Study of Strength of Concrete by Partial Replacement of Cement with Rice Husk Ash and Chemically Curing with Polyethylene Glycol-400

Abstract

This paper covers a detailed study on the determination of the strength of concrete by partial replacement of cement with admixtures Rice Husk Ash (RHA) and Polyethylene Glycol-400 (PEG-400). RHA is a mineral type admixture while PEG-400 is a shrinkage reducing chemical admixture. Both the admixtures are added in the concrete in two ways and comparatively their impact on strength is studied – first only RHA is added by partial replacement of cement by weight in percentages of 11%, 18%, and 22%, and both RHA and PEG-400 are added together with the same quantity of RHA with PEG-400 in percentages of 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%. The strength of concrete is evaluated thereby after curing days of 7, 14, and 28 days. The tests that are conducted are – compression test on cubes, split tensile test on cylinder, and flexure test on beams. It is observed that when only RHA is added, the strength of concrete is more than that of the control mix, and when RHA and PEG-400 are added, the strength is more than control mix and even more than the strength observed when only RHA is added. All the tests and results were conducted and compared under the Indian standard codes IS 10262-2009 and IS 456-2000.