The effect of calcination temperature and air flow on the content of organic material, morphology of particles, degree of crystallinity and the reactivity with lime solution of the sugar cane bagasse ash is evaluated. The results show that the long fibers of the bagasse and organic material are retained when calcination occurs without sufficient air flow. Calcining with forced air-flow breaks the fibers, removes organic material and produces fine particles at a temperature of 600ºC. The non-organic material observed in the ash displays a high degree of crystallinity. Experiments show that the crystalline structure observed in the ashes is due to adhered sand which was not previously washed away. The reduction on the conductivity in lime solution and X-rays diffraction pattern suggest that amorphous silica is formed at temperatures lower than 600ºC and cristobalite is formed at higher temperatures.

Portland cement pastes are highly heterogeneous material and exhibits heterogeneous features over a wide range of length scales. Mechanical properties of microstructure can be determined using depth-sensing indentation. Coupled indentation/SEM technique can be used to location the indents and provides a way to determine the mechanical properties of a specific phase. Thus, the present paper aims to determine the hardness of different phases of cement pastes prepared with different mineral admixtures including sugarcane bagasse ash. The microstructure of cement pastes prepared with different mineral admixtures is analyzed by X ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic hardness tests on polished sections. The different backscatter coefficient allows to differentiate anhydrous phases from C-S-H, calcium hydroxide, silica fume and quartz. A grid of indentation is used to determine the hardness of the different phases and a complete phase segmentation of the different samples is achieved. The results show that the hardness of the different phases follow the sequence (from higher to lower hardness) quartz, anhydrous particles, calcium hydroxide, C-S-H and agglomerated silica fume. The presence of agglomerated silica fume is clearly observed in scanning electron microscopy images and the poor mechanical properties of these areas might compromise the cement pastes. The microstructure of cement pastes prepared with sugarcane bagasse ashes is similar to the observed in samples with crushed quartz.

Pozzolanic materials react with lime produced during curing of cement forming a hard phase similar to hardened cement. There are multiple methods to evaluate the pozzolanic activity of materials and one of these methods is the evaluation of the conductivity in lime solution. This method does not follow a standard procedure and there are multiple parameters that affect the results. The present paper summarizes some of the variations in this method reported in the literature and shows experimental results from tests in siliceous materials with crystalline (sand) or amorphous (silica fume) structure. The test is also used to evaluate the pozzolanic activity of sugar-cane bagasse ash. The effects of temperature, sample size and solution agitation are reported. The results indicates this method permits a rapid evaluation of pozzolanic activity but the testing parameters must be rigorously controlled.