CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Presented in this chapter are the discussions of the variables of the

study and its related studies.

Related Literature

Rice husks, also called as rice hulls, are the hard-protective coverings of

rice grains which are separated from the grains during milling process. Rice

husk is an abundantly available waste material in all rice producing countries,

and it contains about 30%–50% of organic carbon. In the course of a typical

milling process, the husks are removed from the raw grain to reveal whole

brown rice which upon further milling to remove the bran layer will yield

white rice. Rice husk ash is the remaining by-product after burning is done.

The chemical composition of RHA is significantly dependent on combustion

conditions, and the burning temperature must be controlled to keep silica in

an amorphous state. [ CITATION Fua \l 1124 ]

These rice husk ashes will usually end up as waste material since it has

little or no commercial value but its disposal can cause also an environmental

problem since it does not biodegrade easily. But because it can be easily

collected and is cheap, some amount of rice husk has been used as an energy

source for small applications. [ CITATION Ric \l 1124 ]

 Rice husk ash has high silica content and it makes good additive for

concrete. Silica is one of the factors that the cement is durable. Adding high

silica content material to concrete will improve its mechanical properties

particularly its compressive strength, bond strength and abrasion resistance.

Rice husks are very abundant waste material in all rice producing

countries and it is very cheap if you buy it. Thus, by using this as material for

research is helpful both for the environment and construction industry.

Related Studies

“Mechanical Properties of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) – High Strength

Concrete” a study conducted by Deepa G Nair et.al. The mechanical properties

of rice husk ash with concrete was investigated in this study. Rice husk was

collected from the rice mill. It was burnt in an annular kiln for obtaining

amorphous silica under controlled burning. The program consists of casting

and testing a total of 114 specimens. The specimens of standard cubes

(150mm x 150mm x 150mm), standard cylinders of (150mm diameter x

300mm height) and standard prisms of (100mm x 100mm x 500mm) were

cast with and without RHA. The specimens were cast with M60 grade

concrete with different replacement levels of cement varying as 0percent,

5percent, 15 percent, and 25percent with RHA with varying water-binder

ratio (w/b). From the results obtained, on 7 th 28th and 90th day for cube, it is
observed that for a particular w/b from 0.35 to 0.4 the compressive strength

of concrete increased as the replacement levels up to 25percent and beyond

that the compressive strength reduces. This mix is taken as the optimized

mixed. For cylinders, on the 28th day also compressive strength of the

optimized mix showed and increase of about 13percent than that of the

control mix. Both Flexural and bond strength at 28 days increased with the

replacement of 25percent cement with RHA. Base on the result the modulus

of elasticity slightly reduces with the replacement of cement with 25percent

RHA that differ to other results due to the difference in fineness of the RHA

samples. The optimum mix with 25percent replacement showed 5.5reduction

on density when compared with the controlled concrete due to the fact that

the specific density of RHA is much lower than cement.

RHA in concretes results in improved compressive strength and

flexural strength and also a slight increase in bond strength. Study shows

the effectiveness of RHA in high strength concrete as a sustainable cement

replacement material [ CITATION Dee13 \l 1124 ]

Rice husk ash is rich in silica content that made the concrete more

durable. Thus, in 2018 there’s a “Review study towards the effect of silica

fume on the fresh and hardened properties of concrete” conducted by Ashhad

Imam, Vikas Srivastava and Vikash Kumar.

 Silica fume, also known as micro silica is a non-crystalline polymorph

of silicon dioxide. It is extremely fine with particle size less than 1 micron and

with an average diameter of about 0.1 microns, about 100 times smaller than

average cement particles. Silica fume can be utilized as material for

supplementary cementations to increase the strength and durability

conforming to AASHTO M 307 or ASTM C 1240 [ CITATION Ima18 \l 1124 ]