Adiabatic Temperature Rise of Pulverized Fuel Ash (PFA) Concrete

Owing to the less exothermic pozzolanic reaction of pulverized fuel ash (PFA) compared to cement hydration, the addition of PFA can reduce the heat generation of concrete during its hardening. However, as the water to binder (W/B) ratio would affect the proportions of cement and PFA that could react with water, the conventional practice of determining concrete temperature rise solely based on the cement and PFA contents may not yield accurate estimations. An experimental programme was launched to investigate the adiabatic temperature rise of PFA concrete mixes. Seven concrete mixes without PFA added and 14 concrete mixes with PFA dosages at 20% and 40% were tested with the recently developed semi-adiabatic curing test method. The adiabatic temperature rise was obtained by applying heat loss compensation to the test results. It was found that the incorporation of PFA could suppress the adiabatic temperature rise by 4ºC to 14ºC. The test results revealed the dependence of adiabatic temperature rise on both PFA dosage and W/B ratio, whose combined effects can be accurately addressed via the prediction formula and design chart developed herein.