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Case Studies in Construction Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cscm

Case study

Mechanical and thermal characterization of bio-sourced mortars

made from agricultural and industrial by-products
Houssam Affan a, Wahib Arairo b, *, Jack Arayro c
a
BUILDERS Ecole d′ ingénieurs, 1 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Epron, France
b
Department of Civil and Construction Technology, Issam Fares Faculty of Technology, University of Balamand, P.O. Box 100 Tripoli, Lebanon
c
College of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East, Kuwait

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the last decades, the environmental sector has occupied an essential place in the world. The
Sustainability main objective of this concern is to preserve the environment and to reduce the use of non-
Wood ash utilization renewable raw materials as much as possible. Thus, the construction sector can contribute to
Bio-sourced mortar
environmental conservation by the use of bio-based materials. Bio-building materials are
Bio-based construction materials
composed, at least in part, of components made from biomass derived from plants or animals.
Sunflower bark
Sunflower pith Today, these materials are used in a variety of produces and for a variety of purposes, including
insulation, mortar and concrete, panels, plastic composites, and construction chemistry. In the
first step of this study, the Physico-chemical (bulk density, absolute density, water absorption,
relative humidity) and thermal (thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity) properties of wood
ash, and vegetable aggregates (sunflower plant bark and pith) have been studied and compared
with results from the literature review. Afterward, different mixes were prepared based on ashes
and adding a certain percentage of cement used as a binding material (0%, 10%, and 20%) to
improve their mechanical behavior. Then, concrete with wood ash and vegetable aggregates (pith
or sunflower bark) was prepared in order to optimize the mixture that has the best thermal and
mechanical performance. The growth of the compressive and flexural strength was evaluated at 7,
14, 28, and 90 days. Because of the excellent ability of wood ash to maintain cohesion, the ob­
tained results demonstrated the possibility of producing mortar with less cement. In terms of
thermal performance, increasing fiber content while decreasing the volume density can reduce
thermal conductivity of mortars.

