Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Sustainable application of rice husk and rice straw in cellular concrete

composites
Eduardo Cesar Pachla a,⇑, Débora Bretas Silva b, Kassio Joe Stein b, Ederli Marangon c, Wang Chong d
a
Civil Engineering Department, Centro Universitário Ritter dos Reis – UniRitter, Av. Manoel Elias, 2001, Passo das Pedras, Porto Alegre 91240-261, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
b
Civil Engineering Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Paulo Gama, 110, Farroupilha, Porto Alegre 90040-060, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
c
Civil Engineering Department, Universidade Federal do Pampa, Av. Tiarajú, 810, Ibirapuitã, Alegrete 97546-550, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
d
Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Avenida Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos, 100, Curitiba, 81531-980 Paraná, Brazil

h i g h l i g h t s

 Biomass degradation generates bending strength loss and compressive strength gain.
 Rice husk and straw combination proved to be more advantageous than husk isolated.
 Sound absorption of cellular concrete increases with rice straw addition.
 Prior saturation of vegetable fibers were not efficient for mechanical performance.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study seeks to evaluate the effect of incorporating rice husk and rice straw as a sealing material, and
Received 13 August 2020 to evaluate the mechanical, acoustic, thermal, and durability properties of the cellular concrete that will
Received in revised form 16 February 2021 be used. A sustainable use option for rice culture waste is provided and detailed in this paper. This study
Accepted 17 February 2021
seeks to improve the thermoacoustic performance of cellular concrete using only rice husk by adding rice
straw. The introduction of straw reduced the compressive strength by about 15% and increased the three-
point bending strength. Sound absorption increased when adding rice straw, and the sound insulation
Keywords:
values were statistically similar. With respect to the thermal analysis, the thermal conductivity was
Cellular concrete
Rice husk
directly proportional to the straw length. In general, the best formulation was S-15%-3, which contained
Rice straw 15% rice straw at 3 cm. Specimens were submitted to wetting-and-drying cycles to evaluate durability,
Thermo-acoustic performance leading to increased compressive strength, which also increased with longer curing times.
Plant biomass Furthermore, the cycles led to a reduction in the three-point bending strength while the thermal conduc-
tivity remained similar.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Worldwide rice production has risen over the last years from
660 million tons in 2007 to 756,7 million in 2017 [1]. Outside Asia,
Brazil is the biggest rice producer. The state of Rio Grande do Sul is
the largest producer, collecting more than 7 million tons in the
2018/2019 harvest [2]. In Brazil and emerging countries in general,
agribusiness is one of the key economic activities. In 2017, follow-
ing global trends, this sector contributed to 21.4% of Brazil’s gross
domestic production (GDP) [3], the largest share in thirteen years.
However, many by-products are not disposed of in an environ-
mentally friendly way. These by-products include straw, husk, and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: eduardo.pachla@gmail.com (E.C. Pachla).
bran [4]. These residues are mostly composed of cellulose, hemi-
cellulose, and lignin, and generally cannot be used as animal feed
[1,5]. Unfortunately, as a result, open-air burning is a common
practice that damages the environment and the health of the pop-
ulation [1,4].
Many efforts have been made to reuse these by-products as bio-
mass [1,7,8], in light of the current need for renewable energy and
fuel sources [6] and the abundance of these by-products. It is esti-
mated that, by the year 2030, biomass will contribute to 50% of
total renewable energy. Currently, different thermal conversion
techniques are applied to treat this waste, e.g., combustion, co-
combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis. Some problems may arise
during these processes, specifically with respect to formed ashes,
mainly due to K, Na, Cl present in the compounds. This undesirable
effect is difficult to measure and prevent, since biomass is

