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Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 10, No. I, pp.

521-526, 1996
Copyright 8 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0950-0618/96 51S.OO+O.O0

Effect of rice husk ash on high strength


concrete

Muhammad Shoaib Ismail* and A. M. WaliuddintS

*Department of Civil Engineering, NED University of Engineering & Technology,


Karachi, Pakistan
tNational Building Research Institute, F-40, S.I.T.E, Hub River Road, Karachi, Pakistan

Received 31 October 1995; revised 20 February 1996; accepted 26 April 1996

High strength concrete (HSC) was produced using locally available materials. The effect of rice husk
ash (RHA) passing #200 and #325 sieves as a lO-30% replacement of cement on the strength of HSC
was also studied. The RHA was obtained by burning rice husk, an agro-waste material which is
abundantly available in the developing countries. A total of 200 test specimens were cast and
tested at 3,7,28 and 150 days. Compressive and split tensile strengths of the test specimens were
determined. Cube strength over 70 MPa was obtained without any replacement of cement by RHA.
Test results indicated that strength of HSC decreased when cement was partially replaced by RHA for
maintaining same level of workability. Copyright Q 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Keywords: rice husk ash; strength; high strength concrete

Unlike steel and stone, concrete is a comparatively new 50% cellulose, 25-30% lignin and 15-20% of silica. The
construction material. Use of this material in building former two components are removed by burning, leav-
construction is relatively recent and may have begun ing behind silica ash. Completely burnt husk is grey or
less than a century ago. This century has seen very wide whitish in colour, while partially burnt husk is blackish.
and effective research on this material and the effective- Studies conducted by the authors, while investigating
ness of this material has increased from decade to the chemical properties of RHA, indicate 80-90% silica
decade. The definition of HSC has been changing from with impurities of KzO and Na,O from 14% in addi-
time to time. Until the late 1960s 35 MPa and 42 MPa tion to oxides of Ca, Mg etc. These results favourably
were considered as HSC while in the mid 1980s 55 MPa compare with the studies conducted by Metha.
concrete was considered as HSC. Perhaps by the end of
this century, 150 MPa will be branded as HSC. Literature review
Production of HSC is a challenge and depends upon so Seng and Rangan obtained 60 MPa concrete while
many factors. In this study an attempt has been made Peter and Marios3, using microsilica and a good blend
to prove that using local materials, it is possible to of coarse aggregate, obtained 124 MPa concrete. Jiafen4
obtain HSC up to 70 MPa with slight increase in cost. using zeolite powder obtained 80 MPa concrete.
HSC is very effective in multistorey buildings as it Carrasquillo obtained upto 100 MPa concrete. Burge6
reduces the cross-sectional area of the structural ele- obtained 96.5 MPa concrete using silica fume and
ments. It is also effective in pavements because of less cement with a high concentration of C,S. He further
abrasion and longer durability. observed that the mixture of cement and silica fume
In this study an effort was also made to evaluate the may be used with water reducing plasticizers and accel-
usefulness of using an agro-waste, known as rice husk erators. Aitcin and Metha in their study concluded that,
ash (RHA) (where an appreciable amount of silica is pre- for HSC, diabase and limestone aggregates give better
sent) as part re-placement of cement with locally avail- results compared to granite and river gravel. They fur-
able ingredients. Studies at the University of California ther indicated that the aggregate properties influ-
at Berkeley indicate that the silica of soil migrates in the enced the strength. Hanne et ~1.~ obtained concrete up
plant in shape of monosilicic acid which concentrates to 15 000 psi with pozzolanic additives as part replace-
there by evaporation. Electron microscope studies have ment of cement. Aitcin studied the behaviour of HSC
shown dispersion of silica throughout the cellular struc- after four years of placement and concluded that there
ture of the husk. The unburnt rice husk contains about was no variation in strength and the microstructural
study of the inside as well as the skin indicated no detri-
$orrespondence to A. M. Waliuddin mental features. Malhotra studied various additives as

