Materials and Structures

DOI 10.1617/s11527-014-0438-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Strength and chloride resistance of the blended Portland

cement mortar containing rice husk ash and ground river
sand
Prinya Chindaprasirt Sumrerng Rukzon

Received: 15 December 2013 / Accepted: 3 October 2014

RILEM 2014

Abstract In this paper, the strength and chloride

penetration resistance of the blended Portland cement
mortar containing rice husk ash (RHA) and ground
river sand (GS) were studied. Portland cement type I
(OPC) was partially replaced with RHA and GS and a
blended of RHA and GS. The mortar mixtures were
made with OPC containing 040 % of RHA and GS.
RHA and GS with 3 % by weight retained on sieve No.
325 (opening 45 lm of sieve No. 325) were obtained
using ball mill. The study includes compressive
strength, rapid chloride penetration test, chloride ion
diffusion coefficient and chloride penetration depth of
mortars. Test results indicated that the use of RHA
produced mortars with relatively high strength and
excellent resistance to chloride penetration. However,
the incorporation of GS reduced the strength and
resistance to chloride penetration of mortars indicating
that it asserted only the packing effect. The blend of
equal portions of RHA and GS produced relatively
high strength mortars with good resistance to chloride

P. Chindaprasirt
Sustainable Infrastructure Research and Development
Center,Dept. of Civil Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002,
Thailand
S. Rukzon (&)
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon,
Bangkok 10800, Thailand
e-mail: rerng197@rmutp.ac.th; sumrerng.r@rmutp.ac.th

penetration which is probably due to the synergy of the

pozzolanic effect of RHA and packing effect of GS.
Keywords Cement  Chloride  Ground river sand 
Rice husk ash  Strength

1 Introduction
Pozzolanic materials such as fly ash, silica fume and
calcined kaolin are normally used to replace part of
Portland cement to improve the properties of paste and
concrete. The addition of a fine pozzolan whose
particles are finer than those of Portland cement causes
segmentation of large pores and increases nucleation
sites for the precipitation of hydration products in
cement paste [11]. The increase in pozzolanic reaction
leads to a reduction of calcium hydroxide and
refinements of the pore structure of paste. With
regards to permeability, the incorporation of pozzolan
such as fly ash reduces the average pore size and
results in a less permeable paste [7, 13]. Rice husk ash
(RHA) when properly prepared contains high silica
content in non-crystalline or amorphous form. Therefore, it is a pozzolanic material and can be used as
supplementary cementitious material [9, 14, 17, 18].
It is generally accepted that hydration reaction is a
chemical reaction between the reactive constituents of
Portland cement and water, while the pozzolanic
reaction is the reaction between silica and/or alumina

Materials and Structures

and calcium hydroxide produced by cement hydration

reaction. In addition, Rukzon and Chindaprasirt [16]
reported that the physical effects of the finer particles
allow denser packing of cement and pozzolan and
reduce the wall effect in the transition zone between
paste and aggregates. Finely ground inert material has
also been incorporated to Portland cement to make
silica cement or mixed cement with slightly lower
strength than the conventional Portland cement but
with better cohesion, longer setting/working time, and
lower cost [8].
Two of the most important properties of mortar and/
or concrete are strength and durability. Compressive
strength is one of the most important mechanical
properties and the test is easy to perform. For
durability, resistance to chloride penetration is one
of the most important parameter especially when the
concrete structure is in the vicinity or exposes to
chloride environment. In addition, there are several
other tests such as rapid chloride penetration test
(RCPT), chloride ion diffusion coefficient (CIDC),
and chloride immersion test (CIT). This enables the
test results to be compared.
The objective of this research is to investigate the
strength and resistance to chloride penetration of the
blended Portland cement mortar containing RHA and
ground river sand (GS). The effects of pozzolanic
reaction of RHA and the effects of the blend of RHA
and GS were studied. The information should be
valuable for the future use of RHA and GS to replace
part of Portland cement to improve the quality of
mortar and concrete.

