The Evaluation of Compressive Strength and Curing Duration of Binary Blend of Rice Husk Ash Concrete

Abstract

This paper examines the compressive strength of the binary blend of
rice husk ash concrete and curing period. The purpose of the study
was to source for local materials like agricultural waste that could
replace some percentages of cement in order to make it more
economical in concrete and to ascertain its usefulness in the
construction industry. A quantitative method was used for the
research design. The total concrete specimens of size 100mm x100mm
produced in the laboratory were one hundred and twenty (120). The
rice husk were completely burnt in an electric furnace to obtain the
ash and 0 %, 5 %, 10 % and 15 % of the ashes were used to replace
cement in grade 20 concrete. The curing duration were 7 days, 28
days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days and 200 days
respectively. The result revealed that compressive strength of the rice
husk ash concrete increases as the curing period increases and there
was decrease in the compressive strength of the pozzolanic concrete
as the percentages of rice husk ash increases in the concrete. The
binary blend of rice husk ash at 5% replacement had the maximum
compressive strength of 40 N/mm2 at 200 days of curing period, while
the control concrete compressive strength was 22.0 N/mm2
. The 5%
RHA had given more improved results in concrete when cured for a
longer period of 200 days.