521
522 Effect of rice husk ash on high strength concrete: M. S. lsmail and A. M. Waliuddin

Table 1 Physical properties of fine and coarse aggregates

Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate

Specific gravity 2.7 2.65


Water absorption (XI) 0.8 0.5
D.R. unit weight (kg/cu m) I705 1450
F -- \
Sodium soundness loss (%) 2.1 1.2
Mix-Ab-30 L.A. abrasion (%) _ 21
Fineness modulus 2.9-3.0
Type Natural 20 mm down
river sand crushed limestone

II I I I
0 3 7 28 150
Table 2 Physical and chemical properties of cement
Days

W Physical properties

Fineness 33 I5 cmig
80 -
Soundness (autoclave exp) I mm
Initial setting time IlOmin
Final setting time I70 min
Compressive strength at 3 days 22.9 MPa
at 7 days 28.7 MPa
at 28 days 50.0 MPa

Chemical composition (%)

Silica (SiO,) 22
I I
Alumina (AllO?) 4.9
0 3 7 28 150 Iron oxide (Fe,O,) 4.4
Days
Calcium oxide (CaO) 62.0
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 2.25
Sulfur trioxide (SO,) 1.4
Figure 1 (a) Effect of RHA (passing #32S) on HSC; (b) effect of RHA
Insoluble residue 0.4
_^_
(passing #ZOO)on Hsc Loss on ignition 2.2
Tricalcium aluminate (C,A) 5.7
Lime saturate factor (LsF) 0.85
part replacement of cement. In his study, fly ash, silica
fume, slag and RHA were introduced as cementing mate-
rial by adding them as 941, 10% and 20/ by weight of
cement. His observations were that introduction of varied percentages of RHA with two different finenesses
silica fume and RHA demanded more water for worka- of the compressive strength. The physical properties of
bility. He, however, concluded that high performance coarse and fine aggregates are shown in Tuble I, while
HSC was not possible unless supplementary cementing Tubles 2 and 3 show the chemical and physical proper-
materials like silica fume, RHA etc. are used. It was fur- ties of the cement and RHA. The results of mix design
ther inferred that HSC can be obtained with crushed are indicated in Tubie 4 and Figure 1, while the proper-
limestone aggregate of 13 mm to 20 mm and down size ties of fresh and hardened concrete are tabulated in
with sand of fineness modulus ranging from 2.7 to 3.0. Tub/es 5 and 6 and the effects of fineness of RHA at
In each study*- it was concluded that super plasticizers
have to be used and the w/c ratio should be in the range
of 0.25 to 0.3. Metha observed that when the burning
temperature, to get RHA, is high, the RHA goes into the Table 3 Properties of RHA

crystalline stage while low burning yields RHA in amor- Physical properties
phous form which is highly pozzolanic in character as i
compared to the crystalline form of RHA. Microscopic investigation Crystalline structure
Burning temperature 400-700c
Chopra used RHA obtained from burnt rice husks Grinding time 90 min
(used as fuel for boilers resulting in crystalline RHA) to Fineness Passing #200 and
develop masonry cement by intergrinding this ash with #325 sieves
Specific gravity 2.11
freshly burnt quick lime and slaked lime in the ratio of
60:30:10 respectively with desired results but with qual- Chemical composition ((%I)
ity control problems. This was achieved by grinding the
Silica (SiO,) 80
mixture in a ball mill for 7 h. Alumina (AJO,) 3.93
Iron oxide (Fe20,) 0.41
Calcium oxide (CaO) 3.82
Experimental programme Magnesium oxide (MgO) 0.25
Sodium oxide (Na,O) 0.67
The objective of this research was to produce HSC above Potassium oxide (K:O) I .45
70 MPa using locally available materials and also to Sulfur trioxide (SO,) 0.78
Loss on ignition at 850C 8.56
study the effect of partial replacement of cement by
Effect of rice husk ash on high strength concrete: M. S. lsmail and A. M. Waliuddin 523

