PROJECT REPORT

ON IMPACT OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF

CONCRETE WITH RICE HUSK ASH
Submitted by
RANJEET KISHOR PRASAD
JYOTISH MANDAL
MD ANJAR
SUMAN KUMAR YADAV

OF partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

B.TECH
IN
CIVIL ENGINEERING

Under The Guidance of SUBMITTED BY

S.S CHOUDHARY
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR(HOD)

.
 CERTIFICATE

CERTIFIED THAT THE THESIS I' MPACT ON COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF

CONCRETE WITH RICE HUSK ASH' WHICH IS SUBMITTED BY GROUP 1 IN FULLFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BTECH IN THE CIVIL ENGG.
IS THE RECORD OF THE CANDIDATE OWN INDEPENDENT AND ORIGINAL RESEARCH WORK
CARRIED OUT UNDER SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE OF S.S CHOUDHARY .THE MATTER
EMBODIED IN THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED IN PART OR FULL TO ANY OTHER
UNIVERSITY OR INSTITUTE FOR THE AWARE OF ANY DEGREE.

DATE GRPOUP 1

IT IS CERTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE STATEMENT MADE BY THE STUDENT CONCERNED

IS CORRECT TO BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.

S.S CHOUDHARY
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
D.C.E,DARBHANGA
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep gratitude and respect to my supervisor s.s choudhary,

assistant professor in civil engineering department of d.c.e darbhanga
for their keen interest and valuable guidance, strongmotivation and constant
encouragement during the course of work. I thank him for their great
patience, constructive criticism and myriad useful suggestions apart from
in valuable guidance tome.

I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to my friends and colleagues

for their support, co- operation and their timely help and valuable
discussions.

I owe my sincere thanks to all the staff members of Civil Engineering

Department for their support and encouragement. The meaning of my life

and work is incomplete without paying regards to my respected parents
whose blessings and continuous encouragement have shown me the path to
achieve the goals.

And above all, I pay my regards to the Almighty for his love and blessings.

GROUP 1
B.TECH(CIVIL ENGG)
 ABSTRATCT
Strong Material is a key factor in measuring strength of a Structure. The
fact that India is a developing nation having Mega structure and line up in
the strongest nations of the world. For strong structure strength of material
used should be high enough
What if the concrete used is having a high strength and we are also able to
save the material and make it eco Friendly. That’s the better idea to make
the structure ecofriendly and also the use of material is less.

The main objective of the project is to expedite the improvement of

infrastructure with the help of High Performance Concrete. The project has
one of the major advantage that we can use the waste material produced
during farming and use that thing in the improvement of strength of
material and use it in the contruction part of mega structures.

This Project addresses the potential use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as a
cementitious material in concrete mixes. RHA is produced from the
burning of rice husk which is a by- product of rice milling. The ash
content is about 18-22% by weight of the

rice husks. Research has shown that concrete made with RHA as a partial
cement substitute to levels of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% by weight of cement
has superior performance characteristics compared to normal concrete.
Also, the use of RHA would result in a reduction of the cost of concrete
construction, and the reduction of the environmental greenhouse effects.

Due to growing environmental concerns and the requirement to conserve

energy and resources, efforts have been made to burn the husk at a
controlled temperature and atmosphere, and to utilize the ash so produced
as a supplementary cementing material.

CONTENTS

Article No. TITLE Page No.

CERTIFICATE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 8
1.1 Preface 8
1.2 Salient Features 13
 1.3 Physical Properties 14
1.4 Chemical Properties 15
1.5 Why RHA 15
1.6 High Performance Concrete 15
1.7 Supplementary Cementing Materials 17

1.8 Research on RHA 17

1.9 Research Significance 17
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review
2.1 D.V. Reddy, Ph. D, P.E, Marcelina Alvarez, B.S. “Rice 18
Husk Ash-Modified Reinforced Concrete”
2.2 MEHTA, P. K., "Rice Husk Ash- A unique
20
Supplementary Cementing Material"

2.3 Ramakrishnan S, Velrajkumar G, Ranjith S, 21 Typ

“BEHAVIOR OF CEMENT-RICE HUSK ASH
CONCRETE FOR PAVEMENT”
2.4 P.Padma Rao, A.Pradhan Kumar, B.Bhaskar Singh 22
“A Study on Use of Rice Husk Ash in Concrete”,
2.5 OBILADE, I.O. “Use of Rice Husk Ash as Partial
24
Replacement for Cement in concrete”
2.6 E. B. Oyetola, and M. Abdullahi, “The Use of
27
Rice Husk Ash in Low-Cost Sandcrete Block
Production
2.7 Dr. A.M. Pande and S.G.Makarande, “Effect of 29
Rice husk ash on concrete”
2.8 Mauro M. Tashima, Carlos A. R. da Silva, Jorge L.
30
Akasaki, Michele Beniti Barbosa “The possibility of
Adding the Rice Husk Ash (RHA) to the Concrete”

2.9 M. Anwar, T. Miyagawa and M. Gaweesh investigate

31
“Effect of using considerable proportion of Rice Husk
Ash as a Cement Replacement on Concrete properties”
CHAPTER 3 METHEDOLOGY TO DETERMINE
 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
3.1 Methodology 22
3.2 Methodology adapted for mix design 23
3.3.1 Preparation of Mix Design 24

3.4.1 Casting of Specimens 25

3.5 Testing for Specimens 27
3.5.1.1 Compressive strength 27
CHAPTER 4 SCOPE OF WORK 42

CHAPTER 5 WORK DONE TILL NOW 43

CHAPTER 6 FUTURE ROADMAP 44

LIST OF TABLES

Sr.No. Description Page No.

