Use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as a Supplementary Cementitious Material in Producing Normal Concrete

With the continuous increase of scarcity of the natural construction material sources and environmental awareness, utilization of wastes/by-products in the construction industry has become an attractive field of study. Several industrial by-products produced from different manufacturing processes have been considered for various usages in the construction field. This paper briefly describes the potential use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM). Here, three different grades of RHA (600-RHA, 150-RHA, and 44-RHA) in two different percentages (10 % and 20 %) of replacement of Type I Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) were investigated. Laboratory tests on the fresh concrete mix as well as the mechanical properties of the hardened concrete were performed. It was observed that coarser RHA-modified concrete (600-RHA and 150-RHA) showed reduced strength properties while finer RHA (44-RHA) exhibited improved concrete properties. Moreover, the incorporation of RHA in concrete was found to be effective in mitigating alkaline expansion