Table 4 Mix proportion

Materials Mix number


(kg/cu m) A Aa-lO Aa- Aa- Ab-IO Ab-20 Ab-30

Cement 571 514 457 400 514 457 400


RHA #200 _ 57 114 171 -. _
RHA #325 _ _ _ 57 114 171
Water 138 178 189 207 173 184 196
Fine aggregate 612 591 585 578 592 585 579
Coarse aggregate 1088 1050 1040 1027 1052 1041 1029
Plasticizer 25 25 25 25 25 25 25
(ml/kg of cement)
W/(C+RHA) 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34

Table 5 Characteristics of fresh concrete

Characteristics Mix number


A Aa-lO Aa- Aa- Ab-IO Ab-20 Ab-30

Slump (mm) 70 30 60 30 30 45 32
Density (kg/m) 2425 2405 2400 2398 2403 2396 2390
Air temp (C) 30 31 33 32 30 28 29
Cont. temp (C) 30.5 32.0 33.0 32.0 30.5 29.0 29.5
Workability Good Harsh Good Harsh Harsh Poor Harsh

Table 6 Characteristics of hardened concrete

(a) Compressive strength (MPa) of cubes, f,.

Age (days) Mix number


A Aa-lO Aa- Aa- Ab-IO Ab-20 Ab-30
(w/c: 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34)

3 54.3 46.2 35.3 31.5 47.0 46.7 43.1


7 62.3 56.0 46.8 39.3 61.0 56.0 51.7
28 72.4 68.1 57.3 47.7 71.0 70.2 63.0
150 85.0 71.1 57.4 48.8 72.4 70.3 63.2

% increase over 28 days 17.4 4.4 0.18 2.3 2.0 0.14 0.32

(b) Compressive strength (MPa) of cylinders, f,


Age (days) Mix number
A Aa- Aa- Aa- Ab-IO Ab-20 Ab-30
(w/c: 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34)

7 36.6 32.9 26.3 24.2 35.7 33.8 32.5


28 46.3 43.3 36.7 31.0 45.7 45.0 39.7
150 56.0 _ _ _ _

(c) Split tensile strength (MPa) of cylinders, j;,, at 28 days


Mix number
A Aa- Aa- Aa- Ab-10 Ab-20 Ab-30
(w/c: 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34)

4.17 3.45 3.17 2.97 3.80 3.72 3.44

(d) Ratio of cylinder to cube strength, f,.&


Age (days) Mix number
A Aa-lO Aa- Aa- Ab-10 Ab-20 Ab-30
(w/c: 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34)

7 0.59 0.59 0.56 0.62 0.59 0.60 0.63


28 0.64 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.63

different ages are shown in Tubles 7 and 8 and in results were obtained by Chopra by grinding RHA of
Figures 2
and 3, respectively. crystalline form, the authors tried to study the effect of
Studied by Metha had confirmed that the best con- crystalline RHA on HSC obtained by intense grinding of
tribution of RHA on the strength of concrete was RHA in a ball mill. The authors were of the opinion that
obtained when the RHA was in amorphous form the fineness of RHA may activate the pozzolanic prop-
obtained by low burning of rice husks. Since good erty of RHA even in crystalline form and for this reason
524 Effect of rice husk ash on high strength concrete: M. S. lsmail and A. M. Waliuddin

Table 7 Effect of fineness of RHA on three-day strength

Mix number
A Aa- Aa- Aa- Ab-10 Ab-20 Ab-30
w/c 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34

3 day strength (MPa) 54.3 46.2 35.5 31.5 47.0 46.7 43.1
% of 28 day strength 75.0 67.9 61.6 66.0 66.2 66.5 68.4

Table 8 Effect of fineness of RHA on seven-day strength

Mix number
A Aa- Aa- Aa- Ab-IO Ab-20 Ab-30
w/c 0.24 0.31 0.33 0.36 0.30 0.32 0.34

