Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965

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Construction and Building Materials

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Evaluation of rheological and durability characteristics of sugarcane

bagasse ash and rice husk ash based binary and ternary cementitious system
V. Jittin , A. Bahurudeen *
Department of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad 500078, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Implementation of biomass based power plants is substantially increased worldwide, and hence large quantity of
Sugarcane bagasse ash agro-waste ashes is disposed as waste. The reuse of agro-waste ashes as supplementary cementitious materials
Rice husk ash helps to solve problems associated with intensive carbon emission from cement plants and the disposal of agro-
Rheology
waste ashes. Although earlier studies are reported on the use of sugarcane bagasse ash and rice husk ash as a
Ternary cement
Durability
pozzolan in concrete, studies on their combined use in the production of ternary cement are highly limited.
Hence, the present study focuses on the performance evaluation of the sugarcane bagasse ash and rice husk ash
based ternary blended cementitious system. The performance of the ternary blended concrete is also compared
with sugarcane bagasse ash based binary blended concrete. Rheological characteristics, compressive strength,
rapid chloride penetration test, water sorptivity index, and porosity of the blended concrete is investigated. The
yield stress, plastic viscosity and consistency index are increased with the increase in the addition of sugarcane
bagasse ash and rice husk ash. The highest compressive strength is observed for ternary blended concrete with
10% bagasse ash and 5% rice husk ash, followed by blended binary concrete with 20% bagasse ash. The decrease
in portlandite was evidently observed for binary and ternary blended samples with the addition of bagasse ash
and rice husk ash using X-ray diffractogram and thermal analysis. Reduction in chloride permeability, water
sorptivity index and porosity was observed for agro-waste ashes blended concrete than control concrete.

1. Introduction
Reduction in CO2 emission, saving energy and conservation of
limited non-renewable natural resources are the main ways to achieve
sustainable cement production. However, exploiting a large amount of
natural recourses and emitting a significant amount of CO2 during the
production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), make its production
highly unsustainable. The share of the cement industry towards CO2
emission is expected to reach around 20% by 2050 [1]. Agricultural by-
products are promising alternatives to conventional cement. The
sustainability-related with the incorporation of agricultural by-products
in the blended cement production is effective due to the reuse of locally
available agro-waste residual ashes instead of their disposal as waste.
Moreover, industrial and agricultural by-products such as silica fume, fly
ash (FA), metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), rice
husk ash (RHA) and sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), palm fuel ash, corn
cob ash are widely studied as supplementary cementitious materials
(SCM), which would otherwise cause a harmful impact as a result of
their disposal. It is vital to note that the cement clinker substitution rate
was increased from 30% to 38% over the year of 2006 to 2015 [2].
However, concerns regarding the availability of high-quality SCM are
increasing. The supply of high-quality GGBS production is limited to
around 300 – 360 Mt/year [3]. In most cases, the agro-waste ashes are
locally available to the cement plants and ready-mix concrete plants
compared to the currently used fly ash and slag [4]. Hence, the use of
agro-waste ashes instead of fly ash and slag is cost-effective because of a
significant reduction in the logistic price. Therefore, in recent times, the
primary focus of the development and characterisation of alternative
cementitious materials has been aligned to by-products from the agri­
cultural sector. Biomass based power plants are increasing extensively,
and hence the disposal of agro-waste ashes take place in large quantities.
Because of their high level of pozzolanicity and availability, agro-waste
ashes are suggested as an alternative cementitious material in many
parts of the world, including Asian and Latin American countries [5].
SCBA is obtained from the burning of bagasse in the cogeneration
boilers. Recently, several studies have been reported on the feasibility of
SCBA as an SCM. Moreover, adequate pozzolanicity as well as the
presence of a high amount of amorphous silica in SCBA have been

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bahur@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in (A. Bahurudeen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125965
Received 11 October 2021; Received in revised form 25 November 2021; Accepted 29 November 2021
Available online 8 December 2021
0950-0618/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965

a) b)

c) d)

e) f)

g) h)

Fig. 1. Scanning electron micrograph of a) Raw SCBA; b) Sieved SCBA; c, d) Processed SCBA; e) Raw RHA; f) Sieved RHA; and g, h) Processed RHA.

