CONCLUSION:

To conclude, as expected, it was obtained that Water cured samples yielded higher compressive strength
than the Air cured samples. However, it was obtained that the hand tampered sample had a greater
compressive strength than the vibrated sample which should not be the case.It contains trial mix designs
and experimental results (compressive strength) of two concrete mixes to be used for two different
applications . Trial Mix 1 is the normal mix that used aggregate,cement and water. It requires a design
strength of 30 MPa and adequate workability so that the concrete could be placed appropriately. A water
ratio of 0.45 was required and a slump of 100 mm was specified for adequate workability. Trial Mix 2 is
we used rice husk to replace sand with volume 2.77x10^-3 metre cube. It requires a design strength of 30
MPa due to the relatively low loads and large cross-sectional area of the pier, low heat of hydration to
prevent thermal cracking and minimal shrinkage to avoid surface cracking. A water ratio of 0.70 was
required and a slump of 75 mm was specified for adequate workability. Experimental test procedures to
determine the compressive strength of the trial mixes were conducted. The compressive strength was
determined at ages of 7, 14 and 28 days by crushing standard 150 x 150 x 150 mm cube specimens. The
compressive strength development rate was inferred from the measured compressive strengths. The
results of Trial Mix 1 suggest that the mix have high sufficient workability as it had a failed slump and was
observed to be lacking in cohesion and segregate. A 28 day compressive strength of 15.37 MPa was
achieved with very low variance which met the required characteristic strength of 30 MPa. Additionally,
a high strength development rate of between load/day was observed up to an age of 7 days. The results
of Trial Mix 2 suggest that the mix had medium workability, as it had a slump of 50 mm slump and was
observed to be moderately cohesive and not segregate. A 28 day compressive strength of 13.23 MPa was
achieved with low variance which did not meet the required characteristic strength of 30 MPa. A low
strength development rate of between load/day was observed up to an age of 7 days.