International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment (2017) 6, 675–692

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Gulf Organisation for Research and Development

International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment

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Review Article

Structure and properties of mortar and concrete with rice husk ash
as partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement – A review
Fapohunda Christopher a,⇑, Akinbile Bolatito b, Shittu Ahmed a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
b
Department of Building, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Nigeria

Received 9 December 2016; accepted 1 July 2017

Abstract

In order to arrest the incidence of global warming brought about by the emission of greenhouse gases notably CO2 into the atmo-
sphere, the use of materials that can substitute the material responsible for greenhouse gases is being promoted world-wide. One of these
is rice husk ash (RHA) which has been found suitable by researchers to partially replace Portland cement in the production of concrete.
This paper presents a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the work of numerous researchers on structure and properties of concrete
containing rice husk ash (RHA) as partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement. Some of the findings are: (i) controlled incineration
is required to produce RHA with structure that can result in structural concrete, (ii) the use of RHA resulted in increased water demand,
(iii) up to 10% cement replacement with RHA will result in strength development comparable to the control specimens, and (iv) the use of
RHA in concrete result in impervious RHA-concrete microstructure to agent of degradation like, sulphate attacks, chloride ingress, etc.,
as well as good shrinkage properties, and thus produce durable concrete when used. However, some areas such as the bending and shear
responses (and allied properties) of reinforced concrete slabs and beams with RHA are presently not yet covered by researchers; they are
therefore recommended for future investigation.
Ó 2017 The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Cement; Pozzolans; Rice husk ash; Strength; Structural concrete

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
2. Production, structure and physical properties of rice husk ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
2.1. Production of rice husk ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
2.2. Structure of rice husk ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
2.3. Physical properties of rice husk ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: christopher.fapohunda@fuoye.edu.ng (C. Fapohunda), timboljekbuild@yahoo.com (B. Akinbile), ahmed.shittu.0378@fuoye.edu.ng
(A. Shittu).
Peer review under responsibility of The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsbe.2017.07.004
2212-6090/Ó 2017 The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
676 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692

3. Chemical composition of rice husk ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679

3.1. Oxide composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
3.2. Pozzolanic properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
4. Fresh state properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
4.1. Consistence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
4.2. Rheology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
4.3. Workability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
4.4. Setting times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
5. Hydration and microstructure development of cement blended with RHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
5.1. Hydration mechanism and products of cement blended with RHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
5.2. Microstructural and morphology of cement and concrete with RHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
6. Hardened properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
6.1. Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
6.2. Compressive strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
6.3. Tensile strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
6.4. Modulus of elasticity of concrete with RHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
7. Durability properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
7.1. Water absorption properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
7.2. Shrinkage properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
7.3. Alkali-Silica reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
7.4. Chloride resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
7.5. Sulphate resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
7.6. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
8. Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

1. Introduction supplementary cementitious materials (also known as poz-

The fact that the contribution of the cement industry to
the global emission of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, is
8–10% (Mehta, 2002 and Sudendro, 2014) and with the
added fact that it is the third most energy-intensive indus-
try (Shafigh et al., 2014) raise a serious environmental con-
cern in the built environment. Some measures being taken
to decrease the rate of CO2 emissions during cement man-
ufacture include: (i) attainment of a higher efficiency in the
production process, by decreasing fuel consumption and
(ii) reduction of the rate of clinker production by using
mineral admixture replacements (that is, additions of sup-
plementary cementing materials (SCMs) during manufac-
ture or directly through cement replacement at the
building site). Mehta (2002, 2009) however concluded that
to obtain a major reduction in the CO2 emission associated
with cement production, the clinker content of the final
product must be lowered as much as possible by maximiz-
ing the proportion of mineral admixtures in cement, and to
increase the use of blended cements in general construction.
It has further been shown that if just 30% of cement used
globally was replaced with supplementary cementing mate-
rials (SCMs), the rise in CO2 emissions from cement pro-
duction could be reversed (Ecosmart, 2008). In recent
times, anthropogenic wastes, hitherto valueless, and creat-
ing disposal problems with potential to pollute the environ-
ment, are presently serving as source of SCMs. This has
created kind of environmental balance. Many researchers
have not only been able to establish that the use of
zolanic materials) like blast furnace slag, silica fume, meta-
kaolin (MK), fly ash (FA) and rice husk ash (RHA) etc.
can improve the various properties of concrete, but also
can contribute to economy in construction costs
(Amrutha et al., 2009). In particular, rice husk (the source
of RHA), an agro-based waste material that is abundant in
many parts of the world, especially in rice cultivating coun-
tries, like Nigeria, is a suitable construction material for
sustainable built environment. Each ton of paddy rice
can produce approximately 200 kg of rice husk, which on
combustion produces about 40 kg of ash (Bui, 2001). The
rice market monitor of the Food and Agricultural Organi-
sation (FAO, 2016) put the global rice paddy forecast for
2016 at about 745.5 million tons, and that is approximately
149.1 million tons of rice husks. The suitability of RHA for
the production of structural concrete, having been classi-
fied as highly reactive pozzolan, is not only considered as
‘‘green” and environmental friendly construction material,
but also useful in the quest to reduce the cement con-
stituents of concrete production. Thus the use of rice husk
ash in concrete in a large scale will help to lessen the
adverse effects on the environment from myriad of activi-
ties that take place in the domain of construction, by reduc-
ing the rate at which cement is being produced. A lot of
research efforts that have gone into laying the foundation
for further works, probing its properties and behaviours
on its: (i) production (Cook, 1986; Sugita, 1992; Bui,
2001), (ii) hydration (Cook et al., 1976; James and
Subba, 1986; Hwang and Wu, 1989), (iii) microstructure
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Table 1
Incineration Methods of production of Rice Husk Ash (RHA).
Researchers Main features
Van et al. (2013) The modified incinerator as detailed in Khan et al. (2015) can produce about 20–25 kg of RHA within a burning period of
two days in a single batch. The RHA produced through this method consists of high amount amorphous silica content
about 97.4%
Zain et al. (2011) The authors used a simple ferrocement furnace located at Structural and Concrete Lab in National University of Malaysia
(UKM), Malaysia. The furnace is able to produce amorphous silica with the constant furnace combustion temperature at
500–700 °C for 2 h. Although grinding for 30 min produced good result, grinding for 60 min or more is recommended by the
authors for achieving standard fineness of RHA
Habeeb and Mahmud The authors used incineration furnace with three small openings for ventilation. It has a capacity of 60 kg of raw rice husks,
(2010) with three small openings for ventilation. The design concept of this furnace is almost similar to Loo et al. (1984). The
authors reported that to produce reactive RHA using this furnace, the burning temperature of rice husk should not exceed
690 °C and particle sizes of RHA should less than 11.5 lm for a grinding time 360 min
Ramezanianpour et al. Type of furnace used by the authors to produce good quality RHA. In this furnace, burning temperature and rate of burning
(2009) are easily measurable. The authors produced RHA at various temperatures rate such as 550, 600, 650, 700 and 750 °C with
duration of burning time 30, 60 and 90 min, respectively. Finally, they suggested that RHA
Produced at 650 °C for 60 min can be considered to be non-crystalline RHA and also save the RHA production time
Nehdi et al. (2003) The authors burned of rice husk using fluidized beds which based on a different technique Torbed reactor. The Torbed
reactor can operate with gas velocities of 3–12 m/s. The RHA production technology are able to produce smaller RHA
particles, more economic and easy to maintain temperature
Loo et al. (1984) They designed a ferrocement furnace in order to produce RHA. The raw rice husk was kept in the incineration furnace for
burning and then allowed to cool for 24 h. Finally, they improved the fineness of cooled incinerated ash using Los Angeles
grinding machine

(Swamy, 1986; Malhotra et al., 1987; Mehta, 1994; Real
et al., 1996; Zhang et al., 1996; Sugita et al., 1997), (iv)
strength (Mehta, 1992; Hwang and Wu, 1989; Mehta and
Monteiro, 1993), and (v) usage (Mehta, 1994; Zhang and
Mohan, 1996; Nicole et al., 2000; de Sensale et al., 2008;
Habeeb and Fayyadh, 2009), etc. Some recent researchers
(Zain et al., 2011; Ferraro and Nanni, 2012; Zerbino
et al., 2014; Pedro et al., 2015; Swaminathen and Ravi,
2016) have been able to establish the level of socio-
economic and environmental benefits that are derivable
by the utilization of RHA as a mineral admixture in struc-
tural concrete. To facilitate its usage, it is necessary that all
the research work on rice husk ash be compiled in a form
that contains all necessary information need by potential
constructors and even researchers to help guide their
research efforts. Some notable efforts have been made in
the past by researchers (Givi et al., 2010a,b; Karim et al.,
2012; Kumar et al., 2013; Khana et al., 2014; Saad et al.,
2015; Gupta and Wayal, 2015; Swaminathen and Ravi,
2016) to review the properties of RHA. But those work
were either in parts or contain noticeable gaps or a times
contradictions in those works. For example,
Swaminathen and Ravi (2016) was partly rice husk ash
and partly metakaolin, while Gupta and Wayal (2015)
did not cover pozzolanic and tensile properties of concrete
with rice husk ash. Also Saad et al. (2015) was exclusively
on pozzolanic activities of concrete with rice husk ash.
Thus the purpose of this review is to update and compile
all research works on RHA as it relates to its structure
and properties, uncover gaps and reveal areas that are
yet to be covered, so as to provide a useful information
for users in the built environment and direction for further
studies to enhance its sustainability. The present work is
divided into six, namely: (i) Production, Structure and
Physical Properties of RHA, (ii) Chemical Properties of
RHA, (iii) Fresh state properties Mortar and concrete with
RHA, (iv) Hydration and microstructure development of
cement blended with RHA, (v) Hardened state properties
of Mortar and concrete with RHA and (vi) Durability
properties of Mortar and concrete with RHA.
2. Production, structure and physical properties of rice husk
ash
2.1. Production of rice husk ash
Properties and characteristics of a material are closely
related to that of the parent material and the methods
and techniques of its production. This also applies to rice
husk ash. Rice husk ash (RHA) is a material produced
by the burning of rice husk either through open field burn-
ing or under incineration conditions in which temperature
and duration are controlled. Open field burning is not
encouraged because of pollution problems and it also pro-
duces poor quality rice husk ash. The RHA produced from
open burning has high carbon content which adversely
affect concrete performance and also results in a structure
of highly crystalline form that is of low reactivity
(Hwang and Chandra, 2016). Thus the RHA in the amor-
phous form of silica with has the potential to be used for
structural concrete is produced through controlled inciner-
ation conditions (temperature and duration). Various
incineration processes have been used researchers to pro-
duce RHA and the features of some are briefly presented
in Table 1.
It is obvious from the above that there exist many ash
production methodologies and each has got its own merits
and demerits. However, incinerating conditions essentially
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control the quality of RHA, especially amorphous form,
which is needed for structural concrete.
2.2. Structure of rice husk ash
The structure of RHA is influenced by the incinerating
environments. Initially, the rice husk contains about 50%
cellulose, 25–30% lignin, and 15–20% of silica. Upon burn-
ing, cellulose and lignin are removed, leaving behind silica
ash. Based on temperature range and duration of burning
of the husk, crystalline and amorphous forms of silica are
obtained (Stroeven et al., 1999; Hwang and Chandra,
2016; Asavapisit and Ruengrit, 2005; Basha et al., 2005).
The crystalline and amorphous forms of silica have differ-
ent properties and it is important to produce ash with cor-
rect specifications for specific end use. The form of silica
having structure of highly crystalline has been found to
result in material of low reactivity (Hwang and Chandra,
2016). It is thus necessary to ensure that the silica in
RHA is in the amorphous form. This is achieved through
controlled incineration process. The effects of burning tem-
perature on the structure and specific surface area of the
RHA as determined from Scanning Electron Microscopy
(SEM) X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Back-scattered Electron
Image (BSE) and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP)
are presented in Table 2.
Subsequent investigation by Nehdi et al. (2003) and
Ahmed and Adam (2007) confirmed that by burning the
rice husk at temperatures not exceeding 700 °C, the nature
of RHA silica is predominantly amorphous, and thus reac-
tive under alkaline conditions like the ones created in the
hydrating cement paste. Nair et al. (2008) were of the opin-
ion that the highest amorphous silica could be obtained by
burning the rice husk at the temperature ranges of 500–
700 °C. But Hwang and Chandra (2016) concluded that
the pozzolanic reaction of ash formed at temperature
between 600 and 700 °C should also be greatest. It has
however been found out that burning the rice husk at tem-
peratures exceeding 700 °C could also yield reactive amor-
phous ash, but the duration of incineration should be short
(Bouzoubaa and Fournier, 2001; Maeda et al., 2001;
Bronzeoak, 2003). The SEM image obtained by Foong
et al. (2015) showed that the RHA sample has irregular
shaped particles with many micro-pores (Fig. 1). They
attributed the porous morphology to the burning out of
the organic component and caused higher loss on ignition
(LOI) value in the RHA.
Further, Nguyen (2011) showed that the quality of
RHA, is also influenced by the porous structure of ash par-
ticles and the specific surface area. There are also evidences
that the rate of cooling affects the particle sizes of RHA.
Fig. 2 is the SEM images for RHA samples burnt at
500 °C but differing in cooling procedure. The difference
in the morphology between RHA500-12Q and RHA500-
12S shows that particle size increases significantly in the
slow cooling regime as compared to quick cooling. It was
discovered that larger particles are observed for slowly
cooled particles (Nair et al., 2008).
The porous structure, which induces a large surface area
of RHA, obtained by burning, according to Le (2015), con-
sist mostly in internal pores; and they are influenced by
burning conditions, that is, temperature and duration of
combustion and the treatment of rice husk before burning.
He went further to showed that the pore size distribution in
RHA particles determined by Barrett–Joyner–Hanlenda
(BJH) contains macropores (>50 nm), mesopores (2–
50 nm), and micropores (<2 nm). On the basis of work
done by Feng et al. (2005) and Chandrasekhar et al.
(2006), the micropores and mesopores were considered to
affect significantly the pore volume, which in turn influ-
ences the specific surface area of the RHA. In addition,
the specific surface area of RHA increases with fineness
or degree of grinding (Coutinho and Papadakis, 2011;
Le, 2015). It is thus obvious from the above that to obtain
an RHA of maximum reactivity (amorphousness and high
porosity), time, temperature, grinding and environment
must be carefully selected in the processing of rice husks.
2.3. Physical properties of rice husk ash
Some physical properties of rice husk ash that can affect
the way it is applied for structural concrete because of their
influence on the mechanical and durability properties of
concrete, include, the specific gravity, mean particle size,
and its Blaine fineness. Investigations conducted by
researches (Bui et al., 2005; De Sensale, 2006;