1. Introduction

The construction sector is particularly concerned by energy consumption, climate impacts and the depletion of hardly renewable
resources. The environmental impacts of buildings originate mainly from two sources: the energy related to their operation (heating,
air conditioning, lighting, hot water, etc.) and the construction materials, including but not limited to: production, transportation, and
disposal. The choice of materials is therefore important in the overall environmental balance of a building, especially when it achieves
a good energy performance. The energy consumption of any building has heavy environmental, societal and economic consequences,
more precisely when taking into account the transformation and transport of materials.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Arairo).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2023.e01939
Received 9 November 2022; Received in revised form 13 February 2023; Accepted 15 February 2023
Available online 16 February 2023
2214-5095/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Sustainable construction is therefore challenged between its social pillar - which requires building more - and its environmental
pillar - which requires limiting the production of materials. Faced with these contradictory requirements - building more with less
environmental and socio-economic impact - bio-based construction materials are able to provide a range of answers, both of direct
(carbon storage, grey energy consumption, "renewable" raw materials) and indirect aspects (energy efficiency, comfort, health, etc.).
Moreover, the previously mentioned parameters are vectors of local development, job creation and transport limitation.
Different types of ashes are produced by various combustible materials. They consist of wood ash, fly ash, and coal ash. Millions of
tons of ashes in various fractions are produced annually throughout Europe, and this production is on the rise. In the EU, wood burning
increased by 75 million tons between 2010 and 2015 compared to the period (2005–2010) [1]. Many countries, including Belgium,
Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, have built new wood-fired power plants or converted coal-fired ones so they can
now produce electricity from wood combustion. Germany produces about a million tons of wood ash annually [1]. These numbers are
anticipated to increase further in the future. Given that Germany uses slightly less than 3 million tons of fly ash annually, the amount of
wood ash available can partially compensate any future fly ash shortages. Massive amounts of wood ash have accumulated on indoor
and outdoor surfaces in close proximity to recent wildfires in the USA and Australia. Forest fire ash is comparable to fireplace ash in
terms of toxic potential and is relatively non-toxic [2].
However, the use of Wood Ash as a construction material will also have significant benefits, and previous findings are summarized
in this section. Wood ash is obtained by burning of wood and timber related materials, and it is very relatable to fly ash. It was found by
Hamid et al. [3] that cement and wood ash already have a bonding characteristic that depends on calcium oxide, Silicon dioxide,
aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, Ferric oxide, Sulfur peroxide, calcium sulfate and alkalis. Nevertheless, this relationship is also
dependent on the combustion procedure, nature of wood, and presence of unburned carbon. In their study it was revealed that with the
increase of wood ash content, the required amount of water increases, and the less its strength characteristics. More studies were done
on the effect of wood ash on the concrete. AL-Kharabsheh [4] examined the effect of wood ash on the self-compacting concrete to
reduce the amount of cement for environmental purposes. He found that 10% of wood ash is enough to achieve strength similar to
normal concrete, but with a material that is eco-friendly.
Martínez García et al. [5] highlighted the environmental impacts of the waste of wood ash and their importance of finding a usage.
Waste of wood ash can cause air pollution while burning it to extract energy, and which can cause respiratory problems for nearby
human beings and animals. Many more impacts other that air pollution exist such as land pollution, soil contamination, and soil water
leachate. Therefore, it can be concluded from this study that the use of wood ash or the possibility of giving a new useful life to the
waste of wood ash after its use is critical, important and environmentally targeted. In addition, Sujjavanich et al. [6] found that the
addition of a superplasticizer improves this mechanical behavior of the compressive strength of the concrete, even when 70% of the
cement was replaced by ash.
Teixeira et al. [7] studied the possibility to use wood ash as a partial cement replacement in terms of durability and quality of
concrete. Their study revealed that the utilization of wood ash affects the workability of concrete, because it results in an increase in
the amount of water required to a desirable consistence. Furthermore, the initial and final setting times of fresh mixture concrete are
retarded when wood ash is incorporated. Moreover, an increase of wood ash leads to a decrease in heat which results in preventing the
occurrence of concrete cracking phenomenon. Additionally, in can be also revealed that a small amount of wood ash is enough for a
concrete carbonation resistance. The addition or replacement of cement with wood ash has attracted the attention of several com­
panies, researchers and research laboratories; a study conducted by S. Kumar & al. [8] highlighted that the proportion of coal fly ash is
better to be kept below 30% due to its role in low reactivity at young age. Moreover, the addition of a large percentage of ash will
reduce the permeability of the mix and will subsequently have a direct impact on the diffusion of ions such as chlorides [9,10]. This
permeability plays a significant role in the durability of wood ash concrete. In the aim of improving the early age properties of cement
composites containing wood ash and fly ash, scientists have investigated other aspects, such as reducing coal fly ash particle size [11],
treatment with hydrated lime [12], a set accelerator [13], and mixing with other supplementary cementing materials such as silica
fume [14], and metakaolin [15].
The replacement of a large amount of cement by ash has a negative effect on the physical/mechanical behavior of the mix. To
overcome this issue, the addition of chemical particles was studied. The effect of this addition on the mechanical behavior was also
studied. Hamid et al. [3] reported that replacing cement with more than 10% of wood fly ash reduces the compressive strengths
significantly. The addition of hydrated lime to the mixtures improves the compressive strength more remarkably than the addition of
nanopowders, mainly due to the hydration reaction that takes place after the addition of cement and hydrated lime. Solikin et al. [16]
discovered that the compressive strength increases by 11% and 13.8% at 28 and 56 days respectively, by adding saturated limewater to
HVFA-50 concrete. In the same direction, it was shown that with additional lime, fly ash mortars up to 80% replacement can also
develop compressive strengths similar to traditional mortars [17]. Similarly, researchers have investigated the effect of cement
addition on the behavior of high-volume fly ash concrete. Mehta et al., [18] showed that the addition of mineral binders (cement)
reduces the water absorption, porosity, spore performance, and chloride permeability of geopolymeric concrete. This finding is due to
the microstructural enhancement caused by the coexistence of hydrated calcium-based products with an alumina-silicate polymer
structure that leads to an increase in compressive strength.
Recent research [19] provides an overview of waste wood ash’s application in the construction industry and evaluates development
trends in terms of mechanical, durability, and microstructural properties. The results show that adding waste wood ash to concrete can
help with waste reduction and sustainable development because it mostly fills in spaces and gives concrete a slightly higher
compressive strength.
The feasibility of using wood ash as a replacement material of coal fly ash has been developed by [20]. A comparison with the
control mix has been done to determine the effect of the wood ash incorporation on the workability, compressive strength, splitting

