STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL PERFORMANCES OF RICE HUSK ASH (RHA) BASED SAND CEMENT BLOCK

Abstract: The sand cement blocks have been used in many countries of the world including Sri Lanka over a long period and it plays a major role in the building and construction industry. However, in order to make the indoor environment of the building as thermally comfortable as well as for achieving high structural performances, it is useful to use an alternative material to make blocks and bricks. Rice Husk Ash (RHA) is a by-product obtained from the combustion of rice husk which consists of non-crystalline silicon dioxide RHA having pozzolanic properties would reduce the demand of Portland cement whose cost has risen in Sri Lanka. The paper focuses on the study of structural characteristics and thermal performance of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) based sand cement blocks through an experimental investigation. Strength characteristics of the blocks were investigated by conducting laboratory experiments. Thermal behavior of the block was investigated by comparing the variation of indoor temperatures in two model houses constructed with the sand cement blocks and Rice husk Ash (RHA) based sand cement blocks. It was found that the optimum compressive strength of RHA based cement sand block is achieved at 5 % replacement level. The RHA based sand cement block make indoor environment more thermally comfortable than the sand cement block