Table 2
Effect of burning temperature on the structure of the RHA (adapted from Hwang and Wu (1989), Yuzer et al. (2013), Hwang and Chandra (2016),
Shodhganga (2016)).
Temperature Structure of rice husk ash (RHA) Specific Surface area
(m2/g)
Up to 500 Particles are spherical or globular in shape with porous structure 0.5–2.1
500–600 Particles are non-crystalline and partially crystalline. There is presence of fine porous crystalline grains, 76–122
smaller than 1 mm, possibly manifesting the transformation between the amorphous and the crystalline state
600–700 Amorphous particles, and diameter of pores is highest 100–150 at low
temperature
700–800 Partly crystalline, formation of coral-shaped crystals 6–10
800–900 Crystalline <5
900–1000 The formation of coral-shaped crystals increased, and progressively finer and melted considerably –
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
Fig. 1. SEM image of RHA (Foong et al., 2015).
Chindaprasirt and Rukzon, 2008; Ganesan et al., 2008;
Chatveera and Lertwattanaruk, 2009; Raman et al., 2011;
Marthong, 2012; Karim et al., 2013; Sua-iam and Makul,
2013) showed that the specific gravity of RHA varies in
the range of 2.05–2.53, which is relatively lower than the
specific gravity of the ordinary Portland cement which is
between 3.10 and 3.14 (Ganesan et al., 2008; Chatveera
and Lertwattanaruk, 2009; Tangchirapat et al., 2009;
Rukzon and Chindaprasirt, 2009) that it is meant to par-
tially replace. What this means is that, for a unit weight
replaced by cement, higher volume will result. The conse-
quent of this is that, the concrete produced will have a rel-
atively lower density than the concrete without RHA and
this density will reduce as the percent replacement
increases. The results of investigation conducted by
Obilade (2014) and Kachwala et al. (2015) agreed with this.
For effectiveness of RHA as a pozzolanic material, major-
ity of research studies conducted concluded that the mate-
rial has to be ground into a very high specific surface area
before use (Ganesan et al., 2008; Safiuddin, 2008; Givi
et al., 2010a,b; Nguyen et al., 2011a). The investigation
Fig. 2. SEM images for RHA samples burnt at 500 °C but differing in cooling procedure (Nair et al., 2008).
679
conducted by Antiohos et al. (2014) however revealed that
highest pozzolanic activities were achieved when the more
reactive RHA was ground to7000 cm2/g. The importance
of the particle size of RHA as a factor its pozzolanicity,
hence strength-dependent structural use, have been corrob-
orated by the works of many researchers. For example, the
investigation conducted by Bouzoubaa and Fournier
(2001) revealed that median particle size of about 8mm is
required to achieve pozzolanic activity index of 100 per-
cent. The work of Nguyen (2011) corroborated this, with
his conclusion that no significant pozzolanic activity is to
be expected for RHA with particle size below 5.6 mm. In
their own work, Nehdi et al., 2003 concluded that RHA
having particle size below 45 mm in size can actively take
part in pozzolanic reaction.
3. Chemical composition of rice husk ash
3.1. Oxide composition
The oxides composition of rice husk ash (RHA) as
obtained by various researchers are shown in Table 3. It
can be observed from Table 3 that all the results of the
researchers manifested a very high silica content – above
70%. This is a measure of the reactivity of RHA, silica is
the compound that has been found to be responsible for
the strength in concrete (Nair et al., 2008). This is particu-
larly good, for it established RHA as having the ability to
contribute to the strength development process if used in
concrete production.
Also the fact that the sum of SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3
exceeds 70% for all the RHA specimens demonstrated that
the RHA are in the same category with the Class F fly ash
(ASTM C618, 2005) with high pozzolanic characteristics.
However, the table also reveals a credible fear, that is, the
high loss on ignition, which is a measure for the residual
carbon content, recorded by all the researchers. According
to Obla (2008), ASTM C618 (2005) limits loss on ignition to
6% (for class C and F fly ash when used in concrete), while
BS12 (1996) limits LOI of Portland cement to 3%. If
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Table 3
Oxide composition of rice husk ash.
Researchers SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O K2O LOI SAF
Swaminathen and Ravi (2016) 87.2 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 – – 5.44 87.51
Mahmud et al. (2016) 85.76 0.25 1.15 0.74 0.81 0.31 – – 4.05 87.16
Foong et al. (2015) 93.46 0.58 0.52 1.03 0.51 – 0.08 1.82 7.76 94.56
Bansal and Antil (2015) 87.20 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 – – 5.44 87.51
Le et al. (2014) 86.81 0.50 0.87 1.04 0.85 – 0.69 3.16 4.60 88.18
Sivakumar and Mahendran (2014) 87.65 0.22 0.24 0.39 0.28 0.15 1.10 2.98 2.26 86.78
Le et al. (2015) 87.00 0.80 0.40 1.20 0.60 0.40 0.40 2.63 3.70 88.20
Kumar and Venugopal (2013) 93.80 0.74 0.30 0.89 0.32 0.28 0.12 3.37 94.84
Marthong (2012) 75.00 1.29 0.78 3.30 0.22 0.20 0.40 1.50 3.67 77.07
De Souza et al. (2011) 73.60 0.07 0.26 0.76 0.27 – 0.09 1.17 22.90 73.93
Memon et al. (2011) 77.19 6.19 3.65 2.88 1.45 – 0.00 1.81 5.42 87.03
Shukla et al. (2011) 87.20 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 – – 5.44 87.51
Madandoust et al. (2011) 90.90 0.83 0.6 0.8 0.56 – – – – 92.33
Raman et al. (2011) 89.87 0.14 0.94 0.49 – – 0.25 2.16 4.81 90.95
Hwang et al. (2011) 91.00 0.35 0.41 – 0.81 1.21 0.08 3.21 8.50 91.76
Zerbino et al. (2011) 94.84 0.39 0.54 1.32 0.40 0.01 0.11 1.45 0.25 95.77
Habeeb and Mahmud (2010) 88.32 0.46 0.67 0.67 0.44 – – 2.91 5.81 89.45
Muthandhi and Kothandaraman (2010) 89.47 Traces 0.62 2.69 1.16 0.93 2.09 0.83 2.27 90.09
Gastaldini et al. (2010) 90.00 0.28 0.14 0.45 0.28 0.02 0.08 1.55 5.00 90.42
Gastaldini et al. (2009) 87.46 2.53 0.40 0.78 1.58 – – 4.73 2.52 90.39
Dakroury and Gasser (2008) 87.20 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 1.12 3.68 8.55 87.51
Chindaprasirt et al. (2008) 93.20 0.40 0.10 1.10 0.10 0.90 0.10 1.30 3.70 93.70
Da Silva et al. (2008) 97.53 – 0.21 0.22 – – 0.01 0.04 1.72 97.74
Chindaprasirta et al. (2007) 90.00 0.50 0.90 0.80 0.60 0.10 0.10 2.10 3.20 91.40
Ramezanianpour et al. (2009) 89.61 0.04 0.22 0.91 0.42 – 0.07 1.58 5.91 89.87
Giaccio et al. (2007) 87.20 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 – 1.12 3.60 6.55 87.51
Bui et al. (2005) 86.98 0.84 0.73 1.40 0.57 – 0.11 2.46 5.14 88.55
Bui et al. (2005) 86.98 0.84 0.73 1.40 0.57 0.11 2.46 – 5.14 88.55
Zhang et al. (1996) 87.30 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 1.12 3.68 8.55 87.61
Mehta (1992) 87.20 0.15 0.16 0.55 0.35 0.24 1.12 3.68 8.55 87.51
*SAF = SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3.