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

tensile strength, and flexural strength of the geopolymers. Comparing the compressive strength of GC mixes to the control mix, the
replacement with 25% of wood ash had little impact; however, the replacement with 50%, 75%, and 100% WA had greater negative
impact. Comparatively to compressive and flexural strengths, splitting tensile strength reductions are more noticeable. The decreases
in compressive strength are nearly equal to the decreases in flexural strength due to the replacement of coal fly ash by the wood ash.
In the current research, an interest has been given towards the use of high quantities of wood ash in the aim of valorizing and
developing cementitious composites usable as a non load-bearing insulating material, which must comply with the standards in
strength. This problematic has interested several research organizations and industrial companies, they focused on studying the use of
ashes coming from different origins, in order to propose a greener alternative construction material. They faced the challenge of
knowing what type of ash to be used to achieve the expected outcomes [21]. Theoretically, a mixture where 100% of the cement is
replaced with wood ash appears to be a greener solution, transforming waste into a construction material while reducing the cement
production and its impact on the ecological system. However, such mixture will certainly provide weaker mechanical strengths and
thus needs to be enhanced. The suggested solution in this study is to substitute the maximum possible proportion of cement by wood
ash, all without compromising the mechanical/physical properties of the sample.
This study starts with the characterization of different types of wood ashes, followed by the characterization of the bio-fiber ag­
gregates (sunflower pith and bark). The mechanical and the thermal properties have been considered. Then, different mortar mixes
were formulated with wood ash and vegetable aggregates (sunflower pith and bark) in order to study the effect of adding various types
of bio-fibers on the mechanical and thermal characteristics and to ultimately optimize the one that exhibits the best mechanical
behavior. The aim of this study is to develop a material based on the use of wood ash and fiber with the minimum possible amount of
cement.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials overview

In this research, a percentage of wood ash was replaced by cement. The sunflower stems (sunflower bark and pith) have been used
to reinforce traditional formulations. Before starting the formulation, a literature review was carried out on the physical, thermal, and
biochemical properties of sunflower bark and pith; aiming to compare them with the vegetable aggregates used in the field of con­
struction such as Hemp wood (Table 1).
To well understand the mechanical/physical properties of these materials, the absolute density, bulk density, relative humidity,
and particle’s size analysis were measured for:

- The hydraulic binders (Portland cement PA-L 42.5);

- The wood ash flying with the smoke from the incineration of wood pallets (WA1), as well as for the bottom ash (sub-furnace) from
the same origin (WA2);
- The vegetable aggregates (sunflower barks and pith).

The physical properties of the considered materials in this study are summarized in (Table 1).

2.1.1. Wood ash

The ash used in this project was sourced from the incineration of wood in a wood fired kiln for pottery and ceramics (Fig. 1). Two
types of ashes have been considered. The first is the one that flies with the smoke, it is extracted from the smoke hood; however, the
second (called also sub furnace ash) is the ash that residues after wood combustion.

2.1.2. Sunflower pith and bark

The cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a diploid species (2 n = 34 chromosomes), belonging to the phylum Sperma­
phytes, subphylum Angiosperms, class Dicotyledons, phylum Parietales-Rhoeadales-Synantheres, family Asteraceae or Compositae,
subfamily Tubuliflora, genus Helianthus L. and species annuus. This plant is considered the second most important annual oilseed crop

Table 1
Physical properties of materials (Data extracted from literature review).
Physical Properties Material References

Sunflower Sunflower Sunflower Hemp Wood

stem pith bark

Bulk Density [kg/m3] 97.2 21–35 345 114.2 /118 /100–150 / 110 [26,28,29]
à 155
Absolute Density [kg/m3] 1400 ± 1 1150 ~1200 1400 ~1500 [27]
Young Modulus [GPa] 0.049 - - 17–70 [26,31]
W0 (t ¼ 1 min) [%] 362 - - 214 /209 ± 9 /197.6 [27–29]
Wsat (t ¼ 48 h) [%] 542.4 ± 4.5 - - 369 ± 29 [27]
Average accessible porosity estimated by X-ray 58 ± 8 ~70% [27]
tomography [%]

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 1. (a) Wood fired kiln for pottery, (b) Smoke hood wood ash (WA1) and (c) wood bottom ash (WA2).

grown in France after rapeseed [22]. Sunflower is also characterized by a high protein content, which classifies it as an oilseed.
Along with soybean, rapeseed, oil palm and peanut, sunflower is one of the most widely grown oilseeds in the world. Its cultivation
represents about 20 million hectares for a production of 37.2 million tons of sunflower seeds in 2011 [23]. According to the latest
forecast of the US Department of Agriculture, world sunflower production is expected to increase for 2024 with a global production of
about 40 million tons [24]. The main sunflower producing countries are: Ukraine (leading exporter of sunflower oil with an annual
production of about 4 million tons) followed by Russia then, Argentina and the European Union with an average annual production of
about 3 million tons [24,25].
The vegetable aggregates used in this project are sunflower pith and bark (Fig. 2). The manufacturing process is done by crushing
the sunflower stem to separate the pith that is lighter from the bark.

