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To Study Strength Characteristics of Concrete with Rice Husk Ash

Article in Indian Journal of Science and Technology · December 2016

DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i1/105272

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 ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846
Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(47), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i47/105272, December 2016 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

To Study Strength Characteristics of

Concrete with Rice Husk Ash
Paramveer Singh1*, Tarunbir Singh2 and Gurpreet Singh1
School of Civil Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara - 144411, Punjab, India;
1

param.1989@yahoo.com, gurpreet.18634@lpu.co.in
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Malaut - 152107, Punjab, India; tarunbir1988@gmail.com

Abstract
Background/Objective: The research was carried out to study the mechanical properties of concrete by partial
replacement of cement with rice husk ash. The M40 grade of concrete was used to examine compressive strength, split
tensile strength and flexure strength after 7 days and 28 days of curing. The cement is to be replaced (by weight) with
rice husk ash by 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% to get optimized results. Methods/Statistical Analysis: In this research work,
emphasis was made on examining the optimized quantity of RHA used as replacement with cement (by weight) by the
medium of experimental investigation. Findings: As per results, Compressive strength for 5% replacement i.e. M-RHA5
increased by 2.1% as compared with control mix and for 10% replacement i.e. M-RHA10 decreased by 1.4 % as compared
with control mix and it decreases for M-RHA15 and M-RHA20 mixes by 14.6% and 28.8% respectively i.e. compressive
strength increases up to 10% for rice husk ash replacement with cement for M40 grade of concrete. Similarly split tensile
strength also increases after 5% replacement for M-RHA5 i.e. increased by 3.9 % and after 10% replacement it decrease
by 17.5 % and further decreasing for 15% and 20 % replacement by 19.3% and 31.7 % respectively as compared with
RHA. There is no significant effect on split tensile strength as only 5% replacement is coming optimum. Flexural strength is
optimized for different percentage of RHA and compared with control mix, i.e. it is increased by 10.9% for M-RHA5 mix and
then start decreasing for M-RHA10 by 3% as compared with control mix. So for compressive strength M-RHA10 is optimum
and split tensile strength and for flexural strength optimum content for RHA in cement 5% i.e. M-RHA5. Application/
Improvement: As RHA has significant role in increase of compressive strength as compared with split tensile strength and
flexure strength. Cement replacement with RHA will help to reduce cost of construction.

Keywords: Cement replacement, Mechanical Properties, Rice Husk Ash (RHA)

1. Introduction properties of concrete and to reduce the cost of construction.

RHA is widely used as supplementary cementious material
In present, concrete is used for construction widely, and to increase the strength of concrete. Rice husk ash is waste
main aim is to decrease the cost of construction. To over- material i.e. residue of rice during their creation. In present
come the cost of concrete various materials are replaced time there is boost to use waste material to innovate new
with concrete ingredients and waste materials are widely materials to strengthen the product. Similarly, Rice husk ash
used to optimize the concrete cost. In present study, RHA is used at various places for making new products by their
is replaced with cement partially to visualize the mechanical low cost. Rice husk has burnt into ash to get their physical

*Author for correspondence

 To Study Strength Characteristics of Concrete with Rice Husk Ash

and chemical properties to be used as mineral admixture in i.e. compressive strength after 3 days, 7 days and 28 days,
concrete. Pozzolanic activity of (RHA) rest on silica content, specific gravity, consistency and initial and final setting of
silica crystallization phase, size and surface area of RHA parti- cement as shown in Table 1.
cles1. The most common use of RHA is to provide strengthen
to the concrete and to decrease the cost of construction. Table 1. Properties of OPC 43 grade cement
Kartini et al. said that RHA is a economical cementing mate-
S .no. Characteristics Value obtained
rial since it is waste product having high silica content, high Experimentally
porosity, light weight with high surface area2. Khassaf et al.
1. Specific Gravity 3.13
determine that workability of fresh concrete fall with the
2. Standard Consistency 33%
increase of RHA content3. Marthong examine that the sta-
bility of RHA cementitious paste decreased as compared to 3. Initial Setting Time 47 minutes
OPC cement paste. This shows reduction in water demand 4. Final Setting Time 252 minutes
and should reduce shrinkage4. Ephraim et al. conclude that 5. Compressive Strength
use of Rice husk ash in construction works will decrease 3 days 27.3 N/mm2
the environmental pollution, strengthen the concrete qual- 7 days 35.6 N/mm2
ity and optimize the cost of concrete as well as resolving the 28 days 47.4 N/mm2
problem of agricultural waste management5.

