Performance analysis of Papercrete in presence of Rice husk ash and Fly ash

Abstract

Papercrete is a modern composite material, that uses waste paper as a partial replacement to Portland cement, and is a renewable medium to construction owing to the reduction of the volume of waste paper as well as cement. Papercrete has strong sound absorption, thermal insulation and a low-cost alternative; light weight and fire-resistant building material. However, its low mechanical strength needs to be compensated by incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials. The work discusses the potential for the partial replacement of cement (by weight) with waste paper pulp in presence of Rice husk ash (RHA) and fly ash (FA) in ternary blends. For tests, the levels of replacement for RHA and FA were 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% and for waste paper, the rates of replacement were maintained at 10%. A reference mix was also prepared for the comparative purposes without substitution by RHA, FA and paper pulp. The flow, compressive strength, split tensile strength, water absorption and dry density studies were performed for all the specimens. The findings revealed decreased the flow of specimens compared with the reference mix along with reduction in strength that was well compensated by RHA and FA particles. The optimal content for RHA blends was 20% and that of FA was 15% with maximum strength among the mixes. The study signifies that the waste paper can be used to prepare papercrete in presence of optimal content of supplementary cementitious materials to have desired mechanical properties.