Innovative use of Rice Husk Ash and Coconut shell in Self-Compacting Concrete: A step Towards Sustainable Construction

The construction industry’s increasing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly materials has led to the exploration of innovative alternative, in the current construction business, concrete is a fundamental building material that accounts for a significant portion of costs. The quality of the concrete, which varies from normal to special specifications to satisfy design expectations in real practices, is the main source of concern. The construction industry may be able to overcome the drawbacks associated with using conventional concrete in densely reinforced structural elements by implementing Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC). The need for using sustainable building materials and reducing trash sent to landfills is growing in response to society's ongoing shift towards environmental consciousness. Thus, it has been determined that the actual use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) can help cut down on the amount of Portland cement used in the building sector. The study aims to ascertain the ideal ratio of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) for use as an additional cementitious material to partially substitute Portland cement in self-compacting concrete. This paper reports the performance evaluation of self-compacting coconut shell concrete (SCCSC) with Rice Husk Ash developed using discarded coconut shells as full replacement of coarse aggregate and partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement with RHA at 0 - 30%, while RHA was extracted through the uncontrolled burning of rice husk. Tests carried out on the fresh concrete include slump flow, V-funnel and L-box confirmed the flow ability, viscosity and passing ability of the developed mixes. Furthermore, on the hardened concrete, mechanical properties such as compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were conducted, the cubes were tested at 7, 14 and 28 days. Tests results showed that 5% replacement of RHA of SCCSC can be appreciably incorporated for light weight concrete showing an increase in compressive strength from 16.8N/mm at 7days to 19.6N/mm at 28 days and 1.33N/mm at 7 days to 1.41N/mm at 28days.