7 day strength (MPa) 62.3 56.0 46.8 39.3 61.0 56.0 51.7
% of 28 day strength 86.0 82.0 82.0 82.0 86.0 80.0 82.0

the RHA was ground up to the fineness equivalent to Concrete mix


sieve #200 (that of OPC) and sieve #325 (that of high
Based upon the properties of materials determined,
early strength cement).
mix proportions (after casting and testing some trial
RHA obtained from a local market was burnt slowly
batches) were established with and without the replace-
for about 24 h at a temperature of 400-700C in a drum
ment of cement by RHA. The batch without the replace-
providing sufficient ventilation at the top and bottom.
ment of cement was denoted by Mix-A and using this
It was then ground in a ball mill and sieved over #200
mix two other groups were prepared. The groups in
and #325 sieves. Tuble 3 shows the physical and chem-
which cement was partially replaced by RHA, passing
ical prOpertieS Of RHA.

(a) (b)
0 RHA passing # 325 0 RHA passing # 325
100r n RHA passing I200 n RHA passing # 200

wing t 325 (4 RHA passing # 325


usiog # 200
100

0 IO 20 30
. Rm (k)
Figure 2 Effect of fineness on strength gain at 3 days; (b) effect of fineness on strength gain at 7 days; (c) effect of fineness on strength gain at
28 days; (d) effect of fineness on strength gain at 150 days
Effect of rice husk ash on high strength concrete: M. S. lsmail and A. M. Waliuddin 525

(a) (b)

RHA passing t 325


m RHA pusing # 200

RHA (%I RHA (%)

(cl q Without RHA


0 RHA passing # 325
t25,- n RHA passing # 200

RHA (%)

Figure 3 (a) Effect of fineness on 3 dayf,,; (b) effect of fineness on 7 day,&,; (c) effect of fineness on 150 day, /E,

#200 and #325 sieves, were denoted by Mix-Aa and Test specimens
Mix-Ab. The above two groups (Aa and Ab) were again From the above mixes 100 X 100 X 100 mm cubes and
divided into three sub-groups with variations of quanti- 100 x 200 mm cylinders were cast in standard moulds,
ties of RHA, i.e. Mix-Aa in which cement was replaced by consolidated on a vibrating table fixed with two one-hp
10, 20 and 30% of RHA passing #200 sieve were denoted motors accommodating 14 specimens at a time. The
by Aa-10, Aa- and Aa-30. Similarly the Mix-Ab was period of vibration was fixed by varying from 60-120 s
denoted by Ab-10, Ab-20 and Ab-30. Mix proportions with 30 s increments. The specimens which were sub-
are given in Table 4. The concrete was mixed by tradi- jected to vibration for 90-120 s resulted in segregation.
tional method in a tilting type concrete mixer. While The optimum results were noted when the vibration
observing the characteristics of fresh concrete of different period was 60 s. Though in a few cases it was observed
mixes, it was noted that, in the concrete matrix when that the vibration period should be increased it was kept
cement was replaced in different proportions of RHA, the constant to maintain the same compaction period for all
workability decreased with increasing quantity of RHA. the specimens. Specimens were cured in the curing tank
This happened because the quantum of fine material in and were tested for compressive and splitting tensile
the concrete mix increased and it became difficult to have strength of concrete after 3, 7, 28 and 150 days.
the same level of workability (good) even using plasticiz- Characteristics of fresh and hardened concrete are given
ers. The authors had two options, of either keeping the in Table 5 and Table 6.
workability level constant or keeping the w/c ratio con-
stant. The latter opinion was tried first and in order to Results and discussion
obtain the same level of workability with a w/c = 0.24 the The results confirm that it is quite possible to get a
doses of plasticizer were increased beyond the doses strength of 70 MPa in Pakistan with locally avail-
recommended by the manufacturer. This resulted in able ingredients of concrete.
increased setting time and as such in subsequent stud& The results also confirm that it is possible to get
this was discarded. As such in subsequent tests the w/c high strength concrete economically using RHA by
ratio was varied and the workability was kept constant. burning locally available rice husk.
526 Effect of rice husk ash on high strength concrete: M. S. lsmail and A. M. Waliuddin