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.122770
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al.
heterogenous. Nevertheless, biomass has characteristics favorable
for use in ceramics and cement [9,10].
Furthermore, the development of value-added products is a
promising and fundamental area of research [1,11–15]. Many stud-
ies have reported on biomass used in cement materials [12–14,16–
18]. According these studies, incorporating biomass results in the
production of adequate and versatile elements. However, the effi-
cacy of its applicability still needs to be verified in many aspects,
e.g., durability and compatibility [14,19–21].
The American Concrete Institute (ACI) [22] defines cellular con-
crete as ‘‘a low-density product consisting of Portland cement,
cement-silica, cement- pozzolan, lime-pozzolan, or lime-silica
pastes, or pastes containing blends of these ingredients, which
have a homogeneous void or cell structure, obtained from gas-
forming chemicals or foaming agents.” The foam acts as a cell for-
mation agent, generating a porous solid after combining other raw
materials. The incorporated pores result in reduced density com-
pared to conventional Portland cement concretes. This can lead
to certain particularities e.g., excellent acoustic and thermal insu-
lation, high resistance to fire, and lower mechanical resistance.
Moreover, it does not have to be compacted, vibrated, or leveled
[23,24]. It is lightweight and uncomplicated production process,
and thermoacoustic properties make it an excellent option for con-
struction materials [25,26].
By contrast, cellular concrete consumes high amounts of
cement, which is disadvantageous, but shows excellent potential
for partial replacement of cement using wastes coming from agri-
culture, mining, industrial or even construction activities. With
respect to agricultural waste, different types (palm shell, palm
ash, rice husk ash, sugarcane filter cake) have been used to produce
more sustainable concretes. However, most investigations focus on
the ash coming from the byproducts [21,27].
This paper focuses on developing sustainable and low-cost cel-
lular concrete composites by incorporating rice husks and straw.
This study analyzes the feasibility of developing a material with
satisfactory thermoacoustic performance to be used as a sealing
material in civil construction. These sealing materials can be large
masonry blocks, or sealing panels for steel and wood frame struc-
tures. It is possible to provide greater comfort to the user and con-
tribute to reducing energy consumption and environmental
impacts.
This study using rice husk from rice straw as an added compo-
nent was motivated by the results of other studies.
One such study stated that rice husk added to cellular concrete
did not significantly improve certain properties, such as thermal
insulation and sound insulation [28]. Therefore, this study seeks
to analyze whether the combination of rice husk with larger fibers
(rice straw) would improve these properties, and if there is a cor-
relation between these properties and the length of fibers. This
study is one of the first to combine two different biomass types
coming from the rice industry into cellular concrete. Furthermore,
this study also presents some new data that relate biomass com-
posite performance, mainly with respect to mechanical, acoustic,
and thermal characteristics on the degradation state of the fibers
and their dimensions.
2. Experimental methods
2.1. Materials and sample preparation
The following raw materials were used to prepare the material,
sulfate-resistant Brazilian Portland Cement CPV-ARI RS with high
initial strength, rice husk, rice straw, an air incorporator agent with
plasticizer and water. This cement type was selected due to its
2
Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770
availability while seeking to achieve fast demolding, which would
allow for subsequent on-site production.
The vegetable fibers used in this study were not specifically
characterized in terms of their composition. However, literature
indicates cellulose percentage levels close to 38.4% ± 2.8%, 29.4%
± 5.9% for lignin, 8.5% ± 1.8% for ash, and 23.7% for other compo-
nents [29]. Rice straw, in its natural state, presented values around
7.36% for silica, in addition to 38.7% carbon, 2.37% potassium, 1.13%
calcium, 0.53% magnesium, and water [30].
The rice residues were added into a mixer in their natural form
without any chemical or physical treatment. The study adopted a
water-binder ratio of 0.5 for all mixtures. The foam was prepared
using a foam generator (ECOFOAMER-100 W-10BP), which had a
density of 50 g/l. Table 1 shows each formulation prepared and
their respective mixture proportions.
This study developed ten formulations, one containing only rice
husk and nine formulations containing husk and straw. The straw
was added per husk substitution at three different percentages (5%,
10%, 15%) and for three different lengths (1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm).
Regarding the nomenclature, the letter ‘‘S” will be used to refer
to the formulations that contain straw. The first number refers to
the percentage of the substitution, and the last number is the straw
length.
Three representative samples of each formulation were pro-
duced for every test. The compressive strength tests were per-
formed on cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 100 mm, and
a height of 200 mm, while the three-point bending tests were con-
ducted on prismatic samples with dimensions of
160  40  40 mm3. The samples for the thermal conductivity
analyses had dimensions of 250  250  50 mm3. Two samples
with different dimensions were produced for the insulation and
sound absorption tests, according to the frequency range. Samples
with diameter 29-mm and height 50-mm were cast in specific
molds and used for the frequency range of 500 Hz to 6300 Hz,
while samples with diameter 100-mm and height 50-mm were
resized from samples with height 200-mm, and used for the fre-
quency range of 50 Hz to 1600 Hz.
This study followed seven steps to produce the composites:
1. Producing foam;
2. Measuring foam volume using a graduated container;
3. Placing the foam in a concrete mixer;
4. Placing the biomass (husk/straw) in the concrete mixer;
5. Gradually adding cement and water into the mixer, and then
mixing all the materials for 6–7 min;
6. Filling the molds with the produced mixture;
7. Removing samples from molds after 24 h. After that, the speci-
mens remained at room temperature (in a range of 25 °C to
35 °C, typical temperature in the region in summer months)
for 27 days, after which the tests started.
2.2. Test methods
Measurements of the specific mass of the fresh mixture were
performed shortly after mixing for technological control purposes,
according to ABNT NBR 12644 [31]. The specific mass in the fresh
state was controlled to avoid statistical influence on the results,
seeking small variations among the ten studied formulations. The
specific mass of the hardened state was evaluated at 28 days (cure
time) to check if it influenced the mechanical or thermoacoustic
results.
The compressive strength and three-point bending tests were
performed after a 28-day cure time using a universal test machine
with a loading rate of 0.50 mm/min. This was according to the pro-
cedures presented in [32] and [33].
Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al. Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