01 Data of Rice Paddy, and Potential Husk and Ash Production 9

in the 20 Highest Producing Countries 2002.
02 Physical Properties of RHA 14
03 Chemical Properties of RHA 15
04 Highest compressive strength obtained at different ages 22
05 Increase or decrease in strength of concrete at 3 days w.r.t.
23
percentage replacement of RHA
06 Increase or decrease in strength of concrete at 7 days w.r.t. 23
percentage replacement of RHA
07 Compressive strength of concrete cubes with various
24
percentages of RHA
08 Compressive strength of blocks 28
09 Composition of concrete mixture 31
10 Compressive strenth (MPa) 32

11 Mix Design of M40 38

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Name Page No.

01 Rice Husk 11
02 Rice Husk Ash 12
03 Compressive strength at different RHA % and W/cm= 0.40 20
Reproduced from Bouz oubaa and Fournier, 2001
04 Effect of RHA content on compressive strength of concrete
26
at different curing age
05 Result of compressive strength
07 Result of compressive strength 26
09 M40 Mix Design 25
10 Universal Testing Machine 41

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Symbol/Abbreviation Name
RHA Rice Husk Ash
CTM Compression Testing Machine

MM Millimeter
N Newton
Kg Kilogram
MPa Mega Pascal’s
HPC High Performance Concrete
Ml Milliliter
M1 0% RHA Replacement
M5 20% RHA Replacement
CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTIO N

• PREFACE

Global production of rice is approximately 580 million tons a year and

this is rising, as the world population and the consumption of rice
increases day by day. Table 1 shows the most rice- growing countries in
the world and the potential husk and ash production. The milling of rice
produces rice husk, which is a waste material. Rice husk is generated on
average at a 20% rate by weight of the rice that is processed. Most of the
husk is burned or dumped as waste.

The burning of the husks produces ash at an average of 18% by weight

of the husks. Prior to 1970, RHA was usually produced by uncontrolled
combustion, and the ash so produced was generally crystalline and had
poor pozzolanic properties.

Due to growing environmental concerns and the requirement to conserve

energy and resources, efforts have been made to burn the husk at a
controlled temperature and atmosphere, and to utilize the ash so
produced as a supplementary cementing material.

Workability, strength, and durability are the three basic properties of

concrete. Amount of useful internal work necessary to overcome the
internal friction to produce full compaction is termed as Workability.
Size, shape, surface texture and grading of aggregates, water-cement
ratio, use of admixtures and mix proportion are important factors
affecting the workability of Concrete.
 Country Percentage Husk Potential Ash
Rice, Paddy
of Total Produced Production (18% of
Production in Paddy (20% of husk)

2002 (t) Production total)

(t)
(%) (t)
China 177,589,000 30.7 35,517,800 6,393,204
India 123,000,000 21.2 24,600,000 4,428,000
Indonesia 48,654,048 8.4 9,730,810 1,751,546
Bangladesh 39,000,000 6.7 7,800,000 1,404,000
Viet Nam 31,319,000 5.4 6,263,800 1,127,484
Thailand 27,000,000 4.7 5,400,000 972,000
Myanmar 21,200,000 3.7 4,240,000 763,200
Philippines 12,684,800 2.2 2,536,960 456,653
Japan 11,264,000 1.9 2,252,800 405,504

Brazil 10,489,400 1.8 2,097,880 377,618

USA 9,616,750 1.7 1,923,350 346,203
Korea 7,429,000 1.3 1,485,800 267,444
Rest of the 29,091,358 5.0 5,818,272 1,047,289
World
Total 579,476,722 100 115,895,344 20,861,162
(World)
Table 1: Rice Paddy, and Potential Husk and Ash Production in the 20 Highest
Producing Countries 2002

The objective of this thesis is mainly to provide the information on the

utilization of Rice Husk Ash as a substituting cementing material for
producing high- performance concrete. This project presents data on the
basis of physical and chemical properties of Rice Husk Ash and
discusses the properties of concrete incorporating the ash as a
substituting cementing material. In addition to the effects of the
percentage of RHA as cement replacement and water-cementitious
materials ratio on the properties investigated.
Rice husk, an agricultural waste, constitutes about one-fifth of the 300
million metric tons of rice produced annually in the world. Due to
growing environmental concerns and the requirement to conserve energy
and resources, efforts have been made to burn the husk at a controlled
temperature and atmosphere, and to utilize the ash so produced as a
supplementary cementing material.

The optimized RHA, by controlled burn and/or grinding, has been used
as a pozzolanic material in cement and concrete. Using it provides
several advantages, such as improved strength and durability properties,
and environmental benefits related to the disposal of waste materials
and to reduced

carbon dioxide emissions.

 Figure 1: Rice Husk Figure2 Rice Husk ash
Rice Husk Ash Durability is mainly influenced by
environmental exposure condition, freezing - thawing, contact to
the aggressive chemicals, type and quality of constituent materials,
water-cement ratio, workability, shape and size of
member, degree of compaction, efficiency of curing,
effectiveness of cover concrete, porosity and permeability. During
service life of structures, penetration of water and aggressive chemicals,
carbonation, chloride ingress, leaching, sulphate attack, alkali-silica
reaction and freezing-thawing are resulting deterioration. Loading and
weathering inter link voids and micro-cracks present in transition zone
and network of same micro cracks gets connected to cracks on concrete
surface which provides primary mechanism of the fluid transport to
interior of concrete. Subsequent increase of penetrability leads to easy
ingress of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and acidic ions etc into
concrete

resulting cracking, spalling, loss at mass, strength and stiffness.

