Innovative guidelines for mix design and construction practices for concrete manufactured using rice husk ash and waste marble slurry: insights from experimental study

Abstract

This study investigates the use of rice husk ash (RHA) and waste marble powder (WMS) as sustainable pozzolanic additives in concrete, promoting circular economy principles by reusing the wastes. Cement was partially replaced with RHA (6%-24%) and fine aggregate (FAA) with WMS (12%-36%), alongside 1.5% hooked steel fibres. The optimized mix, RH18MD36SF1.5 (18% RHA, 36% WMS, 1.5% steel fibres), showed significant improvements: compressive strength increased by 47.6%, split tensile by 45.8%, and flexural by 49.6%. Life cycle assessment (LCA) using the ReCiPe methodology revealed reductions of 36.5% in particulate emissions, 36.6% in greenhouse gases, and 41.7% in fossil fuel burning. These results align with UN SDGs 9 and 12, promoting climate-resilient, sustainable infrastructure. The study demonstrates the feasibility of converting waste into construction resources, offering guidelines for optimizing concrete mix designs and construction practices to enhance durability and sustainability in structural applications.