Table 1
Mixture proportions.

Formulation Cement (kg) Husk (l) Straw (l) Foam (l) Water Binder ratio
Reference 1 0.3500 – 2.8 0.5
S-5%-1 1 0.3325 0.0175 2.8 0.5
S-5%-2 1 0.3325 0.0175 2.8 0.5
S-5%-3 1 0.3325 0.0175 2.8 0.5
S-10%-1 1 0.3150 0.0350 2.8 0.5
S-10%-2 1 0.3150 0.0350 2.8 0.5
S-10%-3 1 0.3150 0.0350 2.8 0.5
S-15%-1 1 0.2975 0.0525 2.8 0.5
S-15%-2 1 0.2975 0.0525 2.8 0.5
S-15%-3 1 0.2975 0.0525 2.8 0.5

The acoustic tests were performed using an impedance tube

(AWA 6290M) following the procedures described in [34], then
white noise was emitted. The thermal conductivity tests were per-
formed using LaserComp, Model FOX 304, and the calculations
were based on the Fourier Law, according to [35].

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Specific mass

Table 2 shows the measured values for the specific masses in

the fresh state (SMFS) for all mixtures. One can see that the general
variation coefficient (V.C) is small, possibly leading to a lower
influence of this property on thermal, mechanical, and acoustic
performance.
After analysis at a 95% confidence level for a normal distribu-
tion, Fig. 1 shows no significant differences for the average. It is
also possible to verify data randomness around the mean value
— there are six values above the trend line and four values below Fig. 1. Normal probability distribution of specific mass in the fresh state.
it. The analysis showed that small variations and randomness were
caused by factors that the method cannot control.
Table 3
Table 3 shows the specific masses in the hardened state (SMHS).
Specific Mass in the hardened state.
The general variation coefficient, calculated based on all formula-
tions, reached 3.32%, which indicates that the variation of the aver- Formulation Specific Mass Standard Deviation V.C. (%)
(kg/m3) (kg/m3)
age specific masses was minimal. Fig. 2 presents the normality test
results with 95% confidence. There was only one result outside the Reference 745.64 16.02 2.15
S-5%-1 777.64 58.97 7.58
stipulated normality limits. The other results were around the
S-5%-2 744.06 12.50 1.68
mean, which indicates that the data was randomly distributed, as S-5%-3 706.19 18.50 2.62
observed in the results from the fresh state. S-10%-1 755.97 8.04 1.06
Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the specific mass in the S-10%-2 699.38 14.86 2.12
fresh and hardened state. We observed a density reduction in the S-10%-3 744.86 10.29 1.38
S-15%-1 727.44 22.26 3.06
first 28 days of curing for all composites. It is not easy to observe
S-15%-2 709.59 20.39 2.87
any correlation between the specific masses in the two states, S-15%-3 733.58 10.72 1.46
when analyzing Fig. 3 alone. The Pearson correlation coefficient General V.C. (%) 3.32
was 0.02193. In addition to the low correlation coefficient, the P-
value was 0.9502, well above the adopted significance level of

0.05. Based on these values, we can conclude that the correlation

Table 2
is null.
Specific mass in the fresh state.

