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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the suitability of using rice husk (RH) as partial replacement of fine aggregate in sandcrete blocks. River sand was partially replaced with RH (by volume) at 0%, 10%, and 20%, with the 0% replacement serving as a control specimen. Twenty solid blocks of 450 × 225 × 125 mm dimensions were molded manually for each percentage replacement, giving a total of 60 blocks. Bulk density and compressive strength tests of the blocks were carried out at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days of curing, respectively. It was observed that both bulk density and compressive strength increased as curing age increased, but reduced as the percentage replacement level increased. The values of the bulk density at 28 days of curing for the 0%, 10% and 20% substitution levels were 2074 kg/m3, 1509 kg/m3 and 1470 kg/m3, respectively, while values of compressive strength for the same curing age and percentage replacement levels were 3.42 N/mm2, 1.83 N/mm2, and 1.40 N/mm2, respectively. The compressive strength results for the 10% and 20% RH replacement levels satisfied the requirements for insulating, lightweight concrete but failed to meet up with the specifications for both load bearing and unload bearing sandcrete blocks. Therefore, RH sandcrete is not suitable for load bearing and unload bearing partitioning in buildings, but shows potential as a non-structural insulating material. It is recommended, amongst others, that other properties of sandcrete containing RH such as splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and thermal conductivity should be studied. Full Text
