Study on concrete with partial replacement of cement by rice husk ash

Increase in the demand of conventional construction materials and the need for providing a sustainable growth in the construction field has prompted the designers and developers to opt for 'alternative materials' feasible for use in construction. For this objective, the use of industrial waste products and agricultural byproducts are very constructive. These industrial wastes and agricultural by products such as Fly Ash, Rice Husk Ash, Silica Fume, and Slag can be replaced instead of cement because of their pozzolanic behavior, which otherwise requires large tract of lands for dumping. In the present investigation, Rice Husk Ash has been used as an admixture to cement in concrete and its properties has been studied. An attempt was also done to examine the strength and workability parameters of concrete. For normal concrete, mix design is done based on Indian Standard (IS) method and taking this as reference, mix design has been made for replacement of Rice Husk Ash. Four different replacement levels namely 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% are selected and studied with respect to the replacement method.