PROPERTIES OF SELF-COMPACTING MORTAR MADE WITH BINARY AND TERNARY CEMENTITIOUS BLENDS OF UNTREATED RICE HUSK ASH AND SILICA FUME

Abstract

This article presents a way to use silica fume (SF) in the production of highly flowable mortar containing untreated rice husk ash (RHA) and a way to evaluate the characteristic rheological and compressive strength development of this kind of mortar. Mortar mixtures were made with RHA used to replace cement at 0%, 10%, and 30% by mass without any treatment. SF was used in the percentage of 5%, 10% and 15% of the total binder materials (cement, RHA, and SF) to produce nine mortar mixtures, each of which had a water–binder materials ratio of 0.38 and a binder–sand ratio of 1:1. The mixtures were adjusted based on a slump flow diameter in the range of 25 ± 2.5 cm. The rheological properties were tested, including the mini slump flow and the V-funnel flow time, and compressive strength development was also investigated. The results indicate that a significant percentage of silica fume can be used to produce flowable mortar containing RHA. Further, the resulting mortars have good rheological properties but decreased compressive strength as compared with control flowable mortar.