism cast and water cured to 28 and 90 days. At these ages compression tests made. Activity index is the ratio of PC/fly ash to PC mortar strength as a percentage
Bulk oxide composition	X-ray fluorescence	Homogenised sample pressed into a powder pellet	X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with Rh source. Calibration made for evaluating results to international standards
Mineralogical composition	X-ray diffraction	Homogenised powder sample	X-ray diffractometer with Cu Kα source. Reference made to standard samples. Area under main peaks of mineralogical trace measured with commercial software

^a

Procedure for dry fly ash. For wet fly ash, test made six times and mean reported (increased variability with wet-stored fly ash)