• SALIENT FEATURES

• Concrete with RHA shows more resistant to extreme

conditions in comparison to plain cement concrete.
• It is more economical than plain cement concrete.
• It increases the workability of concrete.
• Due to addition of RHA concrete becomes more cohesive and more plastic.
• Bulk density of RHA content decreases with increase in RHA content.
• Use of RHA as an alternative to cement reduces corrosion and
increases durability of concrete strength.
• RHA increases the impermeability characteristics of concrete.
• RHA reduces the impact on environment and capital cost of structure.
• RHA is also used for building load bearing blocks brick tiles at low cost.
• Replacement of cement with RHA leads to increase in compressive strength.
• Ideal mix is obtained at 20% replacement of RHA.

Rice husk can be burnt into ash that fulfils the physical characteristics
and chemical composition of mineral admixtures.
Pozzolanic activity of rice husk ash (RHA) depends on:

• Silica content
• Silica crystallization phase
 • Size and surface area of ash particles.

In addition, ash must contain only a small amount of carbon.RHA that

has amorphous silica content and large surface area can be produced by
combustion of rice husk at controlled temperature. Suitable
incinerator/furnace as well as grinding method is required for burning
and grinding rice husk in order to obtain good quality ash. Although the
studies on pozzolanic activity of RHA, its use as

a supplementary cementitious material, and its environmental and

economical benefits are available in many literatures, very few of them
deal with rice husk combustion and grinding methods.

The optimized RHA, by controlled burn and/or grinding, has been used
as a pozzolanic material in cement and concrete. Using it provides
several advantages, such as improved strength and durability properties,
and environmental benefits related to the disposal of waste materials and
to reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

• PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Some other physical properties of Rice Husk Ash is that it feels

soft when it touches the hand.
• It left the grey colour in Hand and touched.
• The particle size is really very small with irregular shape.

Sr.No. Particulars Properties

01 Colour Grey
02 Shape Texture Irregular
03 Mineralogy Non Crystalline
04 Particle Size <45 micron
05 Odour Odourless
06 Specific Gravity 2.3
Table 2: Physical Properties of RHA
• CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Sr. No. Particulars Proportion

01 Silicon dioxide 86.94%
02 Aluminum oxide 0.2%
03 Iron oxide 0.1%
04 Calcium Oxide 0.3-2.2%
05 Magnesium Oxide 0.2-0.6%
06 Sodium Oxide 0.1-0.8%
07 Potassium Oxide 2.15-2.30%
08 Ignition Loss 3.15-4.4%
Table 3: Chemical Properties of RHA

• A residual RHA obtained from open field burning.

• The material was carefully homogenized and prepared in two Conditions:
• Natural RHA (NRHA): the ash was only dried, homogenized, and
packed to enhance the transport to the laboratory.
• Grinded RHA (GRHA): after drying and homogenization process
the RHA was ground in a laboratory ball mill by one hour for
Optimization.

• Why RHA?
• Because RHA is considered as a good pozzolanic material
by many researchers.
• First research was done by Mehta and Pirth in 2000 to study the RHA

effect on reducing temperature in high strength concrete.

• Mehta and Pirth also finds out that RHA also increases the
properties of concrete like compressive strength.

• RHA is easily available as India’s staple diet is rice so RHA is

easily available and can be replaced thus decreasing cost and
greenhouse gases emission.

• High performance concrete (HPC)

High performance concrete (HPC) exceeds the properties and
constructability of normal concrete. Normal and special materials are
used to make these specially designed concrete that must meet a
combination of performance requirements. Special Blend,
implementation, and curing practices may be needed to produce and
manage high-performance concrete. High performance concrete was
mainly use in tunnels, bridges, high-rise buildings and its strength,
durability, and high modulus of elasticity. It was also used in the repair
of shotcrete, poles, parking garages, and agricultural applications.
High performance concrete characteristics are developed applications
and specific environments; some properties are
• High abrasion resistance
• High durability and long life in severe environments
• Low permeability and diffusion
• High strength
• High early strength
• Resistance to chemical attack
• High resistance to frost and deicer scaling damage
• Toughness and impact resistance
• Volume stability
• Ease of placement
• Compaction without segregation

• Inhibition of bacterial and mold growth

High performance concrete are made with care selected ingredients of

high quality and optimized mix drawings; these are grouped, mixed,
placed, compacted and hardened to the highest industry standards.
Typically, such concretes have a low ratio of water to cementing
materials from 0.20 to 0.45. Plasticizers are typically used to make these
fluid concretes and achievable.
• Supplementary Cementing Materials
Fly ash, silica fume, or slag are often required in the production of high
strength concrete; the strength gain obtained with these Supplementary
Cementing Materials cannot be achieved by using only additional
cement. These supplementary cementitious materials are generally added
at levels of 5% to 20% by mass or more doses of cementing material.
Some specifications will allow to use up to 10% silica fume, unless
evidence is available indicating that the concrete product with a rate
larger dose will have a satisfactory strength, durability and volume
stability. The water-cementing materials ratio must be adjusted so that
equal workability becomes the basis of the comparison between the test
mixtures. For each set of documents, there will be a cement content of
cementitious materials with optimal strength booster that does not
continue to increase with greater amounts and the mixture becomes too
sticky to handle properly. Blended cements containing fly ash, silica
fume, slag or calcined clay can be used to make high-strength concrete
with or without the addition of supplementary cementitious materials.

• Research on RHA
The primary aim of experimental work is to study the properties
of Rice Husk Ash. Preparation of mix design. Replacement of cement
with RHA as different proportions with cement.

• Objective
• Effect of Rice Husk Ash on workability.
• Effect on Compressive strength of concrete.
• Effect on flexural strength of concrete.
• Effect on split tensile strength of concrete.
• Comparison of result of different tests with varying proportion of RHA.

• RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
 A step after aluminum and steel, Portland cement is the most
energy- intensive material. Due to growing environmental concerns
and the need to use less energy-intensive products, efforts are being
made to find cement replacement materials. The use of RHA offers
one such possibility. This paper presents the characteristics of RHA
and the effect on the proper- ties of concrete, and provides
information on the development of high-performance concrete using
Rice Husk Ash as an alternative supplementary cementing material.