Fig. 1 Particle size distribution of RHA, GS and OPC

Table 1 Chemical composition of OPC, RHA and GS

Oxides

OPC

RHA

GS

SiO2

20.9

93.2

93.5

Al2O3

4.8

0.4

5.0

Fe2O3

3.4

0.1

NA

CaO

65.4

1.1

NA

MgO

1.3

0.1

NA

Na2O
K2O

0.2
0.4

0.1
1.3

NA
NA

SO3

2.7

0.9

NA

LOI

0.9

3.7

NA

SiO2 ? Al2O3 ? Fe2O3

93.7

98.5

2 Experimental details
2.1 Materials
Portland cement type I (ordinary Portland cement,
OPC), local rice husk, river sand and type-F superplasticizer (SP) were used. Rice husk ash was obtained
from open burning of rice husk in a small heap of
approximately 1820 kilogram of rice husk with
maximum burning temperature of 650 C. Rice husk
ash and river sand were ground using ball mill until the
percentage retained on sieve No. 325 (opening 45 lm
of sieve No. 325) was 3 %. Their particle size
distributions are given in Fig. 1. The typical chemical
compositions of RHA and GS determined by X-ray

Fig. 2 XRD analysis of RHA and GS (Q = Quartz)

fluorescence (XRF) are shown in Table 1. RHA

consisted of 93.0 % SiO2 and GS consisted of
93.5 % SiO2. Silica in RHA is in an amorphous phase
and, therefore, quite reactive as indicated by the XRD

Materials and Structures

Table 2 The physical properties of OPC, RHA and GS
Sample

Median
particle
size (lm)

Retained
on sieve
No. 325 (%)

Specific
gravity

OPC

15

3.14

3,600

RHA

10

2.23

12,100

GA

11

2.63

3,200

Blaine
fineness
(cm2/g)

Table 3 Mortar mix proportions

Mix. ID

Cement (OPC)

OPC

RHA

GS

SP (%)*

100

1.9

20RHA

80

20

2.2

40RHA

60

40

3.7

20GS

80

20

1.3

40GS

60

40

1.9

20BRGS

80

10

10

1.5

40BRGS

60

20

20

1.9

ages of 7, 28 and 90 days in accordance with ASTM

C109 [2]. Three samples were used for each test.
2.4 Tests on chloride penetration
For testing of chloride penetration, 100 mm in diameter and 200 mm in height cylindrical specimens were
prepared in accordance with ASTM C39 [1]. The
demoulding was done at the age of 24 h. They were
cured in water until the age of 27 and 89 days (for
testing at the ages of 28 and 90 day, respectively).
They were then cut into 50 mm thick slices and the
50 mm end pieces were discarded. The 50 mm center
slices were epoxy coated around the cylinder. The
prepared samples were used for the determination of
RCPT, CIDC, and CIT. All three tests were selected so
that the results could be compared and solid conclusion could be made.
2.5 Rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT)

* Percentage of cement ? RHA ? GS

result shown in Fig. 2. The silica in GS was, however,

in a stable form. The river sand with specific gravity of
2.63 and fineness modulus of 2.82 was used to make
mortars. The physical properties of OPC, RHA and GS
are given in Table 2.

For this test, the epoxy-coated cylindrical specimens

of 100 mm in diameter and 50 mm in height were
conditioned and tested at the ages of 28 and 90 days in
accordance with the method described in ASTM
C1202 [5]. Two samples were tested for each set of
results.

2.2 Mix proportion and curing

2.6 Chloride ion diffusion coefficient (CIDC)

The OPC was partially replaced with 040 % of RHA

and GS. In addition to normal replacement, a blend of
equal weight portion of RHA and GS (BRGS) was also
used to study the effects of blending of RHA and GS.
Water to binder plus fine material (OPC ? RHA ? GS) ratio of 0.5 and sand-to-binder plus fine
material ratio of 2.75 by weight were used. Table 3
gives the mortar mix proportions. The mortar mixes
with constant flow of 110 5 % were obtained with the
aid of superplasticizer (SP). The mortar samples were
cured by covering with damped cloth and polyurethane
sheet and placed in a 23 2 C room. The demoulding
was done at the age of 1 day and the samples were then
cured in water at 23 2 C until the test age.