properly produced, RHA of low loss on ignition can be
obtained (Bronzeoak, 2003). Cordeiro et al. (2009) sug-
gested a grinding procedures that can be adopted to
increase the homogeneity and pozzolanic activity of the
RHA containing loss on ignition about 12%. Furthermore,
there are indications that oxides composition on RHA are
not influenced by geographical location. Table 4 is chemical
composition of RHA on the basis of geographical locations.
The results of investigators presented in Table 4 demon-
strated that the chemical composition of RHA – especially
silica content – from various locations does not vary widely
– in the range of 85–95 percent. All the other constituents
of RHA, except potassium and magnesium, are available in
a very small range, that is, less than one percent. The rela-
tively low silica content recorded for the Nigerian rice husk
ash may not be unconnected to the method of burning. For
example, in the investigations by Oyekan and Kamiyo
(2011), open burning was used, while the burning tempera-
ture for the rice husk ash used by Joel (2010) was below
500 °C. Open burning of rice husk and burning rice husk
below the temperature of 500 °C cannot produce rice husk
ash that is high in reactive silica content (Nguyen, 2011 and
Khan et al., 2015). In addition, the sum of SiO2 + Al2-
O3 + Fe2O3 exceeds 70% for all the RHA specimens for
all the countries captured demonstrated that the RHA in
those countries are in the same category with the Class F
fly ash (ASTM C 618) with high pozzolanic characteristics.
With the exception of Nigeria – for the reasons earlier sta-
ted –, the values of LOI of the RHA samples obtained from
other countries are within the limits set by ASTM C618
(2005) and BS 12 (1996).
3.2. Pozzolanic properties
Pozzolanic properties measure the extent of the chemical
reaction occurring between the active constituents of poz-
zolana (that is RHA in this case), calcium hydroxide, and
water. This property is of utmost importance for it is an
indication of its ability to participate in the reaction that
lead to the formation of strength in concrete. Strength-
development abilities is a necessary condition for any mate-
rial to be considered for structural applications. Investiga-
tions conducted by Nguyen (2011), Zain et al. (2011),
Antiohos et al. (2014) and Le (2015) showed that RHA is
of high pozzolanic activities because of the presence of
amorphous silica, its fineness and high specific surface area.
Nguyen (2011) found out that the pozzolanic activities
increased with increase in the degree of its amorphousness
but decrease with the particles size of the RHA. However,
RHA with a high carbon content (usually obtained from
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692 681

uncontrolled burning conditions) was found to exhibit low

Vietnam
pozzolanic activity (Cordeiro et al., 2009). It is worthy to
Chemical composition RHA from various countries (adapted from Muthadhi and Kothandaraman (2007), Joel, 2010 Muthandhi and Kothandaraman (2010) and Oyekan and Kamiyo (2011)).

86.90

88.47
note that, in measuring the pozzolanic reaction, several

0.84
0.73
1.40
2.46
0.57
0.11

5.14
–
methodologies were adopted by various researchers
namely; rapid evaluation of pozzolanic activity by conduc-
tivity measurement, accelerated pozzolanic strength reac-

87.38–97.54
0.38–0.54
tivity index (API), strength activity index (SAI) and

0.25–1.0
0.58–2.0
0.12–2.0
U.S.A.

Traces

0–0.15
0–1.13
87–97

Frattini test method (Saad et al., 2015). However, results

from Frattini test and SAI method have been found not

–
only to correlate with each other, but also are methods that
0.18–0.28
can be well-controlled (Cordeiro et al., 2009; Antiohos

92.0–98.8
Thailand

0.03–0.8
0.5–1.0
2.5–2.8
1.0–1.3
2.4–2.5

3.5–3.7
et al., 2014; Saad et al., 2015)
89–95

70.0–81.85 4. Fresh state properties

4.1. Consistence
1.3–1.81
Nigeria

3–4.90
0–0.95
1.36–6
67–76

0–0.1

0–2.8
17.78

Consistence of concrete is the degree of wetness or

–

otherwise which indicates whether a concrete is workable

or not through the whole process of transportation, place-
87.1–97.57
0.08–0.84
0.03–0.73

0.11–0.2

ment, finishing without segregation. Results of investiga-

Nrland

0.3–1.4
0.7–2.4
0.1–0.5
86–96

tions conducted by Calica (2008), Kartini et al. (2010)

5.14
–

and Marthong (2012) showed that paste containing RHA

requires more water to achieve the standard consistence
Malaysia

when compared to the samples without RHA, and the

water demand increased with increase in cement replace-
93.52
93.1
0.21
0.21
0.41
2.31
1.59

2.36

ment with RHA. This was attributed to the porous struc-

–
–

ture of RHA which induces a large surface area (Le,

2015). It was further suggested by Kartini et al. (2010)
Japan

91.80
91.6
0.14
0.06
0.58
2.54
0.26
0.09
0.52

and Le (2015) that the adsorptive character of cellular

4.2

RHA particles coupled with its high fineness also increase

its specific surface area necessitating more water. The water
87.39

demand could be as high as 100% (Rashid, 2016). The

Iraq
86.8
0.40
0.19
1.40
3.84
0.37
1.15
1.54
3.30

works of Chindaprasirt et al. (2009) and Tuan et al.

(2011a,b) showed that the progressive grinding the RHA
to finer particles led to increased water demand.
86.5–95.20
4.62–5.3
0.5– 2.5
0.2–5.0

0.1–2.3
0.1–1.8
0.1–0.5
86–94

0.3–2
India

4.2. Rheology
–

De Schutter et al. (2008) defined rheology as ‘‘the

0.17–.0.26

branch of science dealing with deformation and flow of

0.06–1.2
Guyana

0.6–2.5

matter’’. Fresh concrete, rheological, is usually considered

88–95

0–0.3

88.95

as a multi-phase material, in which aggregate particles

–
–

–
–

are dispersed in a viscous fresh multiphase cement paste

material suspended in water. The parameters for rheologi-
87.31–97.08

cal analysis fresh concrete, according to De Schutter et al.

