MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RICE HUSK ASH (RHA) BRICK AS PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF CLAY
Amir Abdullah Muhamad Damanhuri, Abdul Munir Hidayat Syah Lubis, Azian Hariri, Safarudin Gazali Herawan, M.H.I. Roslan, Mohamed Saiful Firdaus Hussin
Abstract
Abstract Clay has been used as main material in fabrication of bricks however the use of waste materials in brick manufacturing has been introduced for conservation of dwindling clay resources, as well as preventing environmental and ecological damages caused by quarrying and depletion of raw materials. Bricks that available in some regions have poor quality, low compressive strength, higher water absorption and uneven surfaces Therefore in this study, rice husk ash has been utilized for the preparation of bricks in partial replacement of clay. The specimens were cast with different replacement levels of clay varying as 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% with rice husk ash. The specimens were tested for water absorption and compressive strength accordingly to Malaysian Standard EN 1008:2010 for 2 hours. Experimental shows that excessive addition of rice husk ash has higher water absorption and low compressive strength as rice husk ash percentage increases rice husk ash characteristics predominate. The bonding between the clay particle and the rice husk ash particles is weak. By adding 10% of rice husk ash by weight is the best brick properties which 6.80 MPa of compressive strength and 16.30% of water absorption. The water absorption of RHA brick developed did not exceed 20% hence promoted to be partial replacement of clay.