Durability properties of self-compacting concrete incorporating metakaolin and rice husk ash

Abstract

This paper put forward the durability and micro-structural properties of self- compacting concrete (SCC) made up of metakaolin (MK) and rice husk ash (RHA). For this purpose, metakaolin (MK) was used to replace cement by weight in three different proportions of 5, 10 and 15% and fine aggregates were replaced by rice husk ash (RHA) in proportion of 10%. A total of four mixes, including the control mix, were designed. Slump flow, L-box, U-box, and V-funnel tests were conducted in concrete’s fresh state. Testing of specimen in hardened state was done at age of 7, 28, 90 and 365 days and was tested for compressive strength and durability properties such as water absorption, porosity, sulphate resistance and RCPT. Further SEM & XRD tests were also conducted. All the mixes passed all plastic stage tests of SCC. Furthermore hardened stage tests results were also positive. Durability properties showed significance improvement with the use of MK and RHA. Micro-structural analysis further confirmed the positive trend of results.