2.2. Physical properties

The physical properties collected from literature review [26–31] and summarized in (Table 1) show that the absolute density of
pith and hemp wood are apparently equal and that the sunflower bark is less dense than pith and hemp wood. The values also show that
the Young’s modulus of sunflower stem is very low compared to Hemp wood (350 times higher). In this section, the adopted protocol
for measuring the physical properties of the materials is identical to that followed by RILEM [31].

2.2.1. Bulk density

The apparent density is one of the main physical parameters of a material that must be known before its usage in the manufacture of
concrete or mortar formulations. The aforementioned density is determined by the ratio between the mass of the material and its
volume. The protocol is applied on cement PA-L 42.5 and on vegetable aggregates (Sunflower Bark and Sunflower Pith).

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 2. Sunflower Pith (left) and Bark (right) with scale in cm.

2.2.2. Absolute density

The principle of the pycnometer consists in using a fluid gas that can penetrates the extremely very tiny narrow voids and even
pores of a solid, allowing the identification or the display of the actual volume occupied by the sample. As a result, the ratio between
the mass of the dry sample and the volume measured by the pycnometer gives the real density of the material. The high thermal
conductivity of the used gas and its ideal behavior at room temperature make this technique extremely reliable and fast. All the raw
materials in the study were analyzed by pycnometer. The value of the density is the main indication of the porosity of the material, the
smaller the density the more porous this material is.

2.2.3. Water absorption

Water absorption indicates the ability of plant aggregates (pith and sunflower bark) to absorb and retain water. To this end, the
samples preparation of the plant aggregates samples is done in three main parts:
First, a certain amount of plant aggregates is weighed and put in a glass pallet before placing it in the oven at 50 or 60 ◦ C for a
period of 48 h. After that, a small amount of the material is weighed using a sensitive scale capable of measuring from 0.1 to 1 mg to the
nearest, then the amount is introduced into water and weighed after different time periods of: one minute, 15 min, 1 h, and 48 h.
The comparison of the water content of the vegetable aggregates (pith and bark of Sunflower) shows that these aggregates have
percentages of water content (6.84% for the bark and 12.61% for the pith) higher than those of the hydraulic binders (between 0.13%
and 0.2%) and that of the ashes (less than 12%).
Table 2 displays the average values of physical properties along with its standard deviation for all materials used in this study.
The sieve analysis for the smoke hood ash (WA1) and the bottom wood ash were performed according to ASTM C33. Fig. 3 shows
the results of the sieve analysis. WA1 seems to be slightly finer than WA2.

Table 2
Mechanical/Physical properties of the materials used in this study.
Material Cement PA-L Smoke- hood Wood Ash Sub-furnace Wood Ash Sunflower Bark Sunflower Pith
42.5 WA1 WA2

Bulk Density [kg/ 1063 ± 9 - - 155.6 ± 3.0 23 ± 5

m3 ]
Density [kg/m3] 3070 ± 1 2602 ± 1 2650 ± 1 1160 ± 10 1500 ± 40
Water Content [%] 0.1389 ± 0.04 1.844 ± 0.23 0.561 ± 0.042 6.84 ± 0.19 12.61 ± 0.53
Water absorption - - - 164% (after 1 min) 2317.23% (after
[%] 356.6% (after 1 min)
48 h) 2540.96% (after 48 h)

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 3. Grain size distribution for the wood Ashes.

2.3. Thermal properties of materials

The thermal properties collected from literature review [26–28] summarized in (Table 3) show that the Hemp wood has a thermal
conductivity value slightly smaller (i.e. has better insulating capacity) than that of the sunflower stem. The thermal effusivity and the
thermal diffusivity of the sunflower stem are slightly smaller compared to those of Hemp wood, which has a lower heat capacity.
It is worth mentioning that in construction, a material is considered to be used as thermal insulation if its thermal conductivity λ is
less than 0.12 W.m− 1. K− 1 [32,33].
The thermal conductivity (λ) and thermal resistance (Rth) of plant aggregates (sunflower bark and pith) were measured using the
NETZSCH HFM 436.
The analysis of experimental results (Table 4) shows a difference on the average of the thermal conductivity, which is 0.0603 W.
m− 1.K− 1 for the bark, and 0.0376 W.m− 1.K− 1 for sunflower pith.
On the other hand, the thermal resistance is inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity in which the average thermal
resistance for the pith is 1.2422 m2.K.W− 1, smaller than that of the bark having an average value of 0.7656 m2.K.W− 1.

