The potential utilization of rice straw ash as cement replacement in mortar material

This paper explored the suitability of rice straw ash, cement and water to produce mortar. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the possibility of using rice straw ash in mortar mixes as cement replacement to reduce the environmental effects of cement manufacture. For this purpose the mechanical properties of mortar mixes were compared with control samples. This study focused on the parameters of compressive strength. The rice straw ash used in this study was in the form of granules of about finer than 0.075 mm diameter which would replace (by weight of cement) a portion of the binder of an equal size (0.075 mm). In this investigation, four different percentages of cement replacement were used and air curing has been applied. Based on the result, air curing condition showed that the hardener mortar can be produced and exhibited the decreasing of compressive strength of mortar from 100% cement to 70% cement.