Performance of Rice Husk Ash as a Partial Cement Replacement in Fine Grained Mortar

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of rice husk ash (RHA) in a fine grained mortar. RHA produced from control combustion of rice husk. Fine grained mortar (FGM) is a mortar containing fine sand with a maximum size of 1mm. Chemical composition of RHA and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) were investigated using XRF in order to know the silica content in these materials. The particle size of RHA was analyzed to make sure it fineness is same with OPC after grinding. Compressive and flexural strength of FGM were tested on mortar prism for size 40mm x 40mm x 160mm with replacement of RHA 10%, 20% and 30% by weight of cement at 7 days and 28 days ofcuring. All 24 specimens of FGM were caste and tested. The flexural strength, compressive strength of FGM have shown quite encouraging and interesting results. The optimum replacement of RHA in FGM from compressive and flexural strength is 20% by weight of cement.