Formulation Specific Mass (kg/m3)

3.2. Mechanical performance
Reference 786.00
S-5%-1 825.00
S-5%-2 790.60 3.2.1. Compressive strength
S-5%-3 817.00 Table 4 shows the compressive strength results. First, we ana-
S-10%-1 789.20 lyzed if there was a correlation between these results and the
S-10%-2 798.20
S-10%-3 774.80
specific masses in the hardened state. Using the Pearson method,
S-15%-1 779.90 a correlation coefficient of 0.4994 was determined, indicating that
S-15%-2 798.70 there was a moderate correlation between the two variables.
S-15%-3 815.00 The ANOVA variances were analyzed using the Tukey method
General V.C. (%) 2.10
with a confidence level of 95%, to determine if the straw had a
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Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al. Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

significant influence on the analyzed properties. Table 5 shows

Fig. 2. Normal probability distribution of specific mass in the hardened state.
which factors presented a significant influence on the results.
The study observed that there were significant differences when
comparing S5% and S10 % to S15%. According to Table 4, the com-
pressive strength decreased with increased rice straw additions.
The variance analysis also revealed that only 15% added straw sig-
nificantly influenced the compressive strength. Therefore, the
interaction of the straw’s factors (length and percentage) is not
preponderant for axial compressive strength.
After analyzing the variance, the study determined the correla-
tion coefficient between rice straw volume percentage and com-
pressive strength. The correlation value was 0.6194 with a P-
value of 0.0057, which implies that the compressive strength
reduces as straw volume percentages increase.
Fig. 4 shows the response surface, which relates the straw vol-
ume percentage and straw length to axial compressive strength. It
was also possible to verify that there was no correlation between
the length of the straw and the compressive strength through
the response surface.

3.2.2. Three-point bending strength

The results of three-point bending strength tests are shown in
Table 6. After testing the compressive strength, we then analyzed
to determine any correlation with the specific mass in the hard-
ened state. Since the Pearson correlation coefficient value was
0.3115, and the P-value 0.1117, no correlation at the 0.05 level
between the specific mass and three-point bending resistance
could be established.
The study performed ANOVA variance analysis based on the
Tukey method with 95% confidence, to check if there was a signif-
icant influence of rice straw on the strength. Table 7 shows which
factors had a significant influence.
Most averages showed significant differences. Thus, it was nec-
essary to calculate the correlation coefficient between rice straw
volume percentage and the three-point bending strength, and the
correlation coefficient between rice straw length and the three-
point bending strength. Table 8 shows the calculated correlation
coefficients. Both P-values were higher than the 0.05 significance
level. This indicates that there was no correlation between the
length or straw percentage and the three-point bending strength.
Fig. 3. Specific mass in the fresh state  specific mass in the hardened state. Even though it was not possible to determine any trend, all rice
straw composites had similar or superior performance when com-
pared to the reference material. Additionally, the mean strength
Table 4
Compressive strength results. values of the straw composites were higher in these cases.
Fig. 5 shows pictures of ruptured samples. One can see why rice
Formulation Compressive Strength Standard Deviation V.C.
straw composites showed greater tensile strength in bending tests.
(MPa) (MPa) (%)
According to Fig. 5, the rice straw appears on the rupture surfaces
Reference 2.85 0.07 2.46
and acts as a reinforcing component. Image G shown in Fig. 5 is
S-5%-1 3.42 0.28 8.16
S-5%-2 3.18 0.11 3.54 from the reference sample, comprised of only rice husk. Images A
S-5%-3 3.13 0.09 2.79 and B show two fibers that are separated from the cement matrix
S-10%-1 3.11 0.15 4.71 after the rupture. Images C and E show two ruptured fibers. Images
S-10%-2 2.97 0.13 4.28 D and F show that the fibers are not transversal to the surface and
S-10%-3 3.42 0.26 7.57
do not contribute to resistance.
S-15%-1 2.44 0.17 6.80
S-15%-2 2.84 0.15 5.22 Due to the small particle size of the rice husk, it was not easy to
S-15%-3 3.01 0.08 2.64 identify if the husk was broken or torn. Although, it was not possi-
ble to determine the correlation between the length or percentage
of rice straw and the tensile strength, all the composites with rice
straw showed better performance.
Table 5
Analysis of significant differences of means by Tukey’s method.
3.3. Acoustic performance
Lengths Significant Percentages Significant
(cm) difference? (%) difference? 3.3.1. Sound absorption
2–1 No 10–5 No Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate the material sound absorption curves
3–1 No 15–5 Yes with a fixed straw volume percentage, but with variable straw
3–2 No 15–10 Yes
lengths, all compared to the reference formulation. Analysis can
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Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al. Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

Fig. 4. Response surface of compressive strength.

Table 6
Three-point bending strength results.

Formulation Three point bending Standard V.C. (%)

strength (MPa) Deviation (MPa)
Reference 1.37 0.01 0.63
S-5%-1 1.66 0.01 0.79
S-5%-2 1.59 0.03 2.20
S-5%-3 1.54 0.02 1.65
S-10%-1 1.40 0.04 2.54
S-10%-2 1.51 0.07 4.96
S-10%-3 1.38 0.03 2.47
S-15%-1 1.39 0.02 1.72
S-15%-2 1.42 0.02 1.73
S-15%-3 1.40 0.01 0.79

Table 7
Analysis of significant differences of means by Tukey’s method.

Lengths (cm) Significant Percentages (%) Significant

difference? difference?
2–1 Yes 10–5 No
3–1 No 15–5 Yes
3–2 Yes 15–10 Yes

Table 8
Pearson’s correlation coefficients in flexion.

Bending  Rice straw length Bending  Rice straw percentage

Correlation coefficient 0.02813 Correlation coefficient 0.35159
P value 0.88921 P Value 0.07211

be performed in a generalized manner with similar results for all

lengths in each rice straw percentage.
The results show that in the frequency range from 50 to
1250 Hz — for larger samples — the composites with rice straw Fig. 5. Ruptured prismatic samples.
had a higher capacity for absorbing sound. With the aid of the error
bands, it is possible to verify that, regardless of the straw percent-
ages, the composites with the largest straw particles showed the to the smaller sample size, which contributed to heterogenous
best performance. The curves were generally within the error straw distribution within the specimen.
margins.
All materials with rice straw had a better capacity for absorbing 3.3.2. Sound insulation
sound when compared to the reference formulation. As observed in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 illustrate the sound insulation results through
the higher frequency range (1,250 to 6,300 Hz) where smaller sam- plotted curves based on 22 reading points. In the three figures, only
ples were used, there was no sound absorption difference among the curves for the standard deviation of the reference formulation
the materials, including the reference formulation. This was due were followed, since all curves were remarkably close to each
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Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al. Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

Fig. 6. Sound absorption coefficient curves: samples with 5% rice straw. Fig. 9. Sound insulation samples with 5% rice straw.

Fig. 7. Sound absorption coefficient curves: samples with 10% rice straw.
Fig. 10. Sound insulation samples with 10% rice straw.

other, and there was no notable difference in performance. In gen-

eral, variation is less than 10%, and the error band of the reference
formulation overlays the curves of the other composites at practi-
cally every point. No variation in the results was found for added
rice straw, which may be attributed to the sample size, as was
already previously mentioned in the sound absorption analysis.

3.4. Thermal conductivity

Other studies have shown that added rice husk increases ther-
mal conductivity. More specifically, the thermal conductivity value
without shell was 0.2420 W/m.K, while the conductivity value of
the formulation with shell (in this work Reference) was
0.2756 W/m.K [28].
In these studies, the drying temperature of the samples in an
oven was 60 °C, which did not guarantee the extraction of water
absorbed by the fibers. Drying the materials under 60 °C for 24 h
was selected to ensure that there was no microcracking in the
Fig. 8. Sound absorption coefficient curves: samples with 15% rice straw. material, which could result in loss of mechanical strength.
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Table 10
Pearson correlation coefficient for thermal conductivity.

Factors P Value Pearson

Coefficient
SMHS  Thermal conductivity 0.0054 0.5200
Straw percentage  Thermal conductivity 0.1354 0.2948
4
Straw length  Thermal conductivity 1.16910 0.6737

total amount of the biomass (husk + straw) was the same for all
composites.
However, it is difficult to say if there is still no significant differ-
ence in the results for thermal conductivity when greater amounts
of straw are added. It is necessary to test amplitudes that are 10%
greater than the ones used in this study to better understand con-
ductivity. In the analysis of straw length, we observed that thermal
conductivity had significantly different results when 3-cm length
straw was added, which could be explained as a function of the
increase in the straw length. For all percentages of 3-cm length
added straw, conductivity was lower than material without rice
Fig. 11. Sound insulation samples with 15% rice straw.
husk (only the matrix). We thus verified that increases in fiber
length can improve the matrix with respect to the thermal insula-
Table 9 presents the mean values of each formulation with their tion capacity, even if the material is dried at temperatures of 60 °C
respective statistical treatments. The study correlated the thermal for 24 h.
conductivity data to the specific mass in the hardened state
(SMHS), straw length, and volume percentage. 3.5. Durability
Table 10 shows the correlation coefficients of the three main
factors with thermal conductivity. At a significance of 0.05, the 3.5.1. Compressive strength
straw length had a moderate to strong inversely proportional cor- S-15%-3 was selected for the durability analyses based on its
relation with thermal conductivity, and the SMHS had a moderate potential thermal performance. It had similar acoustic perfor-
to strong correlation, which was directly proportional to the ther- mance results to the reference formulation containing only rice
mal conductivity. Straw percentage influenced thermal conductiv- husk, and had the best thermal conductivity of all formulations.
ity the least, at a 0.05 significance level. The correlation between We decided to saturate the rice husk and the rice straw before add-
SMHS and thermal conductivity, characterized by its proportional- ing them to the foam. The water absorbed by the husk and straw
ity, would be a consequence of the water present in the internal was not removed. This methodology was used to verify the best
structure of the composite, mainly in the husk and straw. procedure (with or without saturation) and to test variations in
Since the same formulation resulted in small variations of speci- mechanical strength and thermal performance when using the
fic mass and thermal conductivity, Pearson’s correlation coefficient same formulation with ‘‘in natura” biomass.
showed that, lighter the material, the lower the thermal conductiv- Comparisons between these two formulations (saturated and
ity. The response surface illustrated in Fig. 12 can help to under- unsaturated) were made at 28 days of curing, and durability tests
stand this trend better. Fig. 12 also indicates a correlation were performed at 91 days of curing. In order to accelerate the bio-
between a decrease in conductivity with increased lengths. The mass deterioration, some samples were submitted to wetting and
trend between straw volume percentages and thermal conductiv- drying cycles. The formulations were named to reference the pro-
ity could not be verified. cess involved. S-15%-3 refers to the formulation used in the previ-
Having explained all correlations, the variance analysis (Tukey ous tests, while SS-15%-3 refers to the composites with saturated
method 95% confidence) determined whether the difference in biomass, and SS/WD-15%-3 refers to composites after wetting-
the values was significant. Table 11 shows that the different vol- and-drying cycles.
ume percentages of straw did not significantly alter the results of The wetting-and-drying cycles were carried out for 91 days in
thermal conductivity. This was concluded because when there total, with each wetting cycle being six days long, and each drying
was less straw, the husk had the same volume of voids, since the cycle being two days long. The first wetting cycle was carried out
after seven days of curing at room temperature. Each full
wetting-and-drying cycle was repeated eight times. At the end of
Table 9 each cycle (wetting and drying), the samples were left for one
Thermal conductivity results. day at room temperature so that they would not be submitted to
Formulation Thermal Conductivity Standard Deviation V.C. (%) large thermal gradients and would not crack. At the end of the last
(W/m.K) (W/m.K) cycle, the samples were left at room temperature for 4 days.
Reference 0.2756 0.0131 4.77 Fig. 13 presents the compressive strength results. Starting from
S-5%-1 0.3009 0.0168 5.58 the comparison between S-15%-3 and the formulation that had
S-5%-2 0.2591 0.0200 7.20 added saturated biomass (SS-15%-3), we observed that SS-15%-3
S-5%-3 0.2247 0.0169 7.53 had a very significant reduction in compressive strength. The error
S-10%-1 0.2574 0.0234 9.08
S-10%-2 0.2606 0.0100 5.43
bars are divergent enough to state that the difference between the
S-10%-3 0.2390 0.0082 3.42 mean is statistically significant, and that strength reduced consid-
S-15%-1 0.2563 0.0190 7.40 erably in the material using this new procedure. The reduction
S-15%-2 0.2549 0.0228 8.96 was, in part, influenced by the specific mass in the hardened state,
S-15%-3 0.2133 0.0186 8.73
a moderate coefficient of correlation was calculated, and SS-15%-3
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Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al. Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770

