Interaction of anthracite coal ash and Archis hypogaea shell ash on an innovative brick: an experimental and simulation study
N. Sudharsan, S. Praburanganathan, Yeddula Bharath Simha Reddy, Pavan Kumar P
Abstract
The research recommends a novel and sustainable method to utilize an agricultural waste in the anthracite coal ash-based brick production. Arachis hypogaea shell ash is used as a substitute for the sand in the anthracite ash-based brick production. Also, random forests are used for the strength prediction. The tests for compressive strength, water absorption, efflorescence and hardness are being conducted to assess the performance. The presence of shell ash up to 60% replacement resulted in an incremental trend of anthracite ash-based brick’s strength with a denser microstructure. The M-sand to Arachis hypogaea shell ash ratio has to be maintained at 40:60 to get the optimum results. The addition of shell ash to the Anthracite coal ash brick could reduce the absorption rates by nearly 37%. The correlogram and relatively variable importance suggests that the curing regime plays a dominant role than the shell ash content. Random forests predicted the strength accurately with least errors. A novel mathematical equation is being proposed to predict the compressive strength of the Innovative brick. The research could significantly contribute to the sustainable utilization of the Arachis hypogaea shell ash in the brick production and it leads lesser utilization of manufactured sand.