Characteristics and Properties of Rice Husk Ash Based Fibrous Concrete Manufactured with Waste Metallized Plastic Film Fibre

Abstract

The promotion of the use of eco-friendly substitutes to cement by several stakeholders in the construction industry are on the increase. This is due to the record portraying the cement and concrete industry as one of the largest producers of greenhouse gas globally. In order to reduce the waste generated globally, industrial and agricultural waste have been reported to enormous potential for reducing global cement reliance. One exciting material that has attained this feasibility is rice husk. The advancement in concrete technology in most recent times tends to deduce the potential means available for the optimum recycling of waste materials in construction practices for the purpose of sustainability in construction. In this article, effect of Waste Metallized Plastic Film (WMPF) fibre on the compressive and tensile properties of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) based Fibrous Concrete (FC). Mixes containing varying percentage of WMPF fibre (0%, 0.5% and 1.0%) were made with and without RHA to produce FC. The laboratory test revealed that the combination of WMPF fibre and RHA decreased the slump values and increased the VeBe time of fresh concrete. Similarly, the inclusion of WMPF fibre, either into CEM 1 cement or RHA concrete, did not improve the compressive strength. However, the positive interaction amongst the WMPF fibre and RHA lead to higher splitting tensile strength. It was revealed from the tensile test failure mode that WMPF fibre act as bridges across the cracks, which improved the load-transfer capacity of the matrix. The study showed that the utilization of WMPF fibre and RHA in the production of concrete is achievable from both technical and environmental viewpoints.