Fig. 12. Response surface for thermal conductivity.

Table 11 The increase in the strength after the acceleration of biomass

Analysis of significant differences of means by Tukey’s method. degradation is consistent with the results obtained [36]. This
Lengths (cm) Significant Percentages (%) Significant increase indicates that in the medium or long term, depending
difference? difference? on the climatic conditions to which the material is subjected, the
2–1 No 10–5 No husk increases the concrete’s axial compressive strength.
3–1 Yes 15–5 No Furthermore, the samples submitted to wetting-and-drying
3–2 Yes 15–10 No cycles had strengths 13.50% higher than the samples cured under
normal temperature and relative humidity conditions. This value
was very close to the 15.50% increase reported by [36]. We
observed that the composites underwent remarkably high defor-
mation before finally breaking. This deformation is not characteris-
tic of brittle materials such as concrete and ceramics.
Some of the S-15%-3 samples were selected to determine the
Young moduli, presented in Table 12. Contrary to the findings of
[36], with respect to variations between different formulations,
we did not observe any influence of advancing degradation of
fibers using Young’s moduli. This divergence may have occurred
because the matrix used in this study was cellular concrete, which
had high porosity and exhibited high deformation when submitted
to high loads.

3.5.2. Three-point bending strength

Fig. 14 presents the three-point bending strength results for the
durability analyses. Comparing formulations S-15%-3–28 days, and
SS- 15%-3–28 days, the tensile strength for the three-point bending
test decreased with wet biomass. When biomass is saturated, it
increases in volume due to water being incorporated into its inter-
nal structure. With SMHS reductions, some of this water was
extracted from the biomass after 28 days of curing, which then
shrank. Volume reduction of plant fibers causes a decrease in
fiber/matrix contact. With a significant reduction in contact, the
Fig. 13. Compressive strength for durability. fibers do not reinforce the matrix, resulting in a composite that
bends similar to conventional cellular concrete.
The visual analysis of the ruptured samples after 28 days of cur-
ing may explain the tensile strength reduction. In this case, voids
had a SMHS value significantly lower than the S-15%-3. Compres-
sive strength reductions can be attributed to biomass saturation.
Table 12
The fibers significantly increase in volume when saturated, leading
Young’s modulus of composites with saturated biomass.
to the formation of larger pores.
When comparing SS-15%-3 composites at 28 and 91 days, an Formulation Young Standard V.C. (%)
modulus (MPa) Deviation (MPa)
increase in compressive strength was observed. An increase in
compressive strength was also observed when comparing the sam- SS-15%-3 – 28 days 11.39 0.96 8.44
SS-15%-3 – 91 days 10.97 0.95 8.63
ples submitted to wetting-and-drying cycles (SS/WD-15%-3) to the
SS/WD-15%-3 13.51 6.66 49.34
SS-15%-3 samples cured at room temperature for 28 and 91 days.
8
Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al.
Fig. 14. Three-point bending strength for durability.
between the rice straw and the matrix possibly led to a lack of
anchorage, resulting in reduced tensile strength in the three-
point bending tests. We also observed that the fibers of the satu-
rated biomass formulations ruptured, different from what was
observed in the other formulations (Fig. 5). Fig. 15 shows the
fiber–matrix and void interaction between the rice straw and the
composite matrix [8].
As observed in the compressive strength results, samples
SS-15%-3 cured at room temperature had an increase in their
three-point bending strengths with curing time. However, for the
samples that underwent wetting and drying cycles (SS/WD-15%-
3 91 days), there was a substantial reduction in the material’s
resistant capacity, with a final value lower than 50% of the strength
observed for the specimens cured for 91 days at temperature (SS-
15%-3–91 days). The composites studied in this paper had strength
reductions of approximately 52%, different from the 9% reduction
Fig. 15. Fiber-matrix interaction.
9
Construction and Building Materials 283 (2021) 122770
Fig. 16. Thermal conductivity for durability.
in three-point bending strength reported by [36], in which dry rice
