Production of Low Cost Self Compacting Concrete Using Rice Husk Ash

Abstract

Self-consolidating concrete—as the name implies—is the concrete requiring a very little or no vibration to fill the form homogeneously. Selfconsolidating concrete is defined by two primary properties: Ability to flow or deform under its own weight (with or without obstructions) and the ability to remain homogeneous while doing so. High range water reducing admixtures are utilized to develop sufficient deformability. At the same time, segregation resistance is ensured, which is accomplished in one of the following two ways; introducing a chemical viscosity modifying admixture (VMA) or increasing the amount of fines in the concrete. The study explores the use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) to increase the amount of fines and hence achieve self-compactibility in an economical way, suitable for Pakistani construction industry. The study focuses on comparison of fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete containing varying amounts of rice husk ash with that containing commercially available viscosity modifying admixture. The comparison is done at different dosages of superplasticizer keeping cement, water, coarse aggregate, and fine aggregate contents constant. The mix design satisfies EFNARC guidelines 2002