MIX DESIGN OF POLYMERIC CONCRETE INCORPORATING FLY ASH, RICE HUSK ASH AND SILICA FUME

The increase production of Portland cement causes great concern on the environment because of high carbon footprint. Besides CO2 emission, quarrying of raw materials (limestone and clay) for the production of cement is becoming the source of environmental degradation. On the other hand waste disposal is also becoming a global issue because of scarcity and expensiveness of land-fills. This research study focuses on complete elimination of Portland cement for production of concrete that can achieve 56 days cube strength in the range of 40-50 MPa with the emphasis on the curing techniques applicable for in-situ construction; namely hot gunny sac, ambient and sunlight curing. This research study incorporates fly ash as a base source material and rice husk ash or silica fume as replacements of fly ash by 3%, 5% and 7%. Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution used as activators of silica (Si) and aluminum (Al) in source material and sugar based material is incorporated in the mix to increase the setting time of concrete. Compressive strength test is conducted on the specimens and it shows that at 3, 7, 28 and 56 days the fly ash, rice husk ash and silica fume can be good replacements of cement. Compressive strength of sunlight curing for the polymeric concrete reaches up to 50.96 MPa at 56 days.