Influence of curing methods on some properties of rice husk ash concrete

Abstract

The paper investigated the most appropriate curing method for rice husk ash (RHA) concrete. The study confirmed the strength performance of concrete with 5% replacement of RHA at 7, 14, 28 and 56 days of curing under three curing methods namely spraying, immersion and covering with polythene; with the targeted concrete strength value of 30N/mm² at 28 days. After curing, 29.6 N/mm², 29.2 N/mm² and 29.2 N/mm² were obtained for RHA concrete under spraying, immersion and polythene methods at 28 days and 31.6 N/mm², 36.4 N/mm² and 24.0 N/mm² at 56 days respectively. The overall results suggest that RHA concrete cured by immersion in water produced a better compressive strength just as in normal concrete. Therefore, based on the findings, immersion in water is recommended as the most suitable curing method for RHA concrete at 5% replacement level.

Keywords: Concrete, Curing method, Rice husk ash