Abstract

 The large – scale production of cement is posing environmental problems on one hand and unrestricted depletion ofnatural resources on the other hand. Each ton of Portland cement production results in loading about one ton of CO2 in to theenvironment. Here, the present research work is focused on replacing the ordinary Portland cement in the concrete by fly ash. It isan eco-friendly alternate to cement. To enhance the performance of fly ash and increase early-stage strength an admixture sodiumsilicate is added. A total number of 12 cubes of size 150mm × 150mm × 150mm and a total number of 12 cylinders of diameter150mm and height 300mm are prepared. The amount of fly ash used as a partial replacement ranges are 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and100%. The specimens are kept for curing at 7 days, 14 days and 28 days. After curing the mechanical properties of the specimensuch as compressive strength and split tensile strength of the concrete are examined. The concrete with 25% replacement showedoptimal performance.