Compressive strength and durability properties of Rice Husk Ash concrete

Abstract

The paper presents the experimental investigation conducted on Rice Husk Ash (RHA) concrete to evaluate the compressive strength and to study its durability properties. In the preparation of rice husk concrete, cement was replaced at various percentage levels such as 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Besides control concrete was also prepared for comparison purpose. Two grades of concrete, namely M30 and M60, were prepared. The strength of the concrete increased with the levels of percentage of replacement of 10% at which the increase in strength was 7.07% at 90 days compared to normal concrete. In the case of M60 grade concrete the compressive strength increases with the addition of super plasticizer. In general, Saturated Water Absorption (SWA) increased in the case of RHA Concrete up to 10% replacement level, but the same diminished with addition of super plasticizer. The porosity of RHA Concrete decreased from 4.70% to 3.45% when the replacement level increased from 5% to 20%. There is a further decrease with the addition of super plasticizer. The chloride ion permeability value of RHA Concrete was very low between 100-1000 coulomles, as compared to normal concrete. It was observed from tests that RHA concrete was more resistant to HCl solution than that of control concrete. The percentage of resistance against alkaline attack of M30 grade RHA concrete varied from 25 to 67 and the corresponding value for M60 grade was from 35 to 70 for replacement levels varying from 5% to 20%. Addition of 20% RHA showed higher resistance against sulphate attack for both continuous soaking and cyclic conditions. On the whole addition of RHA as CRM improves the strength and durability properties of concrete to considerable extent.

Fresh Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete Containing Ground Waste Glass Microparticles as Cementing Material

“…One alternative procedure to reduce the cost of SCC while producing SCC with better engineering properties is the addition of inert, pozzolanic/hydraulic material or waste and recycling materials (Ranjbar et al 2013). Among solid waste materials, the most prominent are fly ash, blast furnace slag, rice husk (converted into ash), silica fume and materials from construction demolition (Ramasamy 2012).…”

“…By reducing the use of Portland cement, CO 2 emission may be curbed. Due to growing environmental concerns and the need to conserve energy and resources, efforts have been made to utilize the waste material of industrial and agro products in the construction industry as a pozzolanic mineral admixture to replace ordinary Portland cement (Ramasamy 2012). Using these mineral admixtures to replace part of the PC will reduce the cost of SCC, especially if the mineral admixtures consist of waste or industrial by-product.…”

Lightweight Composites Reinforced by Agricultural Byproducts

“…Milling the RHA to get higher surface area can increase the silica reactivity. There is a growing demand for fine amorphous silica for the production of special cement, concrete mixtures, high performance and low permeability concrete and paints, etc (7,15,27,64,66). Table III demonstrates some RHA based composites. RHA is suitable as supplementary cementitious material.…”

“…One approach for the development of composites with improved durability is partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement by low carbon content RHA (66). By addition of RHA to Portland cement paste, the resistance to acid had a notable improvement (15,65,67). Saturated water absorption (WA) of RHA concrete diminished by addition of super plasticizer (Sulphonated Naphthalene) and the porosity decreased from 4.70% to 3.45% when the replacement level increased from 5% to 20% (15).…”

“…At present, most of byproduct biomass, such as wheat and rice straws are left on the ground to decompose or are burnt in fields (2). However, the byproducts could be potential resources to be used as pulp (2), biofuel (1,2), cellulose fibers (2) and composties (14,15) in the fields of paper, energy, packing, automobile and construction. Currently, the materials used in these areas, such as gasoline, wood, bast fibers are not environmentally friendly or with high carbon emission, because they are either derived from petroleum resources, or need abundant land, water and fertilizer to grow.…”