CHAPTER 2

• LITERATURE REVIEW

The cement has been the major building material in today’s construction
because of its binding and high compressive strength properties. Beside
this, it also causes release of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide which
causes global warming and other environmental issues.

Researches were done to decrease the carbon footprint and use of waste
material to be used in construction. The rice husk ash is a waste material
which have shown promising results if replaced with cement in
production of concrete.

Previous researches done by researcher’s shows that it enhances the corrosion

resistance capability of produced concrete with RHA and increase in

compressive strength.

The research done in past by –

• D.V. Reddy, Ph.D, P.E.(Professor and Director of the Center for

Marine Structures & Geotechnique)

P.E, Department of Civil Engineering, Florida Atlantic University mainly on 10

% and 20 % replacement have done research with replacement of 5%,
10%, 15%, 20% and determined the compressive, flexure strength and
split tensile strength of the hardened concrete.

D.V. Reddy, Ph. D, P.E. and Marcelina Alvarez, B.S detailed, the use
of RHA will not only concrete production of better quality and low cost,
but also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cement
production. The partial replacement of cement by RHA will result in
lower energy consumption associated with cement production. The
potential market for rice husk energy systems and equipment has been
studied by Velupillai et al. (1997). The reference also addresses
economic development, urbanization, living standards, stricter
environmental regulations, and consolidation in the rice milling industry
is the reduction of certain traditional uses balls, and creating new
opportunities for the use of the envelope. He discusses the potential use
of rice husk Ash (RHA) as a cementitious material in concrete mixes.
RHA is produced by burning rice husk which is a by-product of rice
milling. The ash content is about 18 to 22% by weight of rice hulls.
Research has shown that concrete containing RHA in partial replacement

of cement concentrations of 10% to 20% by weight of cement has

superior performance characteristics compared to normal concrete. In
addition, the use of ORS would result in a reduction in the cost of
concrete construction, and the

reduction of the greenhouse effect on the environment.

 Figure 3: Compressive strength at different RHA% and w/cm= 0.40-
Reproduced from Bouz oubaa and
Fournier, 2001.

Mehta , P.K., explain the durability of cement mortar in the presence of

rice husk Ash (RHA). The strength and durability of mortar with
different replacement levels (10%, 20% and 30%) of ordinary Portland
cement (OPC) by the RHA is studied here. RHA was manufactured from
an uncontrolled combustion process. The test samples were prepared
with 2.73 FM river sand. The samples were stored in a controlled
environment to test time. The results show that the addition of RHA has
shown better results for 20% replacement level OPC 90 days. In the
durability test all samples passed for 20 cycles except 25% replacement
level of 30%.

When the rice husk ash is converted by uncontrolled combustion of

generally from 3,000 to 4,500 C, the ignition has not been completed and
the considerable amount of unburned carbon found in the resulting ash.
The reactivity of the amorphous silica is directly proportional to the
surface area of the ash. Some research papers discovers that not only the
temperature, but time is also a factor of burning rice husks to produce
effective. In the case of uncontrolled burning combustion especially
heap, the burning time is totally dependent on the ambient environment

say temperature, humidity and wind speed. Now limited research has
been conducted again with the rice husk ash collected from uncontrolled
combustion process.

Ramakrishnan S, Velrajkumar G, Ranjith S, explain the behavior of

concrete for pavement replacing different percentages of ashes hush up
by weight of cement for concrete quality control mixture M40. To study
the effect of the rice hull ash (RHA) on the performance of various
concrete parameters to produce an economic concrete for rigid
pavements.

An attempt was made to use the bending strength of concrete reaches in

the design of the rigid floor which is greater than the resistance to
bending about the necessary IRC: 58-2002. Test conducted to study the
effect of rice husk ash (RHA) on the performance of different concrete
parameters to produce an economic concrete for rigid pavements. The
partial replacement of cement with RHA provides the equivalent flexural
strength of concrete which is more important for concrete pavements.

They conclude their paper:-

The compressive strength decreases with the increases in percentage of rice

husk ash (RHA).For 10% replacement, the reduction is very less when
compare to 20%, and 30% replacement.

• The flexural strength of the cement-RHA concrete very less

reduction in 5% & 10% of replacement.

• The porosity test shown the void ratio is reduced up to 10%

replacement, and voids increases in future increment of RHA.

• The split tensile strength, impact strength also decreases with the
increases in percentage of rice husk ash (RHA).

P.Padma Rao, A.Pradhan Kumar, B.Bhaskar Singh, explains, a

feasibility study is made using rice husk Ash as an adjunct to cement
already replaced by fly ash (pozzolan Portland cement) in concrete, and
an attempt was made to study the strength parameters concrete
(compressive and bending strength). For the control of concrete, is the
mixture design method is adopted and given that basis, the design for the
replacement method was made mix. Five different replacement levels,
namely 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5% and 15% were selected for the study
concerning the replacement method.

