Integration of Rice Husk Ash as Supplementary Cementitious Material in the Production of Sustainable High-Strength Concrete

Abstract

The incorporation of waste materials generated in many industries has been actively advocated for in the construction industry, since they have the capacity to lessen the pollution on dumpsites, mitigate environmental resource consumption, and establish a sustainable environment. This research has been conducted to determine the influence of different rice husk ash (RHA) concentrations on the fresh and mechanical properties of high-strength concrete. RHA was employed to partially replace the cement at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% by weight. Fresh properties, such as slump, compacting factor, density, and surface absorption, were determined. In contrast, its mechanical properties, such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength, were assessed after 7, 28, and 60 days. In addition, the microstructural evaluation, initial surface absorption test, = environmental impact, and cost–benefit analysis were evaluated. The results show that the incorporation of RHA reduces the workability of fresh mixes, while enhancing their compressive, splitting, and flexural strength up to 7.16%, 7.03%, and 3.82%, respectively. Moreover, incorporating 10% of RHA provides the highest compressive strength, splitting tensile, and flexural strength, with an improved initial surface absorption and microstructural evaluation and greater eco-strength efficiencies. Finally, a relatively lower CO2-eq (equivalent to kg CO2) per MPa for RHA concrete indicates the significant positive impact due to the reduced Global Warming Potential (GWP). Thus, the current findings demonstrated that RHA can be used in the concrete industry as a possible revenue source for developing sustainable concretes with high performance.

Rice Husk Ash in Concrete

“…Flexural strength, like comprehensive and tensile strengths, of concrete containing RHA as a cement partial replacement material, was influenced by a number of factors [15,86].…”

“…Indeed, the use of RHA as a partial cement replacement has been extensively researched in relation to concrete properties, including the production of high-performance concrete (high-strength concrete, self-compacting concrete, self-healing concrete, etc.) [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. It can reduce the consumption of cement and thus reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with its production.…”

Effects of Grinding Methods and Water-to-Binder Ratio on the Properties of Cement Mortars Blended with Biomass Ash and Ceramic Powder

“…Several investigations have been attempted by a number of researchers to develop alternative cementitious materials using HRA. Rice husk ash (RHA) [ 5 ], palm oil fuel ash (POFA) [ 6 ], sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) [ 7 ], wheat straw ash (WSA) [ 8 ] and corn cob ash (CCA) [ 9 ] are some of the HRA that have evidently been reported for their suitability as pozzolans. The majority of the agricultural biomass resources in Serbia lie in corn biomass, more than 25% in the straw of cereals, and the rest in harvest residues of sunflower, soybean and oilseed rape.…”

Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced High-Volume Fly-Ash-Based Cement Composite—A Long-Term Study

“…The design of high-volume FA (HVFA) concrete incorporating more than 50% of FA has been there for recent decades. Geopolymer concrete that uses little to no cement is still being researched [3,4,13]. Such approaches warrant the production of concrete that minimizes environmental damage.…”