2
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
witnessed [6-10]. SCBA was reported to enhance the performance of the
blended cementitious system in terms of strength and durability [11-
13]. Burning of each ton of bagasse in cogeneration boiler of power plant
generates 25 to 35 kg of SCBA [14], and hence a considerable amount of
SCBA is produced from cogeneration boilers of sugar mills. China alone
generates 1.2 to 2 million tons of SCBA per year [15]. In addition, it is
reported that the average production of SCBA is 70 tons per day in sugar
mills, based on the cogeneration capacity [16]. On studying the avail­
ability of SCBA in India, Athira et al. stated that about 25% of sugar mills
in India produced 10,000 tons of SCBA per year, and 25% produced
more than 40,000 tons per year. In addition, 50% of sugar mills generate
10,000 to 40,000 tons of SCBA per annum [14]. RHA is the residual ash
obtained from the burning of rice husk. Silica present in the RHA is
higher than 85%, depending on the nature of the husk and burning
conditions. RHA contains the highest amount of silica amongst all the
agricultural by-products [17,18]. Earlier studies have confirmed the
significant pozzolanic potential of RHA [19,20]. Rice husk ash is the
largest agro-waste ash produced in the world [21]. The combustion of
rice husk in cogeneration boiler leads to the generation of 20 to 25% of
its weight as residual ash (rice husk ash) [22]. Rodrigues et al. estimated
a yield of 130 million tonnes of RHA per year globally [23]. In 2007,
India approximately produced 20 million tons of paddy and 4.4 million
tons of rice husk ash [24]. However, the pozzolanic potential of RHA is
governed by its specific surface area and loss on ignition (LOI) [25]. RHA
is reported to be highly reactive by reason of its micro-porous nature,
high specific surface area and presence of high amorphous silica [26-
29].
Focus on the use of the ternary blended system as the cementitious
binder is increased in recent times. The application of the ternary
blended cement concrete resulted in superior performance than binary
blended concrete [30-33]. Moreover, synergistic use of two different
alternative cementitious materials significantly reduces the amount of
cement clinker. Besides, Wongkeo et al. examined the performance of
ternary blended concrete with fly ash and silica fume. The compressive
strength of ternary blended concrete with 40% FA and 10% silica fume is
25% higher than binary blended concrete with only 50% fly ash [34].
The compressive strength of the RHA (15%) based binder was further
increased by 10% because of the addition of 15% metakaolin [35].
Several combinations of ternary cement were investigated in earlier
studies. A few combinations used in previous studies are SCBA-GGBS
[36], SCBA-FA [37], GGBS-FA [38], RHA-FA [39], RHA-metakaolin
[40], RHA-limestone powder [41]. In addition, Frias et al. studied the
properties of blended cement with agro-waste ashes obtained from co-
firing of sugarcane bagasse and leaf (in equal proportion) [5]. Ternary
mixtures improve the microstructure of the blended cementitious system
as a result of pozzolanic reaction and filler effect. Hence, enhancement
in durability properties such as chloride resistance, air permeability and
water sorptivity are reported for ternary mixtures. Moreover, it is
essential to use the locally available agro-waste ashes in ternary blended
cement to attain durable and sustainable concrete.
As industrial by-products are not easily accessible in the vicinity of
cement plants and ready-mix concrete plants, it is vital to reuse locally
available agro-waste ashes in cement production. However, the lack of
studies specifically on the agro-waste ashes based ternary cement hinder
their industrial acceptance. Another major concern with agro-waste
ashes is the workability problem in the respective blended concrete.
For instance, the addition of SCBA and RHA leads to a notable reduction
in workability. For that reason, a detailed study on the rheology of agro-
waste blended cementitious systems is essential. Hence, the present
study focuses on rheology and performance evaluation of SCBA-RHA
based ternary cement. Hence, the study evaluates the performance of
SCBA, and RHA based ternary blended cementitious systems in com­
parison with SCBA based binary blended cementitious systems. To
achieve this objective, a series of experiments were conducted on fresh
as well as hardened properties of SCBA and RHA blended ternary sys­
tems in the present study. Moreover, the effect of different cement
3
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
Fig. 2. X-ray analysis of processed SCBA and RHA.
replacement levels on the rheological, mechanical, and durability
properties of SCBA based binary and SCBA-RHA based ternary blended
binders are presented in the following sections.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Materials and mix proportions used in this study are described in this
section. RHA and SCBA are the alternative cementitious materials used
in the current study. The SCBA was collected from a sugar industry in
Telangana state (India). The SCBA was received from boilers where
sugarcane bagasse was calcined at a temperature varying from 550 to
600 ◦ C. Fig. 1a shows the scanning electron micrograph of raw SCBA.
The porous fibrous particles were found to be present in raw SCBA.
These particles adversely affect the rheological properties of SCBA
blended cementitious system and also increase LOI [6]. Hence, me­
chanical processing methods such as sieving and grinding were adopted
to remove these coarse fibrous particles. The grinding aids to reduce the
particles size as well as increase the specific surface area of SCBA. The
raw SCBA was oven-dried at a temperature of 105 ± 5 ◦ C to remove the
evaporable moisture content. The oven-dried SCBA was sieved through a
300 µm sieve. The micrograph of sieved SCBA is depicted in Fig. 1b.
Furthermore, sieved SCBA particles were ground using a ball mill at a
speed of 33 rpm for the grinding duration of 180 min. The morphology
of ground SCBA is shown in Fig. 1c and 1d. Prismatic particles with
defined edges can be seen in the micrograph of processed SCBA (Fig. 1c).
RHA was collected from a biomass based cogeneration plant, Tamil
Nadu state (India). RHA was calcined at a temperature range of 700 to
750 ◦ C. Similar to that of SCBA, raw RHA consists of carbon-rich coarse
fibrous particles, as seen in Fig. 1e. The presence of these particles is
reported to increase LOI and water demand. Moreover, it adversely af­
fects the durability of RHA blended concrete [42]. Hence, similar to that
of SCBA, sieving and grinding were used to process the raw RHA in this
study. Excess moisture content was removed by an oven drying method.
Scanning electron micrograph of RHA obtained after sieving through a
300 µm sieve is shown in Fig. 1f. RHA was further ground to obtain the
required particles size. The microstructure of fine RHA particles is
shown in Fig. 1f and 1 g. The internal epidermis of RHA, also known as
the silica skeleton (Fig. 1g), is porous and rich in silica. The processed
SCBA and RHA are used to evaluate the performance of the binary and
ternary blended systems in this study.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of processed RHA and SCBA are
presented in Fig. 2. The XRD patterns were obtained at a scanning speed
of 2◦ /minute, with an increment of 0.05◦ in a range between 10 and 60◦ .
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965