0.35–0.50
0.10–1.12
0.16 –0.4
0.15–0.4

0.4–0.49
Canada

2.0–3.0

(2008), are: yield stress (material which flows only when the
0–0.24
87–97

4–8

shear stress exceeds a certain minimum value), plastic vis-

*SAF = SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3.

cosity and thixotropy (the ability of a material to reduce

its resistance to flow (apparent viscosity) with increase flow
Country

(shear) or agitation and to regain its original stiffness when

Brazil

93.51
92.9
0.18
0.43
1.03
0.72
0.35
0.02

rest, the process being repeatable and reversible). A combi-

0.1
–

nation of low yield stress and a moderate plastic viscosity,

according to De Schutter et al. (2008), are required to fulfil
filling ability and segregation resistance of mortar. He fur-
Table 4

Oxides

Fe2O3
Al2O3

Na2O

ther stated that the low yield stress value is necessary to

MgO

SAF
CaO
K2O
SiO2

LOI
SO3

improve flowing ability, while viscosity must be high

682 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
enough to maintain a homogeneous system during trans-
port and placing until the start of hardening, and to ensure
proper flow rate, passing ability and segregation resistance.
However, rheological properties of fresh concrete
change over time in a non-linear manner, thus its applica-
tion in fresh concrete appears a substantial challenge. Le
(2015) used self-compacting high performance concrete to
investigate the rheological features of RHA. He concluded
that the incorporation of RHA increases the yield stress
and plastic viscosity of mortar. When compare to silica
fume, the effect of RHA is much stronger than that of
SF, especially when the coarser RHA and the higher con-
tent of RHA are used.
4.3. Workability
Workability is a property of freshly mixed concrete or
mortar which determines the ease and homogeneity with
which it can be mixed, placed, consolidated and finished.
The results of investigators (Calica, 2008; Kartini et al.,
2010; Marthong, 2012; Khassaf et al., 2014a,b) on the effect
of RHA on the workability of concrete converge at the
conclusion that concrete progressively become unworkable
as the percent replacement of cement with RHA increases
unless water-reducing admixtures are used. The workabili-
ties measured both from the slump and compacting factor
tests showed a reduction in value with increase in RHA.
Thus more water is required to make the concrete workable
with increase in RHA. It has been reported in (Le et al.,
2012 and Van et al., 2013), RHA is a porous material with
macro and meso-pores inside and on surface of the parti-
cles resulting in a very large specific surface area. Rice husk
ash will subsequently absorb certain amount of mixing
water on its surface resulting in decrease in free water
and lower slump. It is worth noting that at a given water
to cement ratio, small addition (less than 2–3 by weight
of cement) of RHA may be helpful for improving the sta-
bility and workability of concrete by reducing the tendency
towards bleeding and segregation (Mehta, 1983, 1992).
Notwithstanding, it can be inferred that to attain the
required workability, mixes containing RHA will required
higher water content than the corresponding conventional
mixes with RHA, and this demand increases with content
of RHA in the mix (Le et al., 2014)
4.4. Setting times
Setting times – initial and final – is important in concrete
hydration, as it determines the rate of strength develop-
ment in concrete. There seem no agreement yet among
researchers concerning the effect of RHA on the setting
times of paste. The results of the investigation conducted
by Marthong (2012) showed both initial and final setting
times increasing with increase in RHA irrespective of the
grade of the ordinary Portland cement used (Fig. 3). This
behaviour, according to Dakroury and Gasser (2008)
may be due to the low rate of hydration in the paste con-
taining RHA. Marthong’s work was a confirmation of
the results of earlier researchers such as: Oyetola and
Abdullahi (2004), Calica (2008), Dakroury and Gasser
(2008), Dabai et al. (2009) and Givi et al. (2010a,b).
The work of Rashid et al. (2010) however revealed dif-
ferent results. They found out that initial setting times
increased up to 15% cement replacement and RHA, and
they began to decrease with subsequent addition. They
observed further, that the final setting time decrease with
addition of RHA. Chanu and Devi (2013) agreed with this
trend, even though the increase was up to 20% cement
replacement with RHA before decrease began. The obvious
disagreement between these results was probably due to the
fact that Rashid et al. (2010) used open burning method to
obtain the RHA used, in which the burning temperature
was less than 450 °C. This temperature will only produce
crystalline RHA as has been previously discussed. It is pos-
sible that the setting times characteristics of crystalline
RHA are different from that of amorphous RHA, and that
this difference is yet to be well-understood.
5. Hydration and microstructure development of cement
blended with RHA
5.1. Hydration mechanism and products of cement blended
with RHA
Several investigators (Yu et al., 1999; Ordóñez et al.,
2002; Feng et al., 2004; Sivakumar and Ravibaskar,
2009) have explored the hydration mechanisms of cement
blended with RHA. The general conclusion is that RHA
containing a considerable amount of SiO2 will react with
Ca(OH)2 to produce the CSH gel; and that due to the fact
that the pozzolanic reaction is a lime-consuming reaction,
the paste containing RHA has a lower Ca(OH)2 content
than the pure Portland cement paste. There is however a
conflicting conclusion as to the effect of RHA on early rate
of hydration. The investigation conducted by Feng et al.
(2004) showed that the addition of RHA stimulates the
hydration of cement at early age, and hence more heat
and more CH in the RHA-blended cement paste are pro-
duced. However, Nguyen et al. (2011b) were of the opinion
that addition of RHA slows down hydration of cement at
early age. The difference in results can be attributed to the
fact that different wb ratios were used by the researchers.
Water-binder ratio probably has effect on the rate of early
hydration of paste with RHA. But Nguyen et al. (2011b)
were of the opinion that the porous structure of RHA
was responsible for this. Also, it has been found that the
RHA has both hydraulic and pozzolanic properties, so that
the reaction of RHA itself with water formed CSH (James
and Subba, 1986). There is additional evidence, according
to Yu et al. (1999) suggesting that in the presence of water,
RHA could react with Ca(OH)2 to form a kind of the fine
CSH gel (Ca1.5SiO3.5
xH2O). They further concluded that
the CSH gel appears to be flocs in morphology and of small
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
round grains with a porous structure. In addition, Yu et al.
(1999), through SEM images (Fig. 4) showed that the CSH
gel formed from the pozzolanic reaction of RHA fill the
inter-particle pores and plays a bridging role between
hydrates and anhydrous cement particles.
The pore structure RHA, described in terms of its pore
size and pore volume, also play an important role on the
hydration process due to the fact that some of the mixing
water are absorbed in its pores (Le, 2015). At early ages,
the amount of water absorbed might reduce the dilution
effect on cement hydration in the RHA blended cement
matrix, especially with the coarse RHA22.6 with larger
pore volume. At late ages, according to Nguyen et al.
(2011b) was of the opinion that this amount of water
absorbed into the pores of RHA is released from the pores,
when the relative humidity in paste reduces because of
cement hydration, and therefore keeps the hydration of
cement continuous. Besides, the higher alkali content of
RHA than that tends to increase the pH value of the
RHA blended cement paste, and thus accelerate the hydra-
tion of cement and pozzolanic reaction of RHA (Le, 2015).
Fig. 3. Variation of Setting Times with increase in RHA (Marthong,
2012).
Fig. 4. SEM images of the CSH gel in the paste containing 10% RHA at 20 ± 1 °C for 28 days, the CSH gel observed in the paste (left) and in the pore
(right), 8000 (Yu et al., 1999).
683
5.2. Microstructural and morphology of cement and concrete
with RHA
The use of RHA as partial substitute changes the
microstructure development of the Portland cement paste
due to the pozzolanic action, and these changes are time-
dependent as presented in Table 5. Nguyen (2011) found
out that pozzolanic activities of RHA paste is substantial
at later ages than in earlier ages. The increase of hydration
of cement with the addition of RHA at the later period can
be explained by the porous structure of RHA particles.
The pores in RHA particles may absorb a certain
amount of free water into its pores during mixing. On the
one hand, this adsorbed water decreases the rate of hydra-
tion of cement at an early stage. This is because of the
smaller amount of water available for cement to hydrate,
especially with low w/b ratio mixtures. However, at the
later stage, the relative humidity in cement paste drops
and this absorbed water will release from the porous
RHA particles can compensate this drop. In addition, the
release of water also promotes the hydration of cement.
There is indication that the degree of hydration is also
affected by RHA content (Fig. 5)
It can be observed in Fig. 5 that hydration increased
with RHA irrespective of the water-cement ratio, but there
is also evidence of higher hydration at higher water-binder
ratio. Nguyen (2011) also demonstrated that increased con-
tent of RHA bring about increase in the fineness pore
structure. This, he attributed to the fact that the higher
amount of the CSH gel formed from the pozzolanic reac-
tion between SF and CH will contribute to the refinement
of the pore structure, and hence reduce the volume of large
pores, and reduction in total porosity as hydration pro-
gresses. The overall effect of RHA mortar and concrete
specimens is the reduction in the permeability, and conse-
quently the porosity of the concrete specimens when com-
pared with specimens without RHA (Kartini et al., 2010;
Chopra et al., 2015).
684 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
6. Hardened properties
6.1. Density
The density of concrete is an important factor in the
determination of porosity, assessment of durability and
strength, and estimation of lattice constants for the CSH
phase in hydrated Portland cement (Shatat, 2014). Results
of investigations conducted by Adenuga et al. (2010)
showed that the density of concrete specimens containing
RHA decreased with increase in the content of RHA at
all water-binder ratio. Later work carried out by Yuzer
et al. (2013), revealed that the presence of RHA induces
porosity and reduces the density of concrete. By using the
total pore volume of each of the concrete series calculated
using the results of CT analysis, they demonstrated that the
pore volume increased as the amount of added RHA
increased. These findings were also corroborated by Nabi
et al. (2013) and Oyekan and Kamiyo (2011), and also in
ternary blends involving RHA (Shatat, 2014). It is also
worth noting that the density of RHA concrete, from the
findings of Adenuga et al. (2010) and Yuzer et al. (2013) fell
in the normal weight category, that is, within the range of
2200–2550 kg/m3 as per ACI Committee 213 (2003) and
Falade et al. (2011). This information is necessary to ensure
effective application of RHA in concrete.
6.2. Compressive strength
The compressive strength of concrete is an important
property of concrete not only because it is the property that
is most used for the design of structural concrete, but also
for compliance purpose as a means of field quality control
(Wright and MacGregor, 2009). Nearly all the researchers
included compressive strength as one of the parameters of
investigation. From the analysis of the results of some of
these researchers, the factors affecting the compressive
strength of concrete incorporating RHA are water-cement
ratio, the curing duration and RHA replacement level.
Bui et al. (2005), De Sensale, 2006, Chindaprasirta et al.
(2007), and Babaiefar (2007) suggested that at the water-
cement ratios of 0.30, 0.32, and 0.34 compressive strength
increased (relative to the control) with RHA up to 20% at
the curing ranges of 7, 28 and 90 days. At the water-
cement ratio of 0.35, there seemed to be contradiction.
Table 5
Microstructural development of Portland cement paste with RHA (adaptation from Sivakumar and Ravibaskar (2009) and Hwang and Chandra, 2016).
Time Microstructural development
After 1 h Surface of RHA particles are covered by hydration products
After 1 day Most of the CH may have reacted with RHA; some hexagonal plates (about 0.1 mm) grow on the surface of RHA particles similar to
that of monosulfoaluminate (AFm). The ettringite (AFt) needles disappear and the CH crystals diminish due to the pozzolanic reaction
After 3 days The dense fibres bond with the matrix within large pores
After 7 days The pores are filled with the CSH gel
After 28 days The matrix has become denser and the non-decomposed CH crystal clogs the matrix
After 60 days The matrix bonds together, and the presence of CH becomes unclear
While Isaia et al. (2003) and Hwang et al. (2011) concluded
that the compressive strength decreased with RHA up to
30%, Gastaldini et al. (2010) showed that the compressive
strength increased with RHA. There is indications however,
that at water-cement ratio of 0.50–0.65 compressive
strength decreased with RHA (Bui et al., 2005; De
Sensale, 2006; Chindaprasirta et al., 2007). Further investi-
gations by Saraswathy and Song (2007), Habeeb and
Fayyadh (2009), and Habeeb and Mahmud (2010) showed
that at higher curing ages, the compressive strength
increased with increase in RHA up to 30% at the water-
cement ratio of 0.50 and 0.53. There is indication that at
constant water-cement ratio, the later days (curing age of
90 days and above) compressive strength of concrete with
RHA is higher than the control specimens (Isaia et al.,
2003 and Hwang et al., 2011). Although no literature is
available on the optimal dosage of RHA in concrete as
can be observed in Table 6, nonetheless researchers agreed
(Gastaldini et al., 2010; Hwang et al., 2011; Shatat, 2014;
Mahmud et al., 2016) that concrete incorporating RHA
developed later compressive strength that is higher than
specimens without RHA (Fig. 6).
Tuan et al. (2011a,b) attributed this to increased CAS-H
compound, reduced pores and resulting dense concrete at
the later days. The early day reduction in compressive
strength, in relation to the control, can be attributed to
delayed pozzolanic activities as noticed by Nguyen et al.
(2011a,b) in RHA-concrete specimens.
From Table 6, it can be inferred that concrete contain-
ing partial replacement of cement with RHA, irrespective
of percent composition of other components, by as much
as 10% by weight, will results in strength development com-
parable to the samples without RHA, irrespective of the
water-binder ratio used.
Mahmud et al. (2016) obtained some relations (Eqs. (1–
4)) between the porosity and the compressive strength of
concrete with RHA up to 20%.
Y OPC ¼ 13:949x þ 123 R2 ¼ 0:9978 ð1Þ
Y RHA10 ¼ 63:044x2 þ 191:66x þ 29:96 R2 ¼ 0:9726 ð2Þ
Y RHA15 ¼ 44:638x2 þ 126:42x þ 26:10 R2 ¼ 0:9827 ð3Þ
Y RHA20 ¼ 25:046x2 þ 131:85x þ 237 R2 ¼ 0:9514 ð4Þ
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
Fig. 5. Degree of hydration of cement in the RHA-modified sample (Nguyen, 2011).
where y = porosity, and x = compressive strength. They
concluded that the obtained higher coefficients of correla-
tion (R2 >0.95) established the reliability of the equations.
6.3. Tensile strength
The knowledge of tensile strength is useful to estimate
the load under which cracking will develop (Neville,
2003). This is due to the influence of tensile stress on the
formation of cracks and its propagation to the tension
region of reinforced concrete flexural member. Because of
inability to maintain truly axial load in direct method of
assessing tensile strength (Neville, 2003; Grcaeraj and
Venkatachalam, 2015) indirect method by splitting cylin-
ders and loading beam to failure in flexure were used
instead. The strength thus determined are known as split-
ting tensile strength and modulus of rupture respectively.
Investigations conducted by Le et al. (2014) and Foong
et al. (2015) showed that the 28-day splitting tensile
strength increased with increase in RHA content up to
15% by as much as 17.65% and 28% respectively, but
decrease afterward to about 5.88% of the control specimens
at 20% replacement level of cement with RHA. However,
the splitting tensile strength is about 10% of the compres-
sive strength. The works of Khassaf et al. (2014a,b) also
witnessed an increase at the 28-day, but at 10% replace-
ment of cement with RHA. Their work further showed that
splitting tensile strength at 20% replacement began to be
higher than the control as from 56 days onward. There
were also indications that water-cement ratio can affect
the splitting tensile strength of concrete containing RHA.
Using the data obtained in the investigation carried by
Abalaka (2013) for the plot in Fig. 7, it can be observed
that for water-cement ratios of 0.40 and 0.45, the splitting
tensile strength of specimens with RHA increased up to 5%
replacement and then decreased. However, at water-cement
ratios of 0.5 and 0.55, the splitting tensile strength
increased up to 10% replacement level and then decreased.
The improved performance of RHA concrete at higher
water-cement ratios can be attributed to presence of
685
sufficient free water to sustain the strength-forming hydra-
tion process. Due to its porous structure, RHA adsorbed
some of the mixing water which may be cause hydration
to stop at lower water-cement ratios.
There are also attempt to obtain expression relating
splitting tensile strength to compressive strength in con-
crete containing RHA. Foong et al. (2015) demonstrated
that the expression for the splitting tensile strength, sug-
gested by Shafigh et al. (2012) (Eq. (5)) can be used to pre-
dict the splitting tensile strength of concrete incorporating
RHA with deviations of between 2% and 9%
f t ¼ 0:4887f 0:5
cu ð5Þ
where ft = splitting tensile strength (MPa) and fcu = com-
pressive (cube) strength (MPa).
The general pattern of the modulus of rupture (or the
flexural tensile strength) of concrete containing RHA fol-
lowed the pattern for splitting tensile strength. From the
results of the investigations conducted Talsania et al.
(2015), the modulus of rupture was observed to increase
with RHA up to 20% replacement level and then decreased.
But the works of Vinothan and Baskar (2015) showed the
increase to be up to 10% replacement of cement with RHA.
The works of Foong et al. (2015) later demonstrated that
the flexural tensile strength of the concrete mixes with
RHA increased by 6–15% compared to the corresponding
mixes without RHA. Similar to the splitting tensile
strength, the improvement in flexural tensile strength was
largely due to the packing ability of the finer RHA
particles.
6.4. Modulus of elasticity of concrete with RHA
This is a measure for resistance of concrete against elas-
tic deformation. Thus higher modulus of elasticity of a
material represents a stiffer one. The results of investigation
conducted by Foong et al. (2015) showed that the presence
of RHA in concrete increased the Young’s modulus by as
much 25%. They attributed this to the finer RHA particles,
which were effective in the filling of pores, resulting in a
686 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692

Table 6
Optimal RHA replacement for strength development comparable to the control samples.
Researchers % RHA W-b Ratio Additional Comments
Mahmud et al. (2016) 20 0.25 High strength high performance concrete
Foong et al. (2015) 15 0.35 Manufactured sand was used as fine aggregate
Bansal and Antil (2015) 10 0.43 M30 Grade of Concrete
Talsania et al. (2015) 10 0.3–0.4 –
Khassaf et al. (2014a,b) 10 0.59 –
Le et al. (2014) 10 0.33 Coarse aggregate of the mix replaced by sand and fine aggregate
Muthandhi and Kothandaraman (2013) 20 – –
Abalaka (2013) 15 0.50 –
Nguyen (2011) 20 0.18 Superplasticiser added to the mix
Adenuga et al. (2010) 10 0.60 –
Gastaldini et al. (2010) 20 0.35 –
Habeeb and Mahmud (2010) 10 0.53 –
Kartini et al. (2010) 20 0.68 Superplasticiser added to the mix
Kumar and Rao (2010) 10 – Superplasticiser added to the mix
Uduweriya and De Silva (2010) 20 0.75 –
Dakroury and Gasser (2008) 30 All –
Ganesan et al. (2008) 15 – –
Saraswathy and Song (2007) 30 – –
Mahmud et al. (1996) 15 – –
Zhang et al. (1996) 10 – –
*W-b = water-binder.

and proportion of materials are influenced by the desire

Fig. 6. Effect of RHA on the Compressive Strength of Concrete (Mahmud
et al., 2016).
better interfacial transition zone between the OPS aggre-
gate and cement matrix. Foong et al. (2015) further sug-
gested that the expression in Eq. (6), proposed by
Alengaram et al. (2011) can be modified to predict the
Young modulus of elasticity of concrete with RHA.
 q 2
E¼5 f 0:333
cu ð6Þ
2400
where E = Young modulus of elasticity (GPa), and fcu = -
compressive (cube) strength (MPa). According to them,
this modification is necessary because of the overestimation
of the equation, to account for the effectiveness of the RHA
in enhancing the Young’s modulus of the concrete.
7. Durability properties
Long-term structural capacity of structural members is
an important consideration in design stage. The choice
to ensure that the designed structure continues to perform
satisfactory structurally in service in the domiciled environ-
ment. Though concrete is watertight, provides good
mechanical strength, ensures good thermal inertia, and
conforms to the health standards imposed by industry,
making it a material of choice for many applications. How-
ever, many of the environments to which concrete is
exposed are highly aggressive due to various chemical
and/or biological components, and the demands made on
concrete to perform in such environments are likely to
grow substantially in years to come as the built infrastruc-
ture expands and environmental pollution increases
(RILEM, 2016). Thus the importance of consideration of
durability issues in structural design cannot be over-
emphasized, especially in limit state design, where the
structure must not reach a state where it becomes
unserviceable.
7.1. Water absorption properties
The results of investigations conducted by Saraswathy
and Song (2007), Mahmud et al. (2009) showed that the
presence of RHA in concrete leads to a lower water absorp-
tion and sorptivity which is important factor for long dura-
bility. Da Silva et al. (2008) as when RHA present in
concrete, as when RHA present in concrete specimen it
reduces the inside pores as well as makes in uniformly
arranged by finer RHA particles. As a result, the water
absorption and sorptivity reduced than control concrete.
Givi et al. (2010b) reported that, the water absorption
co-efficient lower for ultrafine RHA (average particle size
5 mm) replaced concrete than control concrete up to 20%.
However, RHA (average particle size 95 mm) concrete
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
Fig. 7. Effect of RHA on the Tensile Strength of Concrete (Abalaka, 2013).
showed greater water absorption value than OPC. There-
fore, fineness of RHA is responsible to reduce water
absorption through the system. Safiuddin et al. (2011)
described that, water absorption of the concretes reduced
with a greater RHA content because porosity of concrete
reduced at higher RHA concrete.
7.2. Shrinkage properties
Knowledge of the shrinkage characteristics of concrete is a
necessary starting point in the design of structures for the pur-
pose of crack control. According to CCA (2002), proper mix
design of concrete is one of the measures that will produce
concrete of low shrinkage characteristics. Available literature
(Wu and Peng, 2003; Habeeb and Fayyadh, 2009; Mahmud
et al., 2009; Chatveera and Lertwattanaruk, 2011; Khassaf
et al., 2014a,b) indicates that there was drastic reduction in
drying shrinkage when RHA is used as partial replacement
of cement in concrete, when compared with specimens with-
out RHA; and that this reduction is progressive with increase
in the percent replacement of cement with RHA. This may be
attributed to lower cement content compared to control mix,
as well as to the pore size and grain size refinement processes
which strengthen the mechanical interlocking in the transition
zone. Thus when, shrinkage is a concern, the use of RHA can
serve as part of the strategy to mitigate its effect.
7.3. Alkali-Silica reaction
Alkali silica reaction (ASR) is a concrete durability
problem whereby certain forms of silica in aggregates react
with high alkaline pore solutions – usually Na(OH) and K
(OH) – in concrete to form a reaction product that expands
in the presence of moisture and results in deleterious crack-
ing of concrete. The measures usually taken to lessen ASR
problems are to use low-alkali Portland cement or to incor-
porate pozzolan into concrete mixes (Obla, 2016; Hime and
Erlin, 2016). Investigation conducted by Hasparyk et al.
(2000) to assess the expansion of mortar bars made with
different levels of cement replacement with rice husk ash
687
(RHA) revealed that, a partial replacement of cement with
RHA of between 12% and 15% may be sufficient to control
deleterious expansion due to alkali-silica reaction in con-
crete, depending on the nature of the aggregate. It is
believed that RHA in the concrete mix suppresses the
expansion due to alkali-silica reaction by the mechanism
of entrapment of alkalis and a consequent decrease in the
pH of pore solutions since the expansion of the mortar
bar is sensitive to the pH level of the solution (Cao et al.,
1997). Another study, conducted by Le (2015) however
showed a contrary result. In his investigation, using self-
compacting high performance concrete, he noticed visible
cracks in specimens with RHA, which is more pronounced
the higher then temperature. The observance, through
ESEM images and ESEM-EDX, of a lot ASR products
filled in the pores and deposited in the matrix of the paste
bar containing RHA suggested that these cracks were a
results of expansive hydration products. He thus concluded
that RHA constitutes rather than prevent ASR deteriora-
tion. He is of the opinion that RHA particles act as
micro-reactive aggregates and react with alkali hydroxide
to generate the expansive ASR products.
7.4. Chloride resistance
Methods used by investigators (Nehdi et al., 2003;
Saraswathy and Song, 2007; Chindaprasirt and Rukzon,
2008; De Sensale et al., 2008; Salas et al., 2009;
Madandoust et al., 2011; Coutinho and Papadakis, 2011;
Chopra et al., 2015) to assess the ability of concrete with
RHA to resist chloride ingress included: ASTM C1152
(2003), AASHTO T259 (1980), AASHTO T277 (1983),
ASTM T1202 (rapid chloride penetration test). Though
Stanish et al. (2016) asserted that none of the methods is per-
fect, their results however agreed that inclusion RHA con-
crete and mortar specimens proved to be more resistance
in relation to the control specimens at replacement levels
up to 40% and irrespective of the water-cement ratios, and
at all the curing ages. This has been attributed to less poros-
ity and finer pore structures of RHA specimens. The impli-
688 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
cation of using RHA in concrete is that protection is offered
for the embedded steel in reinforced concrete, thereby reduc-
ing the risk of concrete deterioration through chloride
ingress into such concrete, especially when the structure is
located in coastal areas or exposed to de-icing salts.
7.5. Sulphate resistance
While Portland cement composites are durable in a wide
range of natural environments, some service environments,
notably those rich in sulfate, are aggressive to concretes
made with conventional Portland cement (Menéndez
et al., 2013). This results in loss of strength and durability
(Karasin and Dogruyol, 2014), due to a process termed sul-
fate attack, which is a term used to describe a wide range of
conditions and content, and different types of cations (Mg,
Ca, Na, etc.) associated with sulphate, which can either be
chemical or and physical in nature. According to RILEM
(2016), the main consequence of sulfate attack is the reac-
tion of sulfate ions with cement hydration products to form
gypsum and ettringite, or, in general, modification of the
CASAH structure. The modification of the CASAH struc-
ture leads to the destruction of the strength-forming hydra-
tion product, and thus weakens the ability of paste and
concrete to develop a structural capacity. However, the
investigation conducted by Sakr (2006) showed that incor-
poration of RHA in concrete has a mitigating factor
7.6. Summary
According to Neville (2003), when concrete is able to
withstand the conditions for which it has been designed,
it is said to be durable. From the above it is obvious that
inclusion of RHA in concrete has the potential to produce
a durable concrete. The results of the pozzolanic reactions
between the amorphous silica of RHA and calcium
hydroxide (CAH) produced by the cement hydration
formed calcium-silicate-hydrates (CASAH). The CASAH
gel fills the spaces between the cement grains and this not
only reduce the number of large pores, but also increases
the probability of transforming the continuous pores into
discontinuous ones. Therefore, all these mechanisms make
the RHA-concrete microstructure impervious to agent of
degradation, thus ensuring a durable concrete, when used.
8. Conclusions and recommendations
From the results of the above review, the following con-
clusions are made.
i. Only rice husk ash produced to be amorphous and por-
ous, usually obtained at burning temperature of between
600 and 700 °C (by using appropriate incineration
method) has potential for use in structural concrete
because of the pozzolanic tendencies of such RHA.
ii. Rice husk ash suitable for structural applications can
be obtained by carefully selection of incineration
time, temperature, and environment in the processing
of rice husks.
iii. The chemical composition of RHA showed high silica
content, and further that the chemical composition is
not affected by the geographical location
iv. The paste containing RHA requires more water to
achieve the standard consistence when compared to
the samples without RHA, and the water demand
increased with increase in cement replacement with
RHA.
v. The concrete specimens containing RHA progres-
sively become unworkable as the percent replacement
of cement with RHA increases unless water-reducing
admixtures are used.
vi. The densities of concrete containing rice husk ash are
within the range for normal weight concrete, and thus
can be used for general purpose application.
vii. The compressive strength of concrete containing
RHA depend on the water-cement ratio, but at least
up to 10% cement replacement with RHA will result
in strength development comparable to the control
specimens.
viii. The impervious RHA-concrete microstructure to
agent of degradation like, sulphate attacks, chloride
ingress, etc., as well as good shrinkage properties,
makes it to produce durable concrete when used.
From this work, it is glaring that some areas are yet to
be given attention by researchers, and thus recommended
for further studies.
1. Investigation of structural behaviour a material for use
for concreting in built environment will not be complete
without experimentation on reinforced concrete beams
and slabs with RHA, where properties like crack forma-
tion and propagations, stiffness, stress–strain behaviour,
flexural properties, shear properties, etc. are assessed. As
these properties were yet to be given attention by
researchers in their studies, these properties are there-
fore recommended further study.
2. Presently, there is a lot of literature on chemical compo-
sition, microstructure and compressive strength of con-
crete with RHA, while little literature exist on such
mechanical properties like tensile strength (expressed
as splitting tensile strength and modulus of rupture),
development of ratios between tensile strengths and
compressive strength, and elastic modulus. These are
thus recommended for more and confirmatory
investigations
3. There is not yet agreement among researchers on the
effect of RHA on the setting times of paste containing
rice husk ash (RHA). Further investigations need to
be conducted to resolve this.
 C. Fapohunda et al. / International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6 (2017) 675–692
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