Behavior Evaluation of Wood Ash in Concrete as Partial Replacement of Cement in Hot Arid Conditions

The quality of concrete is influenced by several factors, including raw material temperatures, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. This study examined the behavior of concrete incorporating different ratios of wood ash as a partial replacement for cement under hot, arid conditions. Slump, compressive strength, and flexural strength were considered the primary parameters. Wood ash was added to the concrete mix at replacement levels of 5% and 10% by cement weight, under various curing and mixing water temperatures. Results showed that at a 10% wood ash replacement and a mixing water temperature of 40 °C, the flexural strength decreased by approximately 15% compared to the control mix. Conversely, for a concrete strength of 25 MPa, the flexural strength increased by about 20% when using 10% wood ash and a mixing water temperature of 20 °C. The inclusion of wood ash led to a reduction in the workability of fresh concrete by around 40%. It also caused a reduction in compressive strength by approximately 27%, 42%, and 39% at 14, 28, and 90 days, respectively, for mix designs B2 and B3. However, flexural strength increased across all curing conditions, showing improvements ranging from 10% to 20%.