Enhancement of the properties of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag based Self Compacting Geopolymer Concrete by incorporating Rice Husk Ash

Rice Husk Ash (RHA) is an agricultural waste and plentifully accessible in rice-producing countries such as India. Use of RHA is achieving broader awareness because of its considerable impact on the mechanical and microstructural properties of concrete based on OPC as well as geopolymer binders. This paper presents the effect of RHA on the Fresh and Mechanical properties of Self Compacting Geopolymer Concrete (SCGC) blended by Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS). The SCGC was developed using GGBFS as the primary binder and GGBFS was replaced with 5%, 15% and 25% of RHA. The workability of fresh SCGC was assessed by slump flow, V-funnel, L-Box and J-Ring test methods as per EFNARC guidelines. Mechanical properties such as compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength at 3, 7, and 28 days was tested. The results show that replacement of GGBFS with RHA results in loss of workability. The optimum replacement level of the RHA is 5% which results in 2.81% decrease in slump flow value but increases 3.02% compressive strength compare to results of 100% GGBFS SCGC mix. From SEM images, 5% RHA mix shows dense microstructure. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.