Investigation of the compressive strength of pit sand, and sea sand mortar prisms produced with rice husk ash as additive

This study investigates the compressive strength of ordinary Portland cement mortar prisms with rice husk ash (RHA). Pit sand-cement, and sea sand-cement mortar prisms were separately prepared using cement-sand mix ratio 1:3, and RHA composition of 0-44.44%. The optimum strength of the pit sand cement mortar prisms after 1, 2, 7, and 28 days was recorded at 11.11% RHA by the mass of the cement. However, the compressive strength of the sea sand-cement mortar prisms with 11.11% RHA decreased on the 7th and 28th day. Thus the inconsistencies in the compressive strength indicate that, sea sand is not a good candidate for constructions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.