Influence of 15 and 80 nano-SiO2 particles addition on mechanical and physical properties of ternary blended concrete incorporating rice husk ash

Abstract

This study demonstrates the effects of SiO2 nanoparticles as additives with two different sizes of 15 and 80 nm on compressive strength and porosity of rice husk ash (RHA) blended concrete. Up to 20% of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was replaced by RHA with average particle size of 5 micron. Also, SiO2 nanoparticles were added to the above mixture at four different weight percentages of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 and cured in lime solution. The results indicated that compressive strength of Portland cement–nano SiO2–rice husk ash (PC–NS–RHA) ternary blended concrete was considerably increased. Moreover, the total amount of porosity decreased to a minimum with respect to the control concrete. This improvement was observed at all the curing ages and replacement levels, but there was a gain in the optimal point with 20% of RHA plus 2% of 80 nm SiO2 particles at 90 days of curing.