2.4. Chemical properties

The chemical or biochemical properties are interpreted by the measurement of the percentage of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin,
lignin in the material. The results presented in (Table 5) show a great difference between the chemical composition of the Hemp wood
and that of the pith which is 28% of pectin in the Hemp wood by center it is of 3.5% in the sunflower pith. The percentage of each
parameter is almost the same between sunflower pith and sunflower stem. Table 6.

2.5. Chemical composition of wood ashes

The chemical composition was determined using Bruker D4 Endeavor X-Ray Diffractometer. Results are integrated automatically
by TOPAS software provided by “Bruker” which uses Rietveld analysis. The chemical composition of smoke-hood wood ash (WA1) and
the sub-furnace wood ash (WA2) determined according to ASTM C-311 are detailed in Table 7. According to the chemical composition,
wood ash can be considered as pozzolanic, rich in SiO2, CaO, and Al2O3, which chemically reacts with Ca(OH)₂ in the presence of
moisture to create a characteristic amalgam similar to cement. The results show that smoke-hood wood ash (WA1) has a significantly
lower loss of ignition than sub-furnace wood ash (WA2). The Loss of ignition content is a crucial parameter that may affect the mortar
properties.
The results for WA2 reveal that the amount of pozzolanic material, which is the combination of Fe2O3 (iron oxide), SiO2 (silicon

Table 3
Thermal properties of sunflower stem in comparison with hemp wood (literature review).
Thermal Properties Material References

Parameters Sunflower stem Hemp wood

Thermal Conductivity [W/m.K] 0.056 ± 0.005 (35% HR) 0.072 ± 0.005 (35% HR) [26,32]
0.052 ± 0.002 (0%HR)/0.06 0.057 ± 0.006 (0%HR)
Thermal Effusivity [W.s1/2.m¡2.K¡1] 54.2 ± 1.1 58.7 ± 1.1 [26]
Heat Capacity [J.kg¡1.K¡1] 583 526 [26]
Thermal Diffusivity [m2.s¡1] 9.1 × 10− 7 9.6 × 10− 7 [26]

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Table 4
Thermal properties of the sunflower pith and sunflower bark at 20 ◦ C.
Samples Name Sunflower Bark Sunflower Pith

Thermal Conductivity [W.m¡1.K¡1] 0.0603 ± 0.002 0.0376 ± 0.0033

Thermal resistance [m2.K.W¡1] 0.7656 ± 0.004 1.2422 ± 0.102

Table 5
Chemical properties of the different fibers measured by vansoest, obtained from the literature review.
Chemical Properties Sunflower Stem Sunflower Bark Sunflower Pith Hemp Wood References

Hemicellulose [%] 29.7 16 9.4 12/ 17.9/12.1 [26–28]

Cellulose [%] 42.1 45 47.4 /31.5 48 / 74.4/53.3 [26–28]
Pectin [%] 13.4 14 3.5 /2.5 28 / 0.9 /- [26–28]
Lignin [%] 5.9 6 6 / 3.7/15 [26–28]
Others [%] 8.9 15 20.4 6 / 0.8/20 [26–28]

Table 6
Chemical properties of the different fibers considered in this study and measured by vansoest.
Detergent Sunflower bark Sunflower pith

SOL¼ 100-NDForg → water-soluble compounds 24.39 ( ± 0.42) 62.47 ( ± 1.86)

HEM¼NDForg-ADForg → Hemicellulose [%] 18.17 ( ± 1.34) 6.08 ( ± 2.73)
CEL¼ADForg-ADLorg → Cellulose [%] 44.95 ( ± 1.28) 28.14 ( ± 1.12)
LIC¼ADLorg → lignins and cutins [%] 12.48 ( ± 0.09) 3.29 ( ± 1.57)
Total 100 100

Table 7
Chemical Composition of wood ashes.
Composition %WA1 %WA2

SiO2 35.62 26.86

Al2O3 13.26 10.42
Fe2O3 6.91 5.66
CaO 31.65 30.52
MgO 3.76 3.45
Na2O 1.39 1.66
K2O 2.36 3.29
Loss on ignition (%) 4.22 12.81

Fig. 4. Scanning electron microscope image of Smoke hood wood ash WA1.

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

dioxide), and CaO, is less than the minimum amount required for a material to be regarded as pozzolan, which is established to be at
70%. As the strength is influenced by the chemical composition of wood ash, this provides insight into the use of smoke-hood wood ash
(WA1) in the samples’ preparation. Moreover, for a better binding, the SiO2 content within the main composition of the main raw
material should be high. Therefore, by comparing all parameters it was assessed that the WA1 fits the requirement needed for the
experimental work.

2.6. Microstructural properties of materials

Microscopic observation of smoke hood wood ash, sub-furnace wood ash and sunflower stem provides information on porosity and
structure at the microscopic scale (Figs. 4–7). The role of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is to perform a microstructural
analysis of the material.
These microstructural analyses of ashes show that smoke hood wood ash (WA1), manually crushed, is less porous compared to the
sub-furnace wood ash (WA2). This finding could be highlighted when comparing Figs. 4 and 5. The more the pores were available
(such as in WA2), the more voids are observed (in black) in the SEM image. As such, when comparing the data of Table 7 related to the
chemical characterization with the SEM images, a similar pattern was revealed. The silicon oxide, iron oxide, and aluminum oxide
were more abundant in WA1.
Regarding the plant aggregates, a comparison of the scanning electron microscope images shows that sunflower bark is more
porous than sunflower pith. In Fig. 6(a), the sunflower bark showed linear behavior related to the external layout of the fibers.
Thereby, due to the separation process of the sunflowers to obtain an empty cavity, the SEM image (Fig. 6(b)) showed traces of pith,
that were relatively seen as ripples and dots in the image. In Fig. 7, the unity of the tissue of the sunflower pith is clearly visible, with a
meshing texture and a uniform shape that binds well with few pores within the network. Therefore, it can be concluded that the
sunflower pith can absorb more water than the sunflower bark and that the wood ash can be used as a mineral binder.

3. Sample preparations

Following the physico-chemical, microstructural and thermal characterization of smoke hood wood ash (WA1), bottom ash (sub-
furnace) (WA2) and plant aggregates (sunflower bark and pith), the WA1 ash shows the best characteristics among the different types
of ash.
The ash-based mortar was formulated in different amounts of cement: 0, 10%, and 20% by weight replacing wood ash for the same
water/ash ratio of 0.50. Different ash-based mortar formulation has been prepared by adding a percentage of vegetable aggregate (pith
or sunflower bark). The water/ash ratio has been changed taking into consideration the water absorption of the different components.
For this purpose, four formulations were prepared for each mixture; each intended to be tested at 7, 14, 28 and 90 days respectively.
The target of this research is to optimize the formulation that provides the best mechanical behavior (Table 8). For a better analysis, the
different mixtures are named according to their content of smoke hood wood ash / cement and additives; their corresponding amount
of material are grouped in (Table 8).
First, the components of each mixture are weighed using a sensitive digital scale, then the adequate amount of water is poured to
the mixture in a tank where all the components are mixed together using an electric mixer. After that, the mixture is poured into a
prism mold while maintaining a good vibration of the molds. Finally, the specimens are surfaced by removing the excess material
(Fig. 8). After demolding, all samples were kept at constant temperature of 21 ◦ C and relative humidity of 50%.

Fig. 5. Scanning electron microscope image of sub-furnace wood ash WA2.

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 6. Scanning electron microscope image of the sunflower bark (a) front side (b) back side.

Fig. 7. Scanning electron microscope image of the sunflower pith.

Table 8
Mixtures proportions.
Percentage of mixture components (by mass)

Mixture Name Smoke hood Wood Ash WA1 (%) Cement (%) Sunflower Pith (%) Sunflower Bark (%) Water/Ash ratio

100WA 100 - - - 0.5

80WA20PC 80 20 - - 0.5
80WA20PC5SP 80 20 5 - 1.1
80WA20PC10SP 80 20 10 - 1.6
80WA20PC15SP 80 20 15 - 2.2
80WA20PC20SB 80 20 - 20 0.9
80WA20PC25SB 80 20 - 25 0.95
80WA20PC30SB 80 20 - 30 1
90WA10PC 90 10 - - 0.5
90WA10PC5SP 90 10 5 - 1.1
90WA10PC10SP 90 10 10 - 1.6
90WA10PC15SP 90 10 15 - 2.2
90WA10PC20SB 90 10 - 20 0.9
90WA10PC25SB 90 10 - 25 0.95
90WA10PC30SB 90 10 - 30 1

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Mechanical properties of different mixtures

After preparation of the samples, their mechanical properties were determined. In particular, at day 7, 14, 28 and 90 the
compressive and the flexural strengths were measured.

