ABSTRACT
The Nigerian rice husk was collected, sun-dried, burned, and then heated in a sealed furnace to a specified temperature. After filtering, the powder was combined with some Portland cement. Concrete mixtures were prepared with the replacement of OPC at specific percentages and without the replacement of pozzolans (a mixture of sand, coarse aggregate, and water, weighed to the needed mix). The finished concrete samples were then contrasted with other mortar samples that had not been combined with the pozzolanic ingredient. The assessment showed that the mortar admixed with the locally produced pozzolanic material was better in moulding into shape, permeability, workability, strength and showing less segregation than the other one not admixed with the produced material. The outcome of this work highlights or shows the importance of pozzolanic materials in cement as well as concrete related construction and the relevance of the Nigerian Rice Husk which are many times considered environmental problems. In this study, the impact of adding RHA in different ratios (0%, 10%, and 20%) as a replacement of ordinary Portland cement with water–cement ratios 0.5 and cured in water for different periods (7, and 21 days) both on the tensile, flexural and compressive strength of the concrete and on its corrosion was investigated. The prepared specimens were tested by flexural, compressive, and tensile strength tests, slump test to determine the suitability of the partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement by RHA in concrete. The most significant results of this study, which are novel in this field, are that adding fine (as opposed to more extensive) RHA particles improves the flexural, compressive, and tensile strength values and that an adverse effect was found to increase the water-cement ratio, which is attributed to the effect of water on RHA and as a result on the porosity of the concrete.