Age in 0% RHA 5% RHA 7.5% RHA 10 % RHA 12.5% 15% RHA

days RHA
3 14.51 12.96 13.32 12.7 10.7 8.88
7 20.58 19.3 19.7 18.96 18.58 16.22
28 30.3 31.5 31 30 30.14 21
56 36.36 35.84 37.62 36.15 32.88 25.88
Table 4: Highest Compressive strength obtained at different ages
 Percentage Replacement Increase or decrease in strength
0-5 % -11.95
0-7.5 % -8.93
1-10 % -14.25

0-12.5 % -35.60
0-15 % -63.40
Table 5: Increase of decrease in strength of concrete at 3 days w.r.t %
replacement of RHA

Percentage Replacement Increase or decrease in strength

0-5 % -6.63
0-7.5 % -4.46
1-10 % -8.54
0-12.5 % -10.76
0-15 % -26.88
Table 6: Increase or decrease in strength of concrete at 7 days w.r.t %
replacement of RHA

Based on the limited study conducted on the behavior of the strength of

Rice husk ash, the following conclusions are drawn:
At all levels of cement replacement rice husk ash; there is gradual
increase of the compressive strength 3 days and 7 days.
However, there is significant increase in compressive strength of 7 to 28
days followed by a gradual increase of 28 days to 56 days.
At retirement age, with increasing replacement percentage rice husk ash
both, the flexural strength of the rice husk ash the concrete is deemed to
decrease gradually to 7.5% of replacement.
However, there is a significant decrease in the flexural strength of concrete
rice husk ash.
OBILADE, I.O. summarizes the research on the properties of rice husk
Ash (RHA) when used as a partial replacement of ordinary Portland
cement (OPC) in concrete. OPC was replaced by RHA by weight to 0%,
10% and 20%. 0% replacement served as a control. Compaction factor
test was performed on fresh concrete while the compressive strength test
was performed on 150mm hardened concrete cubes after 7, 14 and 28
days of curing in water. The results revealed that

the compaction factor decreases as OPC percentage replacement with

RHA increased. The compressive strength of hardened concrete also
decreased with increasing substitution of OPC with the RHA. It is
recommended that further studies be conducted to gather more facts
about the relevance of partial replacement of OPC with the RHA in
concrete

Rice Husk Ash (RHA), which is an agricultural by-product has been

reported to be a good pozzolan by many researchers. Mehta and Pirth
(2000) studied the use of ORS to reduce the temperature in high strength
concrete mass and obtained results showing that the RHA is very
effective in reducing the temperature of the concrete mass compared to
OPC concrete. Malhotra and Mehta (2004) reported later that RHA
pattern with finer particle size OPC improves concrete properties,
including higher amounts substitution results in lower water absorption
values and the addition of RHA causes an increase in the compressive
strength.

Rice Husk Ash Compressive strength (N/mm2)

Replacement
(%) 7 days 14 days 28 days
0 17.51 21.60 29.15
5 16.88 17.44 27.68
 10 12.01 12.83 20.88
15 11.24 12.55 18.70
20 10.86 11.51 1859
25 7.95 8.98 13.29
Table 7: Compressive Strength of Concrete Cubes with various percentages of RHA

The results of the compressive strength of concrete cubes show that

compressive strengths reduced RHA increased the percentage. However,
the compressive strength increased the number of days for each
percentage increased hardening RHA replacement.
Figure 4: Effect of RHA content on compressive strength of concrete at different
curing age
E.B.Oyetola, and M. Abdullahi, The compressive strength of concrete
blocks some commercial sand Minna, Nigeria was investigated. Rice
Husk Ash (RHA) was prepared using coal a wood fire. Preliminary
analysis of the constituent materials of the Ordinary Portland cement
(OPC) / Rice Husk Ash (RHA) hollow concrete sand blocks have been
conducted to confirm their ability to manufacture the block.
The average temperature was reached 483 °C. A preliminary analysis was

conducted on the materials of the UCI/RHA sand hollow concrete

blocks to determine their relevance to manufacture the block tests
conducted include: Chemical analysis of the rice husk ash, the analysis
of the size of sand particles, density test on RHA and sand, bulk density
test on RHA and sand, silt content test on the sand, riding test, setting
time test, free test the moisture content and slump test. Mix design was
carried out the absolute volume method to choose the most appropriate
materials (cement, RHA, sand and water) which will produce blocks
having the desired properties. Compressive strength and density OPC /
ORS Sand concrete blocks were also determined.

RHA replacement of OPC (%) 0 10 20 30 40 50

Initial setting time (min) 95 189 191 305 374 429
Final setting time (min) 150 323 510 685 756 811
Table 8. Setting Times Test

The initial and final setting time increases with the increase of rice husk
ash content. The reaction between cement and water is exothermic
leading to the release of heat and evaporation moisture and therefore to
strengthen the dough. As the rice hull ash replaces the cement, reaction
rate decreases, and the quantity of heat also reduces led to the end of
stiffening of the dough. As the hydration process requires water, a larger
amount of water was also necessary for the process to continue.
The compressive strength variations with age hardening are shown in
Table. The compressive strength generally increases with age to heal.
The reaction between the cement particles or cement with water / RRS
with water is known as hydration. Hydration proceeds with the presence
of the evaporable water. Water is continuously supplied during curing
and hydration process is continued. This allowed an increase in the
compressive strength value. In the absence of evaporable water, there can
be no gain in strength. However was reported that the compressive

strength of concrete for mixing with the partial replacement of ball acha
ash is not directly related to maturity. It was found that 7 and 14-day
period of hydration of 10% and 20% AHA / OPC concrete strength is
greater than that of conventional concrete. The difference may be due to
the different material composition in the samples.

Age at curing Compressive strength (N/mm2) Remarks

% replacement 1 3 7 14 21 28

level Day Days Days Days Days Days

100 % OPC, 0% 0.51 0.91 1.60 2.78 3.63 4.60 The compressive
RHA strength generally
90 % OPC, 10% 0.40 0.70 1.31 2.43 3.35 4.09 increases with age
RHA at curing and
80 % OPC, 20% 0.25 0.55 1.14 2.02 2.91 3.65
decreases as the
RHA
RHA content
70 % OPC, 30% 0.15 0.36 0.74 1.35 1.79 2.07
increases.
RHA
60 % OPC, 40% 0.00 0.15 0.38 0.65 0.91 1.05
RHA
50 % OPC, 50% 0.00 0.06 0.30 0.40 0.42 0.59
RHA
Table 8. Compressive Strength of Blocks
Dr. A.M. Pande1 and S.G.Makarande detailed, Rice Husk Ash used in
this work was done in the laboratory by burning the ball using a furnace
Ferro cement, incineration with temperatures not exceeding 7000 c. The
ash was milled using mill Los Angeles 180, 270 and 360 minutes, XRD
analysis was conducted to determine the shape of silica powder produced
RHA samples. RHA samples were analyzed by electron microscope
to show multilayer porous

surface and micro RHA. Other materials used in the concrete mix were
Portland cement, coarse aggregate 20 mm maximum size, and sand
mining 5mm maximum size as fine aggregate. The fineness modulus of
coarse aggregate and fine aggregate were 2.43 and 4.61 respectively.
Effect of adding RHA on the properties of concrete:-

