THE POSSIBILITY OF ADDING RICE HUSK ASH (RHA) TO CONCRETE

摘要

In the last decades, the use of residue in civil construction, specially in addition to concrete, has been subject of many researches due to, besides to reduce the environmental polluters factors, it may lead several improvements of the concrete properties. The world rice harvest is estimated in 500 million tons per year, and Brazil is the 8th producer. Considering that 20% of the grain is husk, and 20% of the husk after combustion is converted into ash, a total of 20 million tons of ash can be obtained. This paper evaluates how different contents of rice husk ash (RHA) added to concrete may influence its physical and mechanical properties. Samples with dimensions of 10 X 20 cm were tested, with 5% e 10% of RHA, replacing in mass the cement. Properties like simple compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, water absorption and modulus of elasticity were evaluated. The results were compared to control sample and the viability of adding RHA to concrete was verified.