1.1 Rice Husk Ash (RHA)

RHA is a consequence of the cultivated industry which 2.1.2 Coarse Aggregate
contains great amount of silicon dioxide (SiO2). About 70 Coarse aggregate used in experimental are combination
million tons of rice husk ash is produced worldwide per of two nearby available stone of 20 mm and 10 mm size
year. During shattering of rice process about 78 percent of in 70:30 divisions respectively. The specific gravity exam-
remaining weight is extracted as rice. Remaining 22 per- ined for 20 mm and 10 mm aggregate is 2.73 and 2.71
cent of the weight is received as husk. It contains about 75 respectively.
percent of organic content and the remaining 25 percent
of husk is transformed into ash during the burning pro- 2.1.3 Fine Aggregate
cess, is identified as rice husk ash. Every one thousand
Fine aggregate used for experimental work is of Zone II
kilograms of material, about two hundred twenty kilo-
examined by IS: 383-19709. The specific gravity examined
grams (22 percent) of husk is formed and when husk is
is 2.49.
burnt it gives 55 kilograms (25 percent) of Rice Husk Ash.
The super pozzolona are used to make high strength con-
2.1.4 Rice Husk Ash (RHA)
crete mix. There is increasing demand of silica to make
high performance and high strengthen concrete. Rice RHA used for experimentation is collected from Rice
Husk Ash concrete gives a durable and good structural Sheller and processed to size less than 45 microns to
concrete for both short term and long term consider- be replaced with cement. The specific gravity found
ations6. Dabai et al. conclude that the chemical study to be 2.3.
prepared on rice husk ash directed high quantity of silica
for RHA with good workability7. 2.2 Mix Design for Concrete
The main objective of experimental work is to inves-
2. Experimental Program tigate compressive strength, split tensile strength and
flexural strength of concrete. M40 grade of concrete is
2.1 Materials used to examine the mechanical properties of concrete
with 0.40 water -cement ratio. The mix design was pre-
2.1.1 Cement pared to examine the properties of concrete as per IS
In the present study OPC 43 grade cement8 for design 10262-198210. The mix proportion of concrete as given
mix. The various properties of cement are examined in Table 2.

2 Vol 9 (47) | December 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Paramveer Singh, Tarunbir Singh and Gurpreet Singh

Table 2. Mix Proportion for per cubic meter concrete

S. no Mix Mix proportion (C:FA:CAI:CAII)
(1:1.828:1.936:0.83)
RHA RHA Cement w/b ratio F.A C.AI(20) C.AII(10) S.P.
% (Kg/m3) (Kg/m3) (Kg/m3) (Kg/m3) (Kg/m3) %
1 CM 0 - 390 0.4 713 755.30 323.70 0.5
2 M-RHA5 5 19.5 370.5 0.4 713 755.30 323.70 0.5
3 M-RHA10 10 39 351 0.4 713 755.30 323.70 1
4 M-RHA15 15 58.5 331.5 0.4 713 755.30 323.70 1
5 M-RHA20 20 78 312 0.4 713 755.30 323.70 1
C: Cement, F.A.: Fine Aggregate, C.AI (20): Coarse Aggregate of 20 mm,
C.AII (10): Coarse aggregate of 10 mm, S.P: Super plasticizer
RHA: Rice Husk Ash CM: Control Mix

3. Test Results and Discussion 10% replacement i.e. M-RHA10 decreased by 1.4 % as
compared with control mix after 28 days testing and it
3.1 Compressive Strength decreases for M-RHA15 and M-RHA20 mixes by 14.6%
and 28.8% respectively. RHA is pozzolonic material con-
The 150 mm cube mould are used for testing the compres-
tain high silica have same property like cement. RHA when
sive strength after 7 days and 28 days as per IS: 516-195911.
mixed with concrete mix, due to their fineness it will make
Specimens has been made for control mix and compared
good bond with other material particles in concrete mix at
with different percentages replacement of cement with
some content of RHA and it will increase the compressive
RHA i.e. for 5%, 10%, 15 % and 20 % by weight. Specimens
strength of concrete due to their pozzolonic effect but after
were tested after seven days and twenty days age of curing
further addition of RHA strength start decreasing because
and average results of are shown in Figure 1.
it will effect heat of hydration of cement which will effect
The compressive strength examined for different per-
the compressive strength of concrete mix. As discuss in
centages of RHA with replacement of cement (by weight)
Figure 1, after addition of 15 % and 20 % replacement of
i.e. for 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Compressive strength
RHA strength decreases suddenly. So range of 5-10% of
for 5% replacement i.e. M-RHA5 increased by 2.1% as
RHA is optimum content for concrete mix for compressive
compared with control mix after 28 days testing and for
strength of concrete because at 5 % replacement there is
slight rise in compressive strength after 28 days and at 10 %
replacement slight decrease in strength as compared with
control mix. So use of M-RHA10 will reduce the cost of
construction as compared to M-RHA5.