The fresh concrete properties of all mixtures are given. The fall was in
the order of (210-230 mm), bleeding was negligible for the control
mixture. For concretes incorporating RHA, no bleeding or segregation
was detected. The fresh density was within (2253-2347 kg / m3), the
lowest density values were for mixing this is due to the low density of
RHA that lead to a reduction in the mass per unit volume. Concrete
incorporating finer RHA resulted in heavy concrete matrix.
The SP had to be content with increased finesse and RHA percentage,
due to the high surface area of RHA thus increase the demand for water
to maintain fluidity, Sp content increased to 2.00% for the mixture.

He gave following results in his experiments:

• % Strength achieved for M20 grade concrete with 12.5%, 25% &
37.5% RHA: The resistance to the average is considered more for 90 days
and then less for 28 days and 7 days using 75 micron RHA. The average
strength obtained is 12.5% CER compared to other proportions. One of
recorded samples to reach 123.81% resistance to 90 days of curing
compared to CCP. When RHA 150 microns is used, again reached the
average strength is more for 90 days and there is less for 28 days and 7
days. The resistance% was obtained in the range of 85% to 90% for 7
days, compared to the CCP. Then, is considerably reduced 28 and 90 days
of curing. At the very least, the minimum force was achieved in 25% of
RHA using 75 microns. After 90 full days of healing was 67.37%. For
150 microns reached the minimum force was 37.5% of RHA. After 90
full days of healing was 34.78%. It can also be observed that when RHA
fine was used (75 microns), the strength of% achieved was higher
compared to the size of the ORS 150 microns.

From the above discussion, it is observed that when RHA 75 microns is

used, the percentage of resistance achieved for 90 days is greater than
that of PCC, while it is reduced in case of 28 days and 7 days. The
average force obtained proves to be more for 7 days and 28 days, then it
is reduced for 90 days with 75 micron RHA. The average force obtained
is 25% CER compared to other proportions. One of the samples stored
for maximum resistance 55.08% for 90 days of curing compared to CCP.
When RHA 150 microns is used, again reached the average strength is
more for 7 days and 28 days, then there is less for 90 days. The average
strength obtained is 12.5% CER compared to other proportions. One of
the samples stored for maximum strength 57.2% for 90 days of curing
compared to CCP. At the very least, the minimum strength attained

was 37.5% RHA using 75 microns. After 90 full days of healing was
26.96%. For 150 microns reached the minimum force was 25% RHA.
After 90 full days of healing was 34.75%. It can also be observed that
when RHA fine was used (75 microns), the force reaches% was slightly
lower this year compared to the size of the ORS 150 microns

Mauro M. Tashima, Carlos A. R. da Silva investigates possibilities of

adding Rice Husk Ash to the concrete. Rice husk was burnt
approximately 48 hours under uncontrolled combustion process. The
burning temperature was within the range 600 to 8500C. Depending on
the chemical characteristics, the RHA has high levels of silicon dioxide,
about 93%, and the density was 2.16 cm2 / g. 3 shows diffractograms X-
ray to the sample of RHA. The results showed a clear peak
corresponding to crystalline silica. The reason for this behavior is the
long process of combustion time and the high temperature burning.
According to Figure 4, the average distribution of particle size was
13.34μm. Thus the ORS is finer than the cement and should be called to
work not only a role pozzolan, but also a microfiller effect.

Composition of concrete mixture:

He used the concrete mix proportions. Two doses of CSF, 5% (mixture
E) and 10% (mixture F) in the cement replacement, and a mixture
control (mixture D) were used. The slump test was fixed in 120 ± 20
mm, therefore, for the blends D and E, the amount of superplasticizer
was 0.2% by mass of binder. To the mixture C, the ofsuperplasticizer
assay was 0.3%

Cement Sand Coarse W/C Cement (kg/m3)

Mixture D Mixture E Mixture F
aggregate
1 1.33 2.27 0.42 490.0 465.5 441.0
Table 9: Composition of concrete mixture

Compressive strength:
The compressive strength is shown in Table and Figure . The addition of
RHA causes an increase in the compressive strength due to the ability of
the pozolan, fixation of the calcium hidroxide, generated during the
cement hydrate reactions. All degrees of replacement RHA increased the
compressive strength. For a 5% ORS, 25% of the increase is verified by
comparison with the mixture D.
 Mixture 7 days 28 days
D 45.9 48.1
E 52.9 60.4
F 45.8 54.2
Table 10: Compressive strength (Mpa)

Figure 5: Result of compressive strength

M. Anwar, T. Miyagawa and M. Gaweesh investigate “EFFECT OF

USING A CONSIDERABLE PROPORTION OF RICE HUSK ASH AS A
CEMENT REPLACEMENT ON CONCRETE PROPERTIES”
Compressive strength result:

Figure 7: Result of compressive strength

 CHAPTER 3
. METHEDOLOGY TO DETERMINECOMPRESSIVESTRENGTH
. METHODOLOGY

• The main objective of this work is to study the suitability of the

rice husk ash as a pozzolanic material for cement replacement in
concrete. However it is expected that the use of rice husk ash in
concrete improve the strength properties of concrete.