It is also observed that, even in crystalline forma- authors feel that the optimum strength may lie with
tion of RHA, good results may be obtained by fine part replacement of RHA between 10% and 20%.
grinding (Tubles 7 and 8). 4. A durability study of HSC made with part replace-
The results indicate that optimum replacement of ment of cement by RHA should be conducted along
cement by RHA will be around 10% to 20% with with its economic aspects.
finely ground RHA.
The rate of hydration in concrete made with part
replacement of cement by RHA is slow as compared Acknowledgements
to concrete with OPC only (Figure 3). This fact is
The authors would like to express their thanks to Dr A.
very dominant during the initial three days of age of
Maher, Director General, NBRI, Karachi for allowing
concrete. This rate of slow hydration also effects the
the collaborative R&D works with NED University of
150 day strength of concrete made by part replace-
ment of cement by RHA in the mix. Engg., Karachi. The assistance of Sharf Naz, Seema
The lower strength of concrete made with part Zameer, Asma Shaheen, Rana Anjum, Musarrat Naz
replacement of cement by RHA is because of higher and Darakhshan Raza, final year (civil) students of
w/c ratios. Though the w/c ratio for samples Ab-10 NED University of Engg. Karachi is also acknowl-
and Ab-20 is 23 and 28% higher than w/c ratio in edged. We are also thankful to Engr Minhajuddin
specimen-A, the 28 day strength is 98% and 97% of Nasri, Mr Saleem Khatri, Mr Anwar and Mr Bashir of
the concrete of Mix-A where no replacement was NBRI for their assistance.
made. An improvement in mix design by keeping
the w/c ratio constant in all types of sample will
References
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from RHA. In Proc. UNIDO/ESCAP/RCTT Workshop on RHA
ground crystalline RHA, which will be costly, will be
Cement, Prshuwur. Pukistun, 1979, pp. 1133122
another area of further study in the local conditions 2 Hwee, Y. S. and Rangan, B.V. Studies on commercial HSC. ACI
of Pakistan. Murer. J. September-October 1990, 440445
Variation of strength between cube strength and 3 Domone, P. and Soutsos, M. An approach to the proportion of
cylinder strength decreases as the strength increases. HSC mix. Concr. Intern. October 1994, 26-31
4 Jiofen, J. HSC in China. Cont. Infern. January 93, 4345
This finding is reported by Neville. The observa-
5 Carrasquiilo, P.M. and Carrasquillo, R.L. Evaluation of the use
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our observations indicate that the variation is more Morer. J. January-February, 1988, 49-54
even compared to normal strength concrete. This 6 Burge, T. A. 14000 Psi in 24 hours. Concr Intern. September
1983, 36641
aspect requires further in-depth study.
7 Aitcin, P.C. and Metha, P.K. Effect of coarse aggregate
characteristics on mechanical properties of HSC. ACI Mater. J.
March-April 1990, 103-107
Conclusions
8 Ronneberg, H. and Sandvik, M. HSC for North Sea platforms.
1. Both the broad objectives of the research, (a) possi- Concr. Intern. January 1990, 29-34
9 Malhotra, V.M. Fly ash, slag, silica fume and RHA in concrete.
bility of achieving concrete strength over 70 MPa
Concr. Intern. April 1993. 23-28
with locally available materials and (b) possibility IO Metha, P.K. Siliceous ashes and hydraulic cements prepared
of partial replacement of cement by an agro-waste therefrom, Belgium Patent 802909, July 1973; US Patent,
(RHA) for HSC, were achieved in the study. 4105459 August 1978
II Chopra. Utilisation of rice husk for making cement and cement-
2. The constituents of concrete as available locally are
like binders. In Proc. UNIDO/ESCAP/RCTT Workshop on Rice
sufficient to produce concrete of 70 MPa or more. Husk Ash Cement. Peshowar, Pukistun, 1979, pp. 135-149
3. In this study the maximum strength was obtained I2 Neville, A.M. Properties of Concrete, 3rd edn, Longman,
with 10% replacement of OPC by RHA but the Singapore, 1991

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