Past, present and future of fly ash in concrete

Abstract

The use of fly ash in concrete lasts for almost a century. The first idea of using concrete as a place to deposit fly ash and merely reduce the amount of waste came a long way to a today’s use of fly ash as a basic component material of concrete. Extensive research and practical application regarding different concrete types promoted the fly ash as a valuable supplementary cementitious material. The best use of fly ash in concrete can be achieved only if the influence of fly ash on all concrete properties is known. This paper gives a comprehensive summary of all fly ash applications in concrete with a review of existing practical application, implementation in standards and challenges still to be overcome. An analysis of future trends in concrete fly ash application and possible alternatives for regions that already lack in fly ash quantities are presented and discussed.