• Also it is an attempt made to develop the concrete using rice husk

ash as a source material for partial replacement of cement, which
satisfies the various structural properties of concrete like
compressive strength and
flexural strength.

• It is also expected that the final outcome of the project will have
an overall beneficial effect on the utility of rice husk ash Concrete
in the field of civil engineering construction work.
• Following procedure should be followed to find the compressive
strength of concrete and analyzing the strength with diffrent
proportion of rice husk ash replacement.
• selection of suitable ingredients cement,supplementry materials
(rice husk ash),aggregate,water and chemical admixtures if it
required.
• test data for materials such as specific gravity of cement,rice
husk ash,specific gravity of fine aggregate & coarse aggregate
are calculated.
• mix calculations are done to find out suitable proportion of
cement,water,fine aggregate,coarse aggregate,w/c ratio are
calculated.
• after that we will mix the proportions of ingredients and concrete
are made ,that will fill in the mould and 150*150*150 mm in
order to find compressive strength
• after 24 hours moulds are opened and concrete are cured for
7&28 days with rice husk ash replacement of 10 % and 25 % are
 done,and after the curing compressive strength of samples are
calculated.
• after this we will compare the data of compressive strenth with
different percentage of rice husk replacement for 7&28 days.
• PREPARATION OF MIX DESIGN

• In this project we are using the M40 grade of Concrete mix

design for testing purpose.

.mix design
Mix design for concrete
replacement of cement by 0% of rice husk ash
grade of cement:M 40
type of cement:PPC
type of mineral admixture:rice husk ash
maximum nominal size of aggregate :20 mm
minimum cement content:320KG/m3
maximum water cement ratio :0.45
workability:75mm slump
exposure conditions:severe
degree of supervision:good
types of aggregate:crushed angular aggregate
maximum cement:450 kg/m3
specific gravity of cement:2.9
specific gravity of rice husk ash:2.28
specific gravity of coarse aggregate:2.74
specific gravity of fine aggregate:2.65
*calculation of target strength
fck'=fck+1.65s
=40+1.65*5
=48.25N/mm2
*approoximmatte air content assume 1% for 20 mm nominal
size of aggregate
*selection of w/c ratio
max w/c ratio=0.45
adopt= 0.36
*selection of water content:
maximum water content for 20 mm size of aggregate:186litre
(for 50 mm slump)
water content for 75 mm slump:186+3/100*186
=191.58 litre
=~192 litre
*calculation of cement content
water cement ratio=0.36
cement content=192/0.36
 =533.33kg
*volume of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate for zone 2
propotionate volume of coarse aggregate for w/c ratio of 0.36
=0.62+0.048
=0.648
proptionate volume of fine aggregate=1-0.648
=0.352
*mix calculations:
a)total volume=1m3
b)volume of entrapped air in wet concrete=0.01 m3
c)volume of cement=(533.33/2.9)*1/1000=.1839
d)volume of water =192/1000=.192litre

e)volume of all in aggregate=1-0.01-.1839-.192=.614

f)mass of coarse aggregate=.614*.648*2.74*1000
=1090.34 kg
g)mass of fine aggregate=.352*1000*.614*2.65*
=572.73 kg
when cementious material is replaced by 0% rice husk ash
cement=533.33kg/m3,water=192kg/m3,fine aggregate in
ssd=572.73kg/m3,w/c ratio=0.36,coarse aggregate=1090.34kg/m3

.mix design
Mix design for concrete
replacement of cement by 20% of rice husk ash
grade of cement:M 40
type of cement:PPC
type of mineral admixture:rice husk ash
maximum nominal size of aggregate :20 mm
minimum cement content:320KG/m3
maximum water cement ratio :0.45
workability:75mm slump
exposure conditions:severe
degree of supervision:good
types of aggregate:crushed angular aggregate
maximum cement:450 kg/m3
specific gravity of cement:2.9
specific gravity of rice husk ash:2.28
specific gravity of coarse aggregate:2.74
specific gravity of fine aggregate:2.65
*calculation of target strength
fck'=fck+1.65s
=40+1.65*5
=48.25N/mm2
*approoximmatte air content assume 1% for 20 mmm nominal
size of aggregate
*selection of w/c ratio
max w/c ratio=0.45
 adopt= 0.36
*selection of water content:
maximum water content for 20 mm size of aggregate:186litre

(for 50 mm slump)
water content for 75 mm slump:186+3/100*186
=191.58 litre
=~192 litre
*calculation of cement content
water cement ratio=0.36
cementious material content=192/0.36
=533.33kg
cementious material content=533.33*1.1=586.66kg
rice husk as 20% of cementious content
rice husk ash content=586/5=117kg
cement conttent=586-117=469 kg
*volume of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate for zone 2
propotionate volume of coarse aggregate for w/c ratio of 0.36
=0.62+0.048
=0.648
proptionate volume of fine aggregate=1-0.648
=0.352
*mix calculations:
a)total volume=1m3
b)volume of entrapped air in wet concrete=0.01 m3
c)volume of cement=(469/2.9)*1/1000=.1617
volume of rice husk ash=(117/2.28)*(1/1000)=.0513
d)volume of water =192/1000=.192litre

e)volume of all in aggregate=1-0.01-.1617-.0513-.192=.585

f)mass of coarse aggregate=.585*.648*2.74*1000
=1038.6 kg
g)mass of fine aggregate=.352*1000*.585*2.65*
=545.68 kg
when cementious material is replaced by 20% rice husk ash
cement=469kg/m3,water=192kg/m3,fine aggregate in
ssd=545.68kg/m3,w/c ratio=0.36,coarse aggregate=1038.6kg/m3
rice husk ash=

• Mix Design Proportions are given in the Table below when 0% rice husk ash is
added
 MIX CEMENT SAND COARSE WATER
AGGREGATE
RATIO 1 1.1 2.04 0.36

QUANTITY 533.33 572.73Kg/m3 1090.34Kg/m3 192Kg/m3

Kg/m3
Table 11- Mix Design of M40 Grade with 0% rice husk ash
replacement

MIX CEMENT SAND COARSE WATER

AGGREGATE
RATIO 1 1.2 2.2 0.4

QUANTITY 469Kg/m3 545.68Kg/m3 1038.6Kg/m3 192Kg/m3

MIX RICE HUSK

ASH
RATIO 117Kg/m3

QUANTITY 0.25

*volume of 1 cube=.15*.15*.15=0.003375m3
*total cube in 1 m3=1/.003375=~297 cubes
• when no rice husk ash replacement
*mass of cement in 1 cube= 533.33/297=1.79kg
*volume of water in 1 cube=192/297=.646 kg
*volume of sand in 1 cube=572.73/297=1.92kg
*volume of coarse aggregate=1090.34/297=3.67 kg
• when 20% rice husk ash replacement
*mass of cement in 1 cube= 469/297=1.57kg
*mass of rice husk ash in 1cube=117/297=.393kg
*volume of water in 1 cube=192/297=.646kg
*volume of sand in 1 cube=545.68/297=1.837kg
*volume of coarse aggregate=1038.6/297=3.49 kg
• CASTING OF SPECIMENS
All the specimens were casted referring to the mix proportions
mentioned in table. For these mix proportions, required quantities were
weighed. Under this

article, casting of specimens for different properties. Specimens for

Compressive Strength 150x150x150 mm sized cube specimens were
prepared for compressive strength. The materials required were weighed
according to the mix proportion. Cement, fly ash, fine aggregates and
coarse aggregates were dry mixed first to have a uniform colour.

After that 50% of the total water required was added to the mix to have
thorough mixing for 3- 4 minutes. Then 40% of the water was added
with addition to the mix. Remaining 10% of water was sprinkled on the
above mix and it was thoroughly mixed in the mixer. The oiled samples
were then filled with the mix prepared and then filled moulds were put
on the vibrating table for their proper mixing. Immediately after casting
cubes, the specimens were covered with gunny

bags to prevent water evaporation. Six identical cubes were casted. Out
of six, three were tested after 7 days and rest after 28 days of curing.

• Specimens for Young’s Modulus

Diameter 150mm and 300mm length sized cylinder were casted for
young’s modulus. The materials required were weighed according to the
mix proportion. Cement, fly ash, fine aggregates and coarse aggregates
were dry mixed first to have a uniform colour. After that 50% of the total
water required was added to the mix to have thorough mixing for 3-4
minutes. Then 40% of the water was added with addition to the mix.
Remaining 10% of water was sprinkled on the above mix and it was
thoroughly mixed in the mixer. The oiled samples were then filled with
the mix prepared and then filled moulds were put on the vibrating table
for their proper mixing. Immediately after casting cylinders, the
specimens were covered with gunny bags to prevent water evaporation.
Six identical cylinders were casted. Out of six, three were tested after 7
days and rest after 28 days of curing.

• TESTING OF SPECIMENS
After casting, specimens were tested after 7 and 28 days of curing.
Under this article, the procedure followed for testing of specimens is
mentioned for evaluating various properties like compressive strength,
splitting tensile strength, young’s modulus of elasticity and rapid
chloride permeability of concrete.

• Mechanical Properties
• Compressive Strength
Specimens were demoulded after 24 hours of casting. Then they were
poured in curing tank for the predefined time. At the age of testing,
specimens were taken out of the tank and allowed surface drying for 10-
15 minutes. Specimens were tested in Compression Testing Machine
(CTM) at the load rate of 5 kN/sec specified as per IS: 516-1959. CTM
has the capacity of 5000kN. The failure load was then evaluated.
Figure 10: Universal testing Machine (UTM)
 CHAPTER 4

. SCOPE OF STUDY

The work presented in this project is the investigation of

behaviour of concrete against compression when certain
amount of cementious material is replaced by rice husk
ash.The physical and chemical properties of rice husk ash
were investigated and compared to opc.Mixture propotioning
was performed to produce concrete with target strength 40
mpa for the control mixture.A total of 6 concrete mixtures
were casted to study the effect of ricehusk ash and the level
of replacemnt on the proerties of fresh concrete and
compressive strength is compared.
rice husk ash which is derived from solid waste and contains
high quantities of pozzolanic material used as a
supplementry material of concrete.we know rice husk ash
which is waste material burnt from rice mill which is a
burden for society so we want to use that material for so it
give suitable strength with take care of cost effectiveness in
concrete production.
 CHAPTER 5

. WORK DONE TILL NOW

. specific gravity of fine aggregate through pycnometer

is calculated .
. specific gravity of coarse aggregate is calculated

. specific gravity of cement through lechatilier flask is

calculated .

. specific gravity of rice husk ash is calculated.

. design mix for m40 grade of cement concrete ,mix

propotioning is done for the replacement of 0% rice
husk ash,and 20% replacement of rice husk ash.

. after the mix propotioning quantity of

cement,sand,aggregate,rice husk ash is calculated,after
that we will make concrete cube of
150mm*150mm*150mm with 0% rice husk ash
replacement and 20 % rice husk replacement
. after the 24 hours moulds are opened and it is curing is
done for 28 days.
 CHAPTER 6

• FUTURE ROADMAP
• after the 28 days i.e when curing is completed for 28
days it is cleaned throughly and compressive strength
of cubes are find by compression testing machine.
•
• compressive strength of cube samples (for 0% rice husk
ash replacement&20% rice husk ash replacement) can
be find out and noted properly

• after that we will compare the result of compressive

strength of cement concrete what will be the impact on
cement concrete with partial replacement of ricehusk ash.