husks were mixed with cement paste. This substantial difference
can be attributed to the reduced fiber–matrix interaction, as was
shown and highlighted in Fig. 15.
According to [36–38], strength reduction occurs as a function of
plant fiber degradation. Furthermore, we can affirm that the signif-
icant loss of fiber anchorage in the matrix also can lead strength
reductions, due to the contraction of the initial fiber volume caused
by the slow water removal from the inner structure of the material.
3.5.3. Thermal conductivity
Fig. 16 shows that after 28 days of curing, SS-15%-3 samples—
with saturated biomass — showed significantly higher thermal
conductivity than S-15%-3. This behavior is probably due to the
significant water increase in the materials due to the water present
in the biomass. In order to investigate this further, older samples
must be analyzed, because the water present in the vegetable
fibers is removed over time. One can see in Fig. 16 that, at 91 days
of curing, thermal conductivity was significantly reduced. The
results were similar to the results for S-15%-3. This confirms the
hypothesis that water was responsible for increase in thermal con-
ductivity for early stage specimens.
Biomass saturation had no significant influence on thermal per-
formance. However, this conclusion may be misleading, longer
aged samples or that are stove dried will remove water from the
internal structure, which could lead to changes in thermal perfor-
mance, reducing the thermal conductivity. Samples submitted to
the wetting-and-drying cycles (SS/WD-15%-3–91 days) had lower
average thermal conductivities than all the other formulations
studied. However, it is not possible to say that this value is statis-
tically inferior since the error bars overlap with the 91-day curing
samples at room temperature (SS-15%-3–91 days). Nonetheless, it
is evident that the thermal performance for added rice straw in cel-
lular concrete improves, since the reference formulation had ther-
mal conductivity equal to 0.2756 [W/(m.K)].
4. Conclusions
This study evaluated the influence of added rice husk and rice
straw on the mechanical, acoustic, thermal, and durability proper-
ties of cellular concrete composites, seeking to develop sustainable
materials that can be used in civil construction. The following con-
clusions can be drawn:
Eduardo Cesar Pachla, Débora Bretas Silva, Kassio Joe Stein et al.
 The volume substitution of rice husk for straw resulted in
reduced compressive strength at 15% additions. In turn, added
straw increased the three-point bending strength. The sound
absorption increased with added rice straw. Nonetheless, sound
insulation values were statistically similar for all materials.
 Added straw reduced the composite thermal conductivity.
Longer straw fragments led to better thermal performance.
 In general, the best formulation was S-15%-3 (15% added straw
at 3-cm length). Moreover, it improved sound absorption when
compared to the reference formulation and had the lowest ther-
mal conductivity of all the studied composites.
 With respect to durability, this study verified that axial com-
pressive strength increases as a function of the curing time
and the wetting-and-drying cycles. The three-point bending
strength reduced approximately 52% after the wetting-and-
drying cycles, proving that biomass loses its reinforcement
capacity as the degradation progresses. Thermal conductivity
decreased with increased curing times, and wetting-and-
drying cycles. Although the value was not statistically different
from samples using the same formulation, but rather sample
that were cured in a natural environment, we can see that bio-
mass degradation does not negatively affect thermal
performance.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Eduardo Cesar Pachla: Methodology, Validation, Formal analy-
sis, Investigation, Resources. Débora Bretas Silva: Writing - origi-
nal draft, Project administration, Formal analysis. Kassio Joe
Stein: Writing - review & editing. Ederli Marangon: Writing -
review & editing, Supervision. Wang Chong: Conceptualization,
Supervision, Writing - review & editing, Funding acquisition.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Coordination for the
Improvement of Higher-Level Education Personnel in Brazil
(CAPES) for financing this study (Finance Code 001).
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