Compressive strength and durability properties of Rice Husk Ash concrete

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.