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 8. Prepared samples.

4.1.1. Compressive strength

The compressive tests were carried-out over cubic samples under a compressive load with a constantly increasing rate of 6.7 kN/s
until failure. The compressive strength is defined as the maximum compressive load divided by the cross-sectional area of the sample.
The compressive strength of the tested specimens is illustrated in Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 9, the results of the reference mix 100WA
(100% Smoke hood wood Ash WA1) and the mixtures 80WA20PC (80% WA1 and 20% PA-L 42.5) and 90WA10PC (90% WA1 and 10%
cement) demonstrate that the partial replacement of ash with cement has a major benefit on the compressive strength. More precisely,
it can be noticed that, when compared to the original mix, the compressive strength of the 80WA20PC sample increases by factors of
6.2, 5.4, 3.5 and 3.2 at 7, 14, 28 and 90 days respectively.
The samples 80WA20PC5SP, 80WA20PC10SP, and 80WA20PC15SP have the same amount of ash WA1 (80%) and cement PA-L
42.5 (20%) but they differ in the percentage of pith. The comparison of these three samples shows that the more the percentage of
pith the less the strength of the mix. The latter result is also noticed when comparing between the 90WA10PC5SP, 90WA10PC10SP,
and 90WA10PC15SP mixtures, that have an amount of ash WA1 (90%) and cement PA-L 42.5 (10%) and different percentage of pith.
However, the mixes 80WA20PC20SB, 80WA20PC25SB, and 80WA20PC30SB having the same amount of ash WA1 (80%) and
cement PA-L 42.5 (20%) and differ only in the amount of bark added to the mix show a slight improvement in their mechanical
behavior with the increase of the percentage of the bark. An identical trend is noticed when comparing the 90WA10PC20SB,
90WA10PC25SB, and 90WA10PC30SB samples, that have an amount of ash WA1 (90%) and cement PA-L 42.5 (10%) and different
also in percentage of bark.
The growth of compressive strength after 90 days reveals that the hydration of cement clinker and the pozzolanic reaction of wood
ash are two interconnected processes involved in the hydration of ash-cement binders. The pozzolanic reaction of wood ash is activated
when free lime is released during the hydration of cement clinker, where it will be absorbed.
According to an ASTM C270 [34], the minimum required compressive strength of normal mortar should be no less than 750 psi
(5.1 N/mm2).
As a conclusion to this section, regarding the compressive strength, a minimum of 20% of hydraulic binder, i.e. cement, needs to be
added to the mixture to maintain an acceptable compressive strength. Moreover, while the incorporation of sunflower pith in the
mixture appears to have a harmful effect on the compressive strength; adding sunflower bark to the mixture is found to slightly
enhance the compressive strength when added to the samples.

4.1.2. Flexural strength

The flexural strength is a measure of tensile strength due to bending. The test is carried out on a 40×40×160 mm beams prepared
using different mixtures. The beams are then loaded at its center point until failure. Fig. 10 depicts the flexural strength of the tested
specimens.
The results displayed in Fig. 10 show that the flexural strength increase with time, at different rates depending on the mixture. The
reference mix (100% smoke hood wood Ash) has an average flexural strength of 0.0265 N/mm2 at 7 days and reaches an average value
of 0.061 N/mm2 at day 90. Mixture 80WA20PC (80% Ash and 20% PA-L 42.5) result an average stress of 0.1246 N/mm2 at 7 days,
which also increases to 0.237 N/mm2 after 90 days. Sample 90WA10PC (90% Ash and 10% PA-L 42.5 cement) has an average flexural
strength of 0.0654 N/mm2 at 7 days and reaches a value of 0.174 N/mm2 at day 90.
The mixes 80WA20PC5SP, 80WA20PC10SP, 80WA20PC15SP have the same amount of ash (80%) and cement (20%), and only
differ by their pith content. The comparison of these samples show that when the percentage of pith increases the flexural strength
decreases. On the contrary, the mixes 80WA20PC20SB, 80WA20PC25SB, and 80WA20PC30SB, of identical amount of ash (80%) and
cement (20%) but different bark content, present an improvement in their behavior with the increase of the percentage of the bark
added in the mixes.
The comparison between samples 90WA10PC5SP, 90WA10PC10SP, and 90WA10PC15SP containing the same amount of ash
(90%) and cement (10%), but different pith content, show that, also at lower cement content, flexural strength decreases as pith
percentage increases. A slight improvement can also be observed in the flexural behavior of mixes 90WA10PC20SB, 90WA10PC25SB