For CIDC test, the samples were prepared in the same

manner as the RCPT samples. The epoxy-coated
sample slices of 100 mm in diameter and 50 mm in
height were conditioned and tested for the chloride ion
diffusion coefficient at the ages of 28 and 90 days
using the modified rapid migration test. The solution
employed was 3 % NaCl (in limewater) in the cathode
side and limewater in the anode side. Applied voltage
of 30 V DC for 8 h was employed. The depths of the
chloride penetration into the specimens were then
measured by splitting the samples and spraying with
0.1 M AgNO3 solution [12]. This depth of penetration
was used to determine a chloride ion diffusion
coefficient following equation derived from the
NernstPlank equation [19]. The chloride ion diffusion coefficient was calculated using Eq. (1).

2.3 Compressive strength

Cubes of 50 9 50 9 50 mm were used for the
compressive strength test. The tests were done at the

Dc

RTL xf

zFE
t

Materials and Structures

Fig. 3 Compressive strength of mortar

where, DC is chloride ion diffusion coefficient (cm2/s),

R is gas content (J/K mol, 8.314),T is temperature
(K),L is the thickness of specimens (cm),z is the ion
valence,F is Faraday content (C/mol, 9.65 9 104),E is
values of potential (V), xf is the inflection point of the
chloride ion profiles that needs to be related to the
depth given by the colorimetric technique, andt is the
time of test duration (s).
2.7 Chloride immersion test (CIT)
The CIT of mortar was performed using 3 % NaCl
solution. The test set-up was taken from RTA T263
[20]. The procedures for mixing and curing were the
same as those for the preparation of RCPT samples.
The cylindrical specimens of 100 mm in diameter and
50 mm in height were used. The specimens were
epoxy coated around the cylindrical surface and the
top surface. At the ages of 28 and 90 days, the
specimens were immersed in NaCl solution for
30 days. The depths of the chloride penetration into
specimens were then measured by splitting the samples and spraying with 0.1 M AgNO3 solution [12].

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Compressive strength
The results of compressive strength of mortars are
given in Fig. 3. Test results indicated that the
compressive strengths of GS mortars were reduced
with the increase in the replacement of OPC by GS.
The 7, 28 and 90-day compressive strengths of GS
mortars were lower than those of OPC mortars at the

same ages. At the replacement dosages of 20 and

40 %, the strengths of GS mortars were between
8393 and 5563 % of those of OPC mortars. The
strength reduction was due to the reduction in the OPC
content since GS acted as inert filler and only
contributed to the packing effect [16].
For RHA mortars, the 7, 28 and 90 day strengths of
20RHA mortars were between 102 and 104 % of those
of OPC mortars. At the replacement dosages of 40 %,
the strengths of RHA mortars were between 77 and
103 % of those of OPC mortars. ASTM C618 [4]
specifies that pozzolan mortar should have a strength
activity index of at least 75 % of the control mortar
(OPC mortar) at the ages of 7 or 28 days when the
pozzolan is used to replace Portland cement at the
dosage of 20 % by weight of binder in accordance
with ASTM C311 [3]. This, therefore, indicated that
RHA is a good pozzolan. Furthermore, the higher
strengths of RHA mortars compared to those of GS
mortars confirmed that RHA exerted the pozzolanic
effect and contributed to the strength development of
mortars [16]. For the higher replacement level of
40 %, the strengths of RHA mortar were 77, 96 and
103 % of those of OPC mortars at the ages of 7, 28 and
90 days, respectively. Again, the strengths of RHA
mortars were significantly higher than those of GS
mortars.
For the blend of RHA and GS, the compressive
strengths of 20BRS (10 %RHA ? 10 %GS) mortars
were excellent at 95105 % of those of OPC mortars.
For the replacement level of 40 %, the strengths of
40BRGS mortars (20 %RHA ? 20 %GS) were
between 77 and 87 % of those of OPC mortars at the
same age. At the 40 % replacement (20 %
RHA ? 20 %GS), the strength of 40BRS mortar
was 77 % of that of OPC mortar as compared to
5577 % at 7 days when single replacement material
was used. At the ages of 28 and 90 days, the strengths
of the 40BRGS mortars were still reasonably high at
84 and 87 % of those of OPC mortars. These
compressive strength values were significantly higