Sustainable Cement Mortar Using Rice Husk Ash and Solvent-Treated Expanded Polystyrene as Partial Replacements

Mustafa A.  Kadhim; Dalia Adil  Rasool; Amer Hameed  Majeed

doi:10.30572/2018/KJE/170220

Authors

Mustafa A. Kadhim Material Engineering Department, Mustansiriyah University, Iraq
Dalia Adil Rasool Material Engineering Department, Mustansiriyah University, Iraq
Amer Hameed Majeed Material Engineering Department, Mustansiriyah University, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30572/2018/KJE/170220

Keywords:

Rice husks ash, Expanded polystyrene, Sustainability, Cement mortar, Compressive strength, Thermal insulation

Abstract

The research work is intended to develop sustainable cement mortar by means of partial substitution of cement with rice husk ash (RHA) at 4%, 8%, 12%, 16%, and 20% by weight and replacement of mixing water with solvent, treated expanded polystyrene (EPS) at 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12% by volume. The mortar was prepared by using 1:3 cement, to, sand and 0.5 water, to, cement ratios. The mix with 8% RHA and 6% EPS produced the highest mechanical performance at the age of 28 days with compressive strength and flexural strength of 34.72 MPa and 2.34 MPa, respective 22.16% and 5.88% increments over the control mix. At the highest substitution, drying shrinkage was reduced from 0.008% to 0.006%, and thermal conductivity was lowered by 24%, from 0.927 W/mK to 0.704 W/mK. Water absorption rose slightly by 8.2%. Although higher replacement levels reduced strength, the combination of 20% RHA and 12% EPS produced the best insulation and shrinkage performance. The results demonstrate that combining RHA and treated EPS improves durability and thermal efficiency, making the mortar suitable for non-load-bearing applications

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