3.2 Split Tensile Strength

The 300mm x 150 mm cylinders12 were used for test-
ing the split tensile strength after 7 days and 28 days.
Specimens have been made for control mix and compared
with different percentages replacement of cement with
RHA i.e. for 5%, 10%, 15 % and 20 %. The split tensile
strength of all the mixes was determined at the age of 7
Figure 1. Average compressive strength after 7 days and days and 28 days for various replacement levels of RHA
28 days in N/mm2. in concrete mix and discussed in Figure 2.

Vol 9 (47) | December 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3
 To Study Strength Characteristics of Concrete with Rice Husk Ash

As discussed in Figure 3, when RHA reinforced con-

crete and composite beams are loaded in pure bending,
then the tensile strains develop. The load at first crack
would increase with respect to rice husk ash reinforced
concrete due to crack arresting mechanism of the
closely spaced fibers. After the concrete matrix cracks,
the fibers continue to take higher load which is pro-
vided. For M-RHA5, flexure strength increases by 12
% and beyond that it starts decreasing. For M-RHA10
decreases by 3.6 % due to effect on heat of hydration
and further decreasing for M-RHA15 and M-RHA20
Figure 2. Average Split tensile Strength after 7 days and 28 is 20.4% and 35.7% respectively. So M-RHA10 is
days in N/mm2. adopted as optimum content as there is slight decrease
in strength as if compared with M-RHA5 and control
The split tensile strength results of individual concrete mix.
mix are also shown graphically. Split tensile strength also
increases after 5% replacement for M-RHA5 i.e. increased
by 3.9 % and after 10% replacement it decrease by 17.5 %
and further decreasing for 15% and 20 % replacement by 4. Conclusions
19.3% and 31.7 % respectively as compared with RHA. The
From these experiments work, the conclusion can be
maximum values of split tensile strength of concrete with
drawn:
addition of rice husk ash at 5% addition which is slightly
higher than control mix. At 10 % addition of rice husk ash • RHA is environment friendly and easily available and
decrease in strength. For strength purpose 5% is acceptable so it will give benefit if used for construction pur-
for split tensile strength but for cost reduction 10% is also pose.
acceptable due to less decrease in strength after 28 days. • Concrete mix with 10 percent RHA as replace-
ment of cement is the optimum level as it has been
3.3 Flexural Strength observed to show a significant increase in com-
pressive strength at 28 days when compared with
The beam specimens 100mm x 100mm x 500mm were used for
control mix.
testing the flexural strength after seven days and twenty-eight
• The split tensile strength also tends to increase with
days. Specimens has been made for control mix and compared
increase percentages of RHA up to 5% mix but slightly
with different percentages replacement of cement with RHA i.e.
decrease after 10 % replacement but is more than con-
for 5%, 10%, 15 % and 20 %. The flexural strength after seven
trol mix.
days and twenty days discussed in given Figure 3.
• On increasing the percentage replacement of cement
with RHA beyond 5%, there is a reduction in the
tensile strength value. So 5% RHA replacement is
optimum for split tensile strength.
• Maximum flexure strength of incorporating RHA is
achieved for 5% RHA replacement but at 10 % RHA
replacement strength decrease slightly from control
mix strength.
• Optimum content for compressive strength and flex-
ure strength is 10% replacement with cement with
rice husk ash after that strength start decreasing sud-
denly, for split tensile strength optimum content is
5% and after that is start decreasing with increase of
Figure 3. Flexural Strength after 7days and 28 days in N/mm2. RHA content.

4 Vol 9 (47) | December 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Paramveer Singh, Tarunbir Singh and Gurpreet Singh

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