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 9. Compressive strength at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days for the different mixtures.

and 90WA10PC30SB, where the mix 90WA10PC20SB exhibits an average value of 0.0318 N/mm2 at 7 days for 20% of the bark and
0.052 N/mm2 at 90 days. The mixture comprising 30% sunflower bark, 90WA10PC30SB, shows an average strength of 0.0357 N/mm2
at 7 days, increasing to 0.043 N/mm2 at 90 days.
As conclusion, similarly to the study of the compressive strength, the results show an enhanced flexural strength behavior obtained
when the percentage of hydraulic binder is 20%. In addition, it could also be concluded that the adding sunflower pith to the mixes has
a negative impact on the flexural strength. In the contrary, the incorporation of sunflower bark is found to increase the flexural
strength.

4.2. Thermal conductivity

The results of thermal properties, summarized in Table 9, show an increase in thermal conductivity obtained when the percentage

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Fig. 10. Flexural strength at 7, 14, 28, and 90 days for the different mixtures.

of cement is increased. Additionally, it could be concluded that increasing the percentage of sunflower pith in mixes reduces the
thermal conductivity. As well, sunflower bark also reduces thermal conductivity when incorporated.
As conclusion, increasing fiber content in mortars and decreasing volume density have positive impact on reducing the thermal
conductivity, achieved through the reduction in volume density and fiber content.
A clear beneficial effect on thermal conductivity reduction can be seen in each mortar group as the content of Sunflower aggregates
in the mortar increases. This is most noticeable in the mortar with sunflower pith, which has the highest porosity.

5. Conclusion

The use of bio-based materials in the construction field is crucial, especially because of the pollution caused during the manufacture
process of construction materials, in particular that of cement having a large carbon footprint.
In the considered study, with the aim of recovering wood ash as much as possible and adopting it as building materials ash from
wood incineration was partially replaced with cement. Two types of ash were compared in the aim of finding the type that enhances the
mechanical behavior.
After determination of the ash properties, it has been concluded that the smoke hood wood ash WA1 has the best mechanical
behavior. Regarding the fibers, it has been found that, due to their mass difference, sunflower pith absorbs 7.5 times more water than

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H. Affan et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 18 (2023) e01939

Table 9
Thermal conductivity for the different mixtures.
Mixture Name Average Density [kg/m3] Thermal conductivity [W/ (m•K)]

In Wet state In Dry state

100WA 689.1 0.877 0.639

80WA20PC 738.6 1.261 0.934
80WA20PC5SP 678.4 1.112 0.789
80WA20PC10SP 556.4 0.913 0.643
80WA20PC15SP 438.8 0.748 0.546
80WA20PC20SB 764.3 1.128 0.823
80WA20PC25SB 744.8 1.037 0.716
80WA20PC30SB 739.0 0.986 0.721
90WA10PC 711.3 1.213 0.946
90WA10PC5SP 664.2 1.071 0.717
90WA10PC10SP 543.1 0.878 0.614
90WA10PC15SP 429.0 0.716 0.496
90WA10PC20SB 797.2 0.994 0.705
90WA10PC25SB 770.1 0.912 0.633
90WA10PC30SB 745.99 0.866 0.617

the sunflower bark.

Then, different mixtures based on the ash with percentages of cement were prepared and tested. The results show that incorpo­
rating cement as partial replacement of wood ash in the mixture has a direct positive impact on the mechanical properties of the
mixture.
Incorporating sunflower pith to the mixture appears to decrease the compressive and the flexural strength; however, adding
sunflower bark to the mixture increases slightly the mechanical performance.
Regarding the thermal performance, lowering the thermal conductivity of mortars can be achieved by increasing fiber content in
addition to reducing volume density.
An enhanced mechanical performance is obtained when the quantity of cement in the mixture is raised to 20% (80% of WA1 ash
and 20% of cement) with 6.2 MPa and 0.237 MPa as average compressive and flexural strength at 90 days respectively. This mix,
although it exhibits lower mechanical properties than regular concrete mortar, it satisfies the minimum compressive strength required
by ASTM C270. In addition to the benefit in reducing the use of cement, this sample has improved thermal performance compared to
regular mortar.
Without the use of any additives or chemical treatments, the results were obtained while adhering to the goal of creating an
environmentally friendly mortar mix.

Future Work

As perspective to this work, a study will be carried out on the environmental impacts and benefits of the wood ash mortar with
vegetable aggregates using a comparative cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

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