The optimal substitute for rice husk ash required to improve the strength and durability of concrete
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62638/ZasMat1832Abstract
The increasing environmental impact and high energy consumption associated with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) production have encouraged the development of sustainable supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) derived from industrial and agricultural wastes. Rice husk ash (RHA) is an agricultural by-product rich in reactive silica and processes significant pozzolanic potential. Therefore, the influence of rice husk ash (RHA) on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete areexperimentally examined in this study. To verify the effect of RHA, two series of concrete mixtures were prepared using two different types of cement, CEM I 42.5R and CEM I 52.5N. For the two concrete series, the cement was partially replaced with RHA at replacement levels of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, and 40% by mass. The performances of concrete mixtures were evaluated in terms of workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and chloride penetration resistance (chloride diffusion). Chloride diffusion and mechanical properties were performed on concrete aged 28 and 90 days, and furthermore, at 7 days for the compression strength test. The results revealed that increasing RHA content reduces the workability of concrete due to the large specific surface area and porosity of the RHA particles. However, moderate substitution rates significantly improve the mechanical properties and the chloride penetration resistance due to the contribution of RHApozzolana in formation additional calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H). The highest resistance to chloride diffusion was acquired at 40% RHA, for concrete made with CEM I 42.5R and CEM I 52.5N. For both types of cement, the tensile and compressive strengths of the concrete were obtained at a RHA rate of 15%, at ages of 28 days and 90 days. Whereas the highest compressive strength at age of 7 days was obtained with RHA rate of 5%. The decrease in strength of concrete with increase the percentage of RHA could be related to that the extra RHA becomes to act as inert filler instead of reactive pozzolana. Therefore, the cement-fine aggregate ratio is decreased and the concrete strength decrease as well.
Keywords:
Cement, compressive strength, tensile strength, workability, chloride diffusion, supplementary cementitious materialReferences
S.Samad, A.Shah (2017) Role of binary cement including Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM), in production of environmentally sustainable concrete: International Journal of Sustainable built environment, 6, 663-674 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsbe.2017.07.003.
S.Maji, D. H.Dwivedi,N.Singh,S.Kishor&M.Gond (2020) Agricultural waste: Its impact on environment and management approaches. In Emerging eco-friendly green technologies for wastewater treatment 329-351.
S.K.Antiohos, V.G.Papadakis and S.Tsimas (2014)Rice husk ash (RHA) effectiveness in cement and concrete as a function of reactive silica and fineness. Cement and concrete research, 61,20-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2014.04.001.
B.I.Rasoul, F.K. Günzel, and M.I.Rafiq(2017) Effect of rice husk ash properties on the early age and long term strength of mortar. In High Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet: Proceedings of the 2017 fib Symposium, held in Maastricht, 2017, 207-214.
D.G.Nair, A.Fraaij, A.A. Klaassen and A.P.Kentgens(2008) A structural investigation relating to the pozzolanic activity of rice husk ashes. Cement and concrete research, 38, 861-869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2007.10.004.
J.Payá, J.Monzó, M.V.Borrachero, E.Peris-Mora, and L.M.Ordóñez(2000) Studies on crystalline rice husk ashes and the activation of their pozzolanic properties. In Waste Management Series, 1, 493-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0713-2743(00)80060-4.
A.Salas, M.A.Ospina, ,S.Delvasto, and R.Mejía de Gutiérrez (2007) Study on the pozzolanic properties of silica obtained from rice husk by chemical and thermal process. physica status solidi, 4, 4311-4318. https://doi.org/10.1002/pssc.200675924.
Ö.Cizer, K.Van Balen, J.Elsen, D.Van Gemert, J.Marchand, B.Bissonnette, R.Gagné, M.Jolin, and F.Paradis(2006) Carbonation and hydration of calcium hydroxide and calcium silicate binders with rice husk ash. In 2nd International RILEM Symposium. Rilem Publications SARL; France.
A.P.Vieira, R.D.Toledo Filho, L.M. TavaresandG.C.Cordeiro(2020) Effect of particle size, porous structure and content of rice husk ash on the hydration process and compressive strength evolution of concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 236, 117-553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117553.
S.Gupta and H.W.Kua(2020) Application of rice husk biochar as filler in cenosphere modified mortar: Preparation, characterization and performance under elevated temperature. Construction and Building Materials, 253,119083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119083.
D.O.Nduka, B.J.Olawuyi, O.O. Joshua and I.O.Omuh(2022) A study on gel/space ratio development in binary mixture containing Portland cement and meta-illitecalcined clay/rice husk ash. Gels, 8, 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8020085.
M.B.Revuelta(2021) Construction materials: Geology, production and applications. Springer Nature.
J.Wang, F.Jiang, J.Zhou and Z.Mao (2024) The synergistic effect of limestone powder and rice husk ash on the mechanical properties of cement-based materials. Materials, 20, 5058. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17205058.
European Committee for Standardization, BS EN 450-part 1(2012) Fly ash for concrete: Definition, specifications and conformity criteria. British Standard Institution.
European Committee for Standardization, BS EN 197-part 1(2011) Cement: Composition, specifications and conformity criteria for common cements. British Standard Institution.
European Committee for Standardization, BS EN 12620:2002+A1, (2008)Aggregate of Concrete. British Standard Institution.
European Committee for Standardization, BS EN 12350-2 (2019) Slump Test. British Standard Institution.
European Committee for Standardization, EN 12390-3:2009 Testing hardened Concrete: Compressive strength of test specimens. British Standard Institution.
European Committee for Standardization, EN 12390-6, (2009)Testing hardened Concrete. Tensile splitting strength of test specimens. British Standard Institution
Nordic Council minister NT Build 492 (1999) Chloride migration coefficient from non- steady-state migration experiments.
A.L.G.Gastaldini, G.C.Isaia, N.S. Gomes and J.E.K.Sperb(2007) Chloride penetration and carbonation in concrete with rice husk ash and chemical activators. Cement and Concrete Composites, 29, 176-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2006.11.010.
B.A.Tayeh,R.Alyousef, H.Alabduljabbar, A.Alaskar (2021) Recycling of rice husk waste for a sustainable concrete: a critical review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 312, 127734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127734.
V.Saraswathy and H.W.Song (2007) Corrosion performance of rice husk ash blended concrete. Construction and building materials, 21, 1779-1784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2006.05.037.
Y.Y. Lim and T.M.Pham (2021) Influence of Portland cement on performance of fine rice husk ash geopolymer concrete: Strength and permeability properties. Construction and Building Materials, 300, 124321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.124321.
P.Chindaprasirt, P.Kanchanda, A.Sathonsaowaphak and H.T.Cao (2007) Sulfate resistance of blended cements containing fly ash and rice husk ash. Construction and Building Materials, 21, 1356-1361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2005.10.005.
A.O.Kadhum, A.S. Al-Ameeri, and S.J.Edrees(2025) Evaluation of the Effect of Silica Fume on Corrosion and Penetration of Chloride Ions into Green Concrete. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1507, 012091. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1507/1/012091.
A.O.Kadhum, A.S.AL-Ameeri, S.J. Edrees and M.I.Rafiq (2025) High-performance eco-friendly concrete with improved strength, chloride ion penetration, and corrosion resistance by the high volume of Ground Granulate Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS). ZastitaMaterijala, 66, 845-866. https://doi.org/10.62638/ZasMat1325.
W.Xu, Y.T.Lo, D.Ouyang, S.A.Memon,F. Xing, W.Wang and X.Yuan (2015) Effect of rice husk ash fineness on porosity and hydration reaction of blended cement paste. Construction and Building Materials, 89, 90-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.04.03.
P.Chindaprasirt, and S.Rukzon(2008) Strength, porosity and corrosion resistance of ternary blend Portland cement, rice husk ash and fly ash mortar. Construction and Building Materials, 22, 1601-1606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2007.06.010
P.K.Mehta (1983) Mechanism of sulfate attack on portland cement concrete. Cement and Concrete research, 13, 401-406. https://doi.org/10.1016/0008-8846(83)90040-6.
S.Tang, Y.Wang, Z.Geng, X.Xu, W.Yu, H.A, and J.Chen(2021)Structure, fractality, mechanics and durability of calcium silicate hydrates. Fractal and Fractional, 5, 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/fractalfract5020047.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