Table 1 were determined as per the procedure described in ASTM C311-18 [47].
Chemical composition of OPC, SCBA and RHA. As shown in Table 1, the PAI value of both SCBA and RHA are 94% and
Oxides Composition (%) 109%, which are well above the minimum requirement of 75% as per
OPC SCBA RHA ASTM C618 [46]. The higher pozzolanic value of RHA can be due to the
SiO2 20.09 71.40 85.79 presence of high silica content (85.8%) and broad amorphous hump
Al2O3 3.89 3.39 0.67 seen in Fig. 2. In addition, the sum of total active oxides, which is the
CaO 65.84 6.74 2.94 sum of SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 (S + A + F) of natural pozzolans, is rec­
Fe2O3 6.68 3.51 0.97 ommended to be above 70% as per ASTM C618 [46]. The S + A + F of
MnO 0.18 0.79
both SCBA and RHA are 78.3% and 87.4%, respectively and hence, both
–
K2O 0.74 8.19 4.65
SO3 2.44 2.25 2.89 the ashes are qualified as a pozzolan.
S+A+F 30.66 78.30 87.43 The specific surface area of SCBA and RHA was determined using
LOI – 2.28 2.80 BET (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) gas absorption method. The specific
PAI 94 109
–
surface area of SCBA and RHA was found to be 37.54 m2/g and 61.24
m2/g, respectively. The specific surface area of RHA is much higher than
SCBA due to the highly porous microstructure of RHA, which is well
agreed with previous literature [48]. In addition, the particle size dis­
tribution of OPC, SCBA and RHA was obtained from a laser particle size
analyser. The obtained particle size distribution is depicted in Fig. 3. The
average particle size (D50) of OPC, SCBA and RHA are 19.4, 15.5, 16.9
µm, respectively. Hence, the particle size of OPC, SCBA and RHA is
comparable.
Prior to the mixing, all the required materials were weighed ac­
cording to their respective mixture proportions. The details of the
mixture proportions used for concrete casting in the study to examine
hardened properties of concrete are given in Table 2. 10 mixtures were
adopted with different proportions of RHA and SCBA to prepare binary
and ternary blended concrete in the study.
Natural river sand was used as fine aggregates. The specific gravity of
coarse and fine aggregate used in the present study are 2.63 and 2.83,
respectively. Moreover, water absorption is 0.40% and 0.48% for coarse
and fine aggregates, correspondingly. The proportion of water and
superplasticiser were kept constant throughout the study to investigate
the effect of SCBA and RHA. The slump value calculated as per IS 1199
[49] of the control mixture used in the study is 100 mm. The mixtures
Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of OPC, SCBA and RHA. S1, S2 and S3, are SCBA based binary blended concrete, whereas mix­
tures T1 to T6 are SCBA and RHA based ternary blended concrete
Only amorphous silica is only able to react chemically with calcium ions. mixtures.
The presence of this amorphous silica increased the reactivity. The
presence of amorphous silica is evident in the diffractogram for pro­
2.2. Methods
cessed SCBA and RHA from the hump between 23 and 28◦ (2θ). More­
over, the diffractogram of SCBA essentially shows small quantities of
2.2.1. Rheological properties of binary and ternary cements
crystal-phases such as quartz and crystobalite, as shown in Fig. 2. The
Fresh properties of the mixtures were investigated, and rheological
high amount of quartz is due to sand adhering to the sugarcane to the
parameters such as yield stress, plastic viscosity and consistency index
contamination during harvesting [43,44].
were measured. The rheological behaviour of blended cement paste with
The chemical composition of OPC, SCBA and RHA used in the study
SCBA and RHA were examined using Anton Paar MCR 302 rheometer. A
are given in Table 1. The oxide composition of the materials was ob­
coaxial cylinder was used in the study, as shown in Fig. 4. Water to
tained using an X-ray fluorescence analyser. In addition to the chemical
binder ratio of 0.4 was maintained throughout the rheological study. At
composition, loss on ignition of SCBA and RHA are also listed in Table 1.
the start, SCBA and RHA were dry mixed with the cement for 20 s. After
The LOI was determined in accordance with ASTM C311-18 [45]. The
that, 80% of the required water was added and mixed with the dry
obtained LOI values of SCBA and RHA are lower than the maximum
mixture of cement and supplementary cementitious materials for
allowable limit (10%) for natural pozzolan stated in ASTM 618–19 [46].
another 20 s in a high shear mixer, which was followed by a rest time of
The pozzolanic activity index (PAI) of the processed SCBA and RHA
150 s. During this time, the sidewall of the mixer was scrapped to

Table 2
Mixture proportions of binary and ternary concretes.
Designation Cement (kg/m3) SCBA(kg/m3) RHA(kg/m3) Fine aggregates(kg/m3) Coarse Aggregates(kg/m3) Water(kg/m3) SP(%)

C 360 0 0 788 1098 163 0.8

S1 324 36 0 788 1098 163 0.8
S2 288 72 0 788 1098 163 0.8
S3 252 108 0 788 1098 163 0.8
T1 306 36 18 788 1098 163 0.8
T2 288 36 36 788 1098 163 0.8
T3 270 36 54 788 1098 163 0.8
T4 270 72 18 788 1098 163 0.8
T5 252 72 36 788 1098 163 0.8
T6 234 72 54 788 1098 163 0.8

4
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
150 s-1
40 mm
26.59 mm
56.26 mm
29.16 mm
Fig. 4. Coaxial cylinder geometry and protocol adopted in the study.
recover the material sticking to the wall of the container. Afterwards, the
remaining 20% of the required water was also added and mixed for
another 20 s. Subsequently, the cement paste was poured into the
rheometer sample container for testing. The test was performed at a
constant temperature of 25 ◦ C in a temperature controlled laboratory.
The testing protocol adopted in the study is shown in Fig. 4. Initially,
the cement paste was pre-sheared at a shear rate of 150 s− 1 for 90 s to
create uniform conditions by causing the structural breakdown of the
sample. To produce up-curve, the shear rate was increased from 0 to 100
s− 1 in 180 s. After an equilibrium time of 120 s, the down-curve was
attained by decreasing the shear rate to 0 in 180 s. The procedure was
repeated for all mixtures, including control, SCBA based binary paste
samples, and SCBA-RHA based ternary paste samples. The data obtained
from the down-curve was used to calculate the various rheological
properties using the rheological models such as the Bingham model (τ =
τ0 + μp γ), Modified Bingham model (τ = τ0 + μp γ + cγ2 ) and Herchel-
Bulkley model (τ = τ0 + Kγ2 ). In these models, , τ0 , μp , γ , c, K are
shear stress, yield stress, plastic viscosity, shear rate, regression constant
and consistency index, respectively.
2.2.2. Compressive strength
Compressive strength was determined for all the 10 mixture speci­
mens listed in Table 2. Three concrete cube specimens of size 100 × 100
× 100 mm were tested to determine the average compressive strength of
SCBA based binary concrete and SCBA-RHA ternary concrete. Concrete
specimens were cast as per IS 516–18 [50] and kept in laboratory con­
dition. These specimens were demoulded after 24 h and cured for 28 and
56 days. The compressive strength was tested after the curing durations
of 28 and 56 days. The compressive strength of control concrete, binary
and ternary concrete specimens specified in Table 2 were measured
using a compression testing machine. The compressive strength was
studied to understand the influence of SCBA, RHA and curing age of the
blended cementitious system. The final compressive strength value is
obtained from the average of three concrete specimens.
5
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
Pre-shear
100 s-1
90 s 180 s 120 s 180 s
2.2.3. X-ray diffraction analysis and thermal analysis
Mineral phases of concrete mixtures were studied using X-ray
diffraction analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The analyses
were carried out for samples after 28 days of curing. The solvent ex­
change method was adopted to stop the hydration of samples. Specimens
were ground manually and sieved through a 75 mm sieve on the spec­
ified age of testing. In order to find the hydration products, the scanning
range for XRD was adopted from 10◦ to 70◦ . Differential thermal anal­
ysis (DTA) was also used to understand the thermal decomposition of the
hydrate phase in the blended cementitious system. The tests were car­
ried out under a nitrogen atmosphere. The temperature was increased
from 40 ◦ C to 700 ◦ C at a rate of 20 ◦ C/min.
2.2.4. Rapid chloride penetration test and water sorptivity test
Resistance to chloride penetration and water sorptivity index of
SCBA based binary and SCBA-RHA based ternary blended concretes
were investigated in the present study. Rapid chloride penetration test
(RCPT) was conducted for all the 10 mixtures in accordance with ASTM
C1202-19 [51]. Three concrete specimens of 100 mm diameter and 50
mm thickness were vacuum saturated for 180 min and continued an
additional 1 h of vacuum saturation as specified in ASTM 1202–19.
Concrete specimens were placed between the catholyte cell (3.0 % NaCl
solution) and the anolyte cell (0.3 N NaOH solution). A constant po­
tential of 60 V was applied throughout the duration of testing. The
current is measured every 30 min for the duration of 6 h, and the total
charge passed is calculated. The resistance to chloride penetration was
evaluated after 28 and 56 days of curing. The average total charge
passed of three concrete specimens were reported in the study. A few
shortcomings have been reported for rapid chloride penetration tests. It
basically determines the permeability in terms of the total charge
passed, which indicates the amount of ionic movement. Moreover, the
ion present in the pore solution was also reported to influence the
measurement of the total charges passed through blended concrete
specimens. The result can further vary in the presence of metallic con­
tent like steel fibres in concrete [52,53]. Furthermore, the application of
60 V for 6 h can result in an increase in the temperature of the concrete,
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Yield Stress
60 Bingham model
Herchel- Bulkley model
Modified Bingham model
50
Viscosity
Modified Bingham model
Yield stress (Pa)
40 Bingham model
30
20
10
0 0.0
0 10
Level of SCBA Replacement (%)
Fig. 5. Effect of SCBA on rheological properties of blended cement.
which also affects the total charges passed across the specimen. In
addition, it is also stated that the results are subjective to the conduc­
tivity of the concrete [54]. For high permeable concrete, the tempera­
ture is increased, and the test cannot be continued for 6 h. Hence, RCPT
is not preferred for highly permeable concrete to understand its resis­
tance against chlorine permeation. In the present study, steel fibres and
high preamble concrete were not used, and hence the rapid chloride
penetration test was adopted. However, RCPT is reported to be an
accelerated test method in terms of resistance against chloride ion
penetrability [52]. Total charges passed calculated from the RCPT test is
assumed to be the amount of chloride ions diffused through the crack-
free concrete [55]. It is also assumed that the conductivity of concrete
samples is constant throughout the testing period [56]. In addition to the
RCPT, the water sorptivity index and porosity of all the mixtures were
also reported in the study. Water sorptivity index and porosity were
determined as per the durability index manual [57]. The water sorp­
tivity index test is used to measure the resistance of concrete against
unidirectional capillary suction of water. The test is conducted using
specimens of diameter 70 ± 2 mm and thickness 30 ± 2 mm (d). An
epoxy coating was provided along the circumference of the specimen to
ensure the unidirectional capillary rise. The specimens were oven-dried
for 7 days at a temperature of 50 ◦ C. After 7 days of oven drying, the dry
weight of the specimen (Ms0) was measured. Then the specimens were
placed in a tray with supports as specified in the durability index
manual. Saturated calcium hydroxide solution is poured into the tray till
the liquid level reach up to 2 mm from the bottom of the specimen.
Afterwards, the weight of the specimens was measured at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12,
16, 20 and 25 min. Specimens were taken out from the tray and vacuum
saturated for 3 h using a desiccator. The vacuum saturation was
continued for an additional 1 h under saturated calcium hydroxide im­
mersion. After which, specimens were allowed to be in calcium hy­
droxide solution without vacuum for additional 18 h to reach the
saturated condition. Then the saturated weight (Msv) of the specimens
was measured. Water sorptivity and porosity were calculated using the
following equations,
√̅̅̅ Fd
Watersorptivity(mm/ h) =
Msv − Ms0
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
2.1
1.8
1.5
Viscosity (Pa.s)
1.2
0.9
0.6
0.3
20 30
Msv − Ms0
Porosity = × 100 (2)
Adρw
Where F is the slope of the best fit line with the difference of
√̅
Msv − Ms0 on the y-axis and t on the x-axis, A is the cross-sectional area
(mm ) and ρw is the density of water (g/mm3). To understand the
2
pozzolanic performance and subsequent enhancement in durability,
water sorptivity and porosity were tested after the curing of 28 days. The
average value of three specimens was reported as the final water sorp­
tivity index and porosity of the respective concrete specimens.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Rheological characteristics of SCBA based binary and SCBA-RHA
based ternary mixtures
Rheological parameters of control cement, SCBA based binary
blended cement and SCBA-RHA based ternary blended cement are dis­
cussed in this section. Yield stress and plastic viscosity of reference and
SCBA based blended cement paste were obtained by fitting to the
Bingham, modified Bingham and Herchel-Bulkley models using the
rheometer observations and results are shown in Fig. 5. Yield stress and
plastic viscosity drastically increase as the level of SCBA replacement
increase from 0 to 30%. According to the Bingham model, modified
Bingham model and Herchel-Bulkley model, yield stress lies in the range
of 13 Pa to 29 Pa, 7 Pa to 21 Pa and 18 Pa to 55 Pa, respectively. In the
same way, plastic viscosity is increased from 0.24 to 1.34 and 0.57 to
1.80 as per the Bingham model and modified Bingham model, corre­
spondingly. The replacement of cement with SCBA by weight increases
the powder content because of the lower specific gravity of SCBA, which
is one of the major reasons for the increase in yield stress as well as
plastic viscosity due to the addition of SCBA. In addition, the
morphology of the supplementary cementitious material also plays a
crucial role in the yield strength and plastic viscosity of blended cement
samples. For instance, the spherical shape of palm fuel ash and fly ash
reduces the viscosity and yields strength [58,59]. On the other hand, the
(1) irregular shape of particles leads to an increase in plastic viscosity [60].
As shown in the scanning electron micrograph of SCBA in Fig. 1, SCBA
6
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965

Fig. 6. Yield stress and plastic viscosity of SCBA-RHA based ternary blended cement paste.

contains particles of different morphology such as prismatic, irregular of 15% RHA.

particles and long fibrous particles, which tends to increase the plastic Similar to that of plastic viscosity, the addition of RHA remarkably
viscosity and yield stress with increasing the replacement level of increases the yield stress of ternary blended cement paste. The yield
cement with SCBA. The friction is higher when the particles are pris­ stress estimated from the Bingham model of the ternary cement paste
matic than spherical. Another major factor influencing the rheological with 10%SCBA-5%RHA, 10%SCBA-10%RHA and 10%SCBA-15%RHA
characteristics is the carbon particles present in the SCBA. The carbon- was increased by 18%, 35% and 48%, correspondingly, with respect to
rich fibrous particles present in the SCBA demand more water because binary blended cement paste with 10% SCBA. A similar rise in the yield
of their cellular structures, which increases the friction between the stress was also witnessed for ternary blended cement paste with 20%
particles and increases rheological parameters. SCBA and varying RHA content. In the case of 20% SCBA based ternary
Yield stress and plastic viscosity of SCBA and RHA based ternary blended cement paste, the yield stress obtained from the Bingham model
blended cement pastes are shown in Fig. 6. Plastic viscosity and yield was increased by 43% for 15% RHA content compared with binary
stress were measured to understand the influence of RHA in SCBA based blended cement paste with only SCBA. Moreover, RHA was observed to
blended cement. The influence of RHA on the viscosity of ternary increase the yield stress more than SCBA by comparing the yield stress of
blended cement paste is evident in Fig. 6. The plastic viscosity of the binary and ternary blended cement paste with the same replacement
SCBA-RHA based ternary blended cement samples was significantly level. For instance, even though the cement replacement level of S1 and
increased with increasing the amount of RHA. In the case of 10% SCBA T2 is 20%, the yield stress of the T2 sample is higher than that of the S1
based ternary blended cement, the viscosity estimated from the modi­ sample. This is attributed to the presence of RHA (10%) in T2.
fied Bingham model was increased by 40% due to the incorporation of Although the replacement is adapted on a weight basis, the paste
15% RHA. In the same way, for 20% SCBA based ternary blended volume of the ternary blended cement paste is relatively high compared
cement samples exhibited 10% and 20% higher viscosity for Bingham to control and binary blended samples. This is because of the lower
and the modified Bingham model, respectively, because of the addition density of RHA particles compared to the cement. An increase in solid
mass concentration leads to the rise in rheological parameters of ternary
Table 3 blended cement samples. Besides, the specific surface area is also a vital
Consistency index of RHA and SCBA based binary and ternary factor in the rheology of agro-waste blended concrete. The highly porous
cements. morphology of RHA results in a high specific surface area of RHA (61.24
Sample Consistency Index (K)
m2/g). As a result, the water demand also increases with an increase in
RHA content in the ternary blended cement paste [61]. Thus, the lack of
Control 0.0021
water induces friction between the particles. Similar to that of SCBA, the
10SCBA 0.0046
10SCBA5RHA 0.0067 morphology of RHA is also mostly irregular, which can lead to an in­
10SCBA10RHA 0.0094 crease in yield stress and plastic viscosity. However, SCBA and RHA can
10SCBA15RHA 0.0130 be ground to a similar fineness of the cement. Hence, the influence of
20SCBA 0.0093 particle size and specific surface area on rheological characteristics of
20SCBA5RHA 0.0097
20SCBA10RHA 0.0098
processed SCBA and RHA is better than the raw SCBA and RHA. Due to
20SCBA15RHA 0.0132 the higher specific surface area of RHA and its porous cellular structures,
30SCBA 0.0122 the effect of RHA is higher on the yield stress and plastic viscosity

7
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Fig. 7. Effect of SCBA and RHA on compressive strength of binary and ternary
blended concrete.
compared with SCBA [1]. It is also observed that the modified Bingham
model estimated the lowest yield stress for all binary and ternary
blended cement paste samples in comparison with other rheological
models. The influence of low shear stresses in the low shear rate region
of the shear stress-shear rate curve is reflected more on the modified
Bingham model, which can be the reason for estimating the lower value
of yield stress from the modified Bingham model. On the other hand, the
modified Bingham model estimated higher plastic viscosity for all the
binary and ternary mixtures. This observation of higher viscosity is well
agreed with the previous literature [62].
The consistency index obtained Herchel-Bulkley model is tabulated
in Table 3. The consistency index was calculated to attain an insight into
the viscosity of binary and ternary blended cement paste. A higher
consistency index represents a low workable mixture. It is evident that
the consistency index was increased with the addition of SCBA for the
binary blended cementitious system from 0.0021 to 0.0122 due to the
increasing powder content and porous microstructure of RHA. In the
same manner, the addition of RHA also steadily raised the consistency of
ternary blended concrete, as shown in Table 3.
Jimenez-Quero et al. studied the rheological properties of SCBA and
FA based binary and ternary paste as well as mortar. The inclusion of
SCBA was reported to increase yield stress and viscosity in both blended
paste and mortar [63]. However, rheological properties are governed by
the interfaces between solid (cement) and water. In mortar and concrete,
this interface has been altered with the addition of fine and coarse ag­
gregates [64]. Studies on paste as well as mortar for rheological prop­
erties by Ferraris et al. confirmed that rheological measurement of
cement paste could be used as a potential method to predict the rheo­
logical parameters of concrete [65]. The rheological properties of
cement paste and concrete are relative. Therefore, the assessment of
rheological parameters of blended cement has been widely explored by
several researchers at the paste level [62-67]. In the case of fine and
coarse aggregates, the water absorption of aggregates is the primary
factor that influences workability. For that reason, aggregates are
commonly used with less water absorption than the allowable limit
specified in the standards [68].
3.2. Compressive strength of binary and ternary blended concrete
The influence of SCBA on the compressive strength of concrete after
curing of 28 days and 56 days is shown in Fig. 7. The curing of blended
concrete specimens improved the compressive strength with respect to
increasing curing age due to additional pozzolanic reactions. Moreover,
the replacement of cement with 10% SCBA increased the compressive
8
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
strength of blended concrete specimens by 5% compared with control
specimens after 28 days of curing as a result of the pozzolanic reaction of
SCBA. Moreover, a further rise in cement replacement with SCBA by
20% and 30% caused a reduction in the compressive strength of con­
crete. Although a reduction in the compressive strength was observed
for 20% SCBA blended concrete compared with 10% SCBA blended
concrete, the compressive strength of concrete with 20% SCBA was
higher than the compressive strength of the control concrete. Interest­
ingly, after 56 days of curing, the compressive strength rises with cement
replacement level up to 20%. Besides, 10% and 20% cement replace­
ment with SCBA increased 56-day compressive strength by 3.8% and
6.6%, respectively with respect to the control concrete. Unlike 28 days,
higher compressive strength was observed for blended concrete with
20% SCBA on 56 days. An increase in the cement replacement level to
30% imparts a reduction in the compressive strength on 28 days and 56
days attributed to the dilution effect, as shown in Fig. 7. Bayapureddy
et al. reported a reduction in the performance of SCBA blended concrete
when the replacement level is more than 15%. Bayapureddy et al.
observed an increase in unreacted SCBA particles on the addition of
SCBA more than 15% as a result of the dilution effect [69]. Reduction in
portlandite content with the increase in SCBA was reported by Arif et al.
This reduction CH limited the pozzolanic reaction of SCBA and caused
the reduction in compressive strength at higher replacement levels [70].
Reduction in compressive strength at higher replacement levels of SCBA
due to dilution was also reported by Singh et al. [71]. It is evident from
the figure that the increase in the compressive strength with curing age
is more remarkable for SCBA blended concrete than control concrete
because of its pozzolanicity.
Similar to the current study, the maximum strength was reported for
concrete with 20% SCBA on 56 days, which is around 10% higher than
the control concrete [72]. In addition, the processed SCBA with LOI
content less than 10% improved the compressive strength of blended
concrete. An increase in compressive strength by 4% was stated by
Murgesan et al. as a result of the addition of 25% SCBA after 56 days of
curing [73]. Praveenkumar reported upto 30% increment in compres­
sive strength with the addition of 25% SCBA [74]. A similar enhance­
ment in compressive strength was observed by Ganesan et al. [75] and
Chopperala et al. [76]. Hence, the compressive result of the SCBA based
binary blended concrete in the current study is in line with the previous
studies.
The addition of RHA in cement-SCBA based concrete improved the
performance of blended concrete. After 28 days of curing, the
compressive strength of S1 specimens (10SCBA) and T1 specimens
(10SCBA-5RHA) is comparable. The addition of more than 5% RHA (T2
and T3) decreased the compressive strength compared to the SCBA
based binary blended concrete. However, the compressive strength of T2
concrete specimens (10SCBA-5RHA) is 3% higher than the reference
concrete. Furthermore, ternary blended concrete specimens with l0%
SCBA and 10% RHA have 3.3% lesser compressive strength than control
concrete specimens. Moreover, a 7.8% reduction in the compressive
strength was witnessed when compared with binary blended concrete
with 10% SCBA. The addition of RHA, more than 5% with 10% SCBA
reduced 28-day compressive strength of the blended cementitious sys­
tem, as evident in Fig. 7. The performance of ternary blended concrete is
more evident after the curing of 56 days. Ternary blended specimens
with 5%RHA-10%SCBA and 10%RHA-10%SCBA impart higher
compressive strength than binary blended concrete with 10% SCBA.
Compressive strength of concrete with 10% SCBA at 56 days was
enhanced by 3% and 1.2% with the addition of 5% and 10% RHA,
respectively. However, incorporating 15% RHA in the 10% SCBA
blended concrete has lesser compressive strength than SCBA based bi­
nary blended concrete and control concrete. Reduction in the
compressive strength was observed due to the addition of RHA in 20%
SCBA based concrete because of the dilution effect. Several earlier
studies have reported a reduction in compressive strength as a result of
the dilution effect at high RHA content. Ahsan and Hossain observed a
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Fig. 8. XRD diffractogram of a) binary blended and b) ternary blended cementitious system.
reduction in compressive strength on increasing RHA content from 10%
to 20% due to a reduction in CH content and hydration products. Hence,
the excess unreacted silica from RHA will not contribute to strength
development [28]. Reduction in compressive strength as a result of the
addition of 15% and 20% RHA was witnessed by Raisi et al. It was due to
the high amount of available silica to react with the produced CH con­
tent in the hydrated cement [77]. Reduction in early age compressive
9
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
strength on the addition of more than 10% RHA was stated by Le et al.,
and the dilution effect accounted for the strength loss at higher
replacement levels of cement [78]. Considering all the mixtures, S1, S2,
T1, and T2 concrete specimens have compressive strength more than the
reference concrete specimens. Even though S3, T3, T4, T5 and T6 con­
crete specimens have compressive strength lesser than concrete, the
reduction in the compressive strength of these specimens is only less
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Fig. 9. DTA curve of SCBA-RHA based binary and ternary blended cement
samples at 28 days.
than 7%. On the other hand, 35% (T6) cement replacement can be
achieved with SCBA and RHA based ternary blended cementitious sys­
tem without comprising on the compressive strength because only
marginal reduction is witnessed. For a given SCBA content, ternary
blended concrete with SCBA and GGBS was reported to have lesser
compressive strength than the SCBA based binary blended concrete
[36]. Unlike the ternary blended adopted in the current study, a sig­
nificant reduction in compressive strength was stated from concrete
with SCBA and FA [37]. However, in another study, the strength of
blended concrete was reasonably improved by increasing the RHA
content for a FA content of 20% [39]. Furthermore, the addition of
highly reactive RHA tends to improve the compressive strength of RHA
blended concrete, and the same has been reported by several researchers
[79-81]. As observed in the current study, the compressive strength was
declined at higher replacement levels of cement with RHA as reported by
Anwar et al., Bui et al., Silva et al., Givi et al., and Sensale [82-86]. The
highest compressive strength was detected for T1 (10SCBA-5RHA)
concrete specimens.
3.3. X-ray diffraction analysis and thermal analysis
XRD results of blended cement pastes after 28 days of hydration is
presented in Fig. 8. The cement paste containing agricultural by-
products shows comparable spectra similar to those of pure cement
paste. There are no major changes in the spectra for SCBA based binary
blended cement paste, as well as SCBA-RHA based ternary blended
cement paste. The variations in the intensity of the peaks were observed
with the addition of SCBA. The peaks of calcium hydroxide (CH) and
CSH are more evident in the diffractogram. As seen in Fig. 8, the peaks of
Ca(OH)2 was witnessed at 2θ of 18, 34.1, 47.1, 50.8 and 65.4 and 64.3◦ .
The peak intensity of Ca(OH)2 was found to be decreased with
increasing the cement replacement level with SCBA from 0% (C) to 30%
(S3). Ca(OH)2 consumption is related to the degree of pozzolanic reac­
tion. The observed decrease in Ca(OH)2 content from the XRD pattern
give a clear indication of consumption of CH in the pozzolanic reaction,
and it is well agreed with the increase in the compressive strength of
blended concrete. Factors affecting the pozzolanic reaction are fineness
and amorphous silica content in SCBA. A similar reduction was observed
by earlier research for cement paste with pozzolanic materials [87,88].
In addition, a minor peak corresponding to alite (C3S) was observed in
the XRD pattern between 2θ of 50◦ and 52◦ for control and binary
blended cement samples. In a similar manner, another alite peak was
witnessed in the diffractogram between 62◦ and 64◦ . Due to the dilution
effect, the peak of C3S diminishes at higher replacement of cement with
SCBA.
10
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
Table 4
Quantity of Ca(OH)2 in control, binary and ternary blended cement samples
after 28 days of curing.
Blends Specimen Ca(OH)2 (%)
Control C 18.00
Binary S1 13.71
S2 11.89
S3 9.00
Ternary T1 13.27
T2 11.83
Replacing cement with SCBA and RHA (T1 and T2) also illustrates a
similar diffraction pattern in Fig. 8. The peaks of Ca(OH)2 were also
found to be decreased with the addition of RHA. A similar reduction in
the CH peaks was observed by Chik et al. [89]. The amorphous nature of
silica RHA as evident in Fig. 2, is responsible for the reduction of CH
peak in T1 and T2. The peak of CH was lesser for T2 than S2, which
clearly indicates that CH consumption was higher with the incorpora­
tion of RHA than SCBA. Similar to that of binary blended samples, the
reduction in the peak of alite is evident for T1 and T2 samples as a result
of the dilution effect. Furthermore, the peak attributed to CSH is less
resolved because of its partially amorphous nature [90]. The results of
XRD proves that the change in the degree of intensity of CH during the
hydration process. The lowest peak intensity of CH was for ternary
blended cement paste (T2) compared to that of control and binary
blended cement paste at the same hydration time. Moreover, the
reduction in CH content is an indicator of the production of more CSH in
SCBA and RHA blended cement paste [90].
The observations from DTA analysis of samples with different
replacement levels of cement by SCBA is depicted in Fig. 9. In addition,
the DTA curve of SCBA and RHA based ternary samples after hydration
of 28 days is also shown in Fig. 9. A similar trend of weight loss was
observed for binary and ternary blended samples. From derivate weight-
loss curves, two major weight-loss processes were determined during the
heating of the samples, and the corresponding temperature range was 40
to 235 ◦ C, and 430 to 530 ◦ C. The first endothermic peak is attributable
to the removal of evaporable water and decomposition of the amorphous
parts of CSH. The second endothermic peak, located between 430 and
530 ◦ C is characteristic of the dehydration of portlandite [91]. One of
the main compounds of the hardened cement paste is Ca(OH)2. The
quantity of portalndite present in control, binary and ternary blended
cement paste are shown in Table 4. The reduction in the intensity of the
corresponding peak indicates the level of decomposition of Ca(OH)2.
The figure depicts that weight loss of portlandite decreases from C
(control) to S3 (30% SCBA). Hence the addition of SCBA resulted in the
Fig. 10. Chloride penetration resistance of binary and ternary
blended concrete.
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Table 5
Water sorptivity index and porosity of blended concrete on 28 days.
Mixtures Water sorptivity index (mm/
√̅̅̅
h) Porosity (%)
C 9.79 7.00
S1 9.46 6.54
S2 8.39 6.33
S3 8.35 5.57
T1 8.87 5.21
T2 8.65 5.16
T3 8.60 5.06
T4 8.23 5.13
decreased amount of Ca(OH)2 in the hydration products. SCBA consume
a part of CH by its pozzolanic activity.
In the same way, it is evident from the DTA curve of S1, T1 and T2,
the incorporation of RHA also reduced the intensity of the second
endothermic peak. The reduction of Ca(OH)2 is the result of the inten­
sive pozzolanic reaction of the alternative supplementary cementitious
materials. Furthermore, this result confirmed the pozzolanic activity of
SCBA and RHA. These observations are also consistent with the XRD
diffractogram and compressive strength observations.
3.4. Effect of SCBA and RHA on the durability of binary and ternary
blended concretes
3.4.1. Effect of SCBA and RHA on the resistance against chloride
penetration
Resistance against chloride penetration of SCBA based binary con­
crete and SCBA-RHA based ternary blended concrete cured for 28 and
56 days is presented in Fig. 10. As a result of additional hydration, the
total change passed (in Coulombs) across concrete was decreased for all
concrete specimens with the increase in the curing duration. For all the
curing ages, the control concrete exhibited a higher total charge passed
and fell under the category of moderate and low permeability at 28 and
56 days, respectively, as per ASTM C1202-19. Replacing cement with
SCBA or SCBA-RHA considerably reduced the total charge passed, as
seen in Fig. 10. Alternative cementitious materials (SCBA or SCBA-RHA)
reduced connected pores by pore-refining effect, and hence notable
reduction in the permeability is attained. The pozzolanic reaction and
filler effect of SCBA and RHA contributed to the pore structure densifi­
cation for blended concrete.
The categories on which each mixture falls as per ASTM C1202 [51]
on 28 and 56 days are also depicted in Fig. 10. The reference concrete
falls into the category of ‘moderate’ on 28 days. After 56 days of curing,
all specimens are categorised as ‘very low’ permeable concrete, with the
exception of control concrete and S1 (10SCBA) concrete specimens.
Hence, it is clear that concrete blended with SCBA or SCBA-RHA
significantly improves the durability of concrete as a result of pore
refinement. Incorporation of 10%, 20% and 30% SCBA reduced total
charges passed values 529, 399 and 313 from 1416 Coulombs, respec­
tively, after 56 days of curing.
Even though the reduction in total charge passed was witnessed with
binary blended concrete, ternary blended with SCBA and RHA facili­
tated a significant reduction in the permeability and subsequent
enhancement in the chloride resistance of blended concrete. It is evident
that the total charge passed values for T1, T2, and T3 concrete specimens
are lesser than S1 concrete specimens. In the same way, binary blended
concrete with SCBA was observed to have a higher total charge passed
compared to ternary blended concretes with SCBA (20%) and RHA (5,
10, and 15%). It can also be noted that even though, total replacement
level for T2 and S2 is 20%, higher performance was observed for ternary
blended concrete. Likewise, the total charge passed for the T5 (20SCBA-
10RHA) specimen was 23% and 21% lesser than that of S3 specimens
after curing 28 and 56 days, respectively. This can be attributed to the
high pozzolanicity of RHA [35,92]. RCPT results show that SCBA and
11
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
RHA based ternary blended concrete are constructively enhancing the
resistance against chloride ingression to a greater extent compared with
control concrete specimens [75,93].
3.4.2. Effect of SCBA and RHA on water sorptivity index and porosity of
binary and ternary concretes
Water sorptivity index and porosity of SCBA based binary concrete,
as well as SCBA-RHA based ternary concrete specimens after a curing
age of 28 days, are presented in Table 5. It can be seen that the water
sorptivity index was gradually decreased with increasing SCBA content
in the cementitious system. The water sorptivity index was decreased up
to 14% for 30% SCBA blended concrete. This confirms that the addition
of SCBA is constructive in enhancing the resistance against unidirec­
tional sorption of the binary blended cementitious system. Therefore,
resist the capillary rise in water through the concrete. Similar to the
current study, water sorptivity of SCBA blended concrete with a
replacement level of 20% was reported to be less than the control con­
crete [94]. Murugesan et al. observed a significant reduction in the
sorptivity index and water penetration depth with increasing cement
replacement with SCBA [95]. Furthermore, enhancement in water
permeability of SCBA blended cement concrete was studied and stated
by Ganesan et al. [75]. Athira et al. reviewed and concluded that water
permeability and sorptivity of blended cement concrete declined with
the addition of SCBA due to pore refinement [13]. However, a higher
value of sorptivity was reported for unprocessed SCBA with higher
carbon content [75]. The water sorptivity index of binary and ternary
blended concrete specimens are lesser than reference concrete speci­
mens. Moreover, the water sorptivity index of binary blended concrete
specimens is found to be higher than ternary blended concrete speci­
mens. For instance, the addition of 15% of RHA with 10% SCBA
decreased the water sorptivity index by 9% with respect to SCBA based
binary concrete (S1). Pozzolanic reaction and filler effect of SCBA and
RHA refined the microstructure of the cementitious system, which is
evident in the observations given in Table 5.
In the same way as the water sorptivity index, porosity is also found
to be decreased as the cement replacement level is increased with SCBA.
Porosity decreased up to 20% with increasing SCBA content by 30%.
Furthermore, the addition of RHA along with SCBA declined porosity,
and it is attributed to additional pozzolanic reaction and subsequent
improvement in the microstructure of the cementitious system. RHA and
SCBA based ternary blended concrete specimens were observed to have
lesser porosity than SCBA based binary blended concrete specimens, as
shown in Table 5. The porosity of ternary blended concrete specimens
with 10% SCBA and 15% RHA (T3) is 28% lesser than the reference
concrete specimens. Moreover, incorporation of RHA (15%) with 10%
SCBA reduced porosity by 22.6% in comparison with binary blended
concrete with 10% SCBA. Hence, a significant reduction in the chloride
permeability is witnessed for SCBA based binary concrete specimens as
well as SCBA-RHA based ternary concrete specimens. These observa­
tions are in line with the measured water sorptivity index of binary and
ternary blended concrete.
Even though studies on sorptivity of ternary blended concrete with
RHA are limited, the influence of RHA on water sorptivity of binary
concrete is investigated by various researchers. A decrease in the sorp­
tivity due to the addition of RHA up to 20% is reported by Muthadhi and
Kothandaraman and was correlated with the reduction in porosity as a
result addition of RHA [80]. Water penetration depth for SCBA and RHA
based binary blended concrete was decreased from 58 mm to 48 mm and
22 mm, respectively [76]. In addition, water sorptivity declined from
3.56 × 106 m/√h to 3.31 × 106 m/√h with the replacing cement with
20% RHA [35]. The water sorptivity results stated by Ganesan et al. also
showed a significant decrease with the addition of RHA, which is in line
with the current result [96]. Hence, the observed results of the earlier
research studies are well agreed with sorptivity and porosity results of
binary and ternary blended concrete.
The addition of supplementary cementitious material enhances the
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen
Fig. 11. Relation between total charges passed water sorptivity index.
pore structure as a result of the pozzolanic reaction. In this study, SCBA
and RHA were sieved and ground to cement fineness. These processed
SCBA and RHA were used for the preparation of the blended concrete
specimen. The permeability of blended concrete specimens is decreased
with the addition of finely ground SCBA and RHA. In general, even
though the density of the blended concrete specimens is lesser than the
control specimen, conversion of large CH crystals into fineness divided
pozzolanic CSH gel at interfacial transition zone leads to the reduction in
permeability to a greater extend. Several earlier studies have evidently
reported this observation of a reduction in permeability for agro-waste
blended concretes [81,97-101]. In this study, the reduction of perme­
ability is witnessed for SCBA and RHA based binary and ternary blended
concrete specimens using water sorptivity test and these observations
are well agreed with earlier studies [85,102,103].
Fig. 11 describes the comparison between the RCPT observations
with the water sorptivity index. Both the parameters are found to be
decreased with the addition of SCBA in binary blended concrete. In the
same manner, the reduction in sorptivity and total charges passed were
also witnessed for ternary blended concrete specimens with 10% SCBA
and increasing RHA content. RCPT measures the total charges passed
through the specimens, whereas sorptivity measures only the unidirec­
tional capillary rise through the specimen. In both cases, the circum­
ference area of the specimens was coated with epoxy to prevent ingress
through it. In the case of binary blended specimens, specimens having
the lowest absorption exhibited high resistance to chloride ion diffusion.
A similar observation was also deducted for SCBA and RHA based
ternary concrete specimens. Hence, results from the rapid chloride
penetration test and water sorptivity test are well agreed.
4. Conclusions
The performance evaluation of SCBA based binary blended cemen­
titious systems and SCBA-RHA based ternary blended cementitious
systems is presented. Based on the detailed experimental study, the
following specific conclusions are drawn:
• Pozzolanicity of processed SCBA and processed RHA are higher than
respective raw samples. In addition to high reactivity, processing
reduces loss on ignition within the allowable limit due to the removal
of unburnt carbon-rich fibrous particles.
12
Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965
• Incorporation of SCBA and RHA increased plastic viscosity, yield
stress and consistency index of blended cement. The addition of
SCBA up to 30% increased plastic viscosity and yield stress of binary
blended paste by 2.3 to 3 times and 3 to 4 times, respectively, due to
the prismatic and irregular shape of SCBA particles. Similarly, in
ternary blended cement paste, the addition of 15% RHA with SCBA
content increased both plastic viscosity and yield stress up to 50%
because of the long porous, cellular structure of RHA particles.
However, the influence of RHA on rheological parameters is higher
than SCBA.
• Higher compressive strength was observed for 20% SCBA blended
binary concrete tested after 56 days of curing compared to control
and 10% SCBA blended concrete at the same curing duration. In the
case of ternary blended concrete specimens tested after 28 days and
56 days of curing, 10% SCBA and 5% RHA blended specimens
exhibited the highest strength.
• Permeability of concrete is significantly decreased with the addition
of SCBA and RHA, and hence, resistance to chloride penetration is
increased for blended specimens. The addition of RHA up to 15% in
SCBA blended system decreases its permeability. Furthermore,
ternary blended concrete specimens exhibited higher resistance
against unidirectional water sorption than control concrete, as well
as SCBA based binary blended concrete.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
V. Jittin: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing –
original draft. A. Bahurudeen: Conceptualization, Methodology,
Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
V. Jittin and A. Bahurudeen Construction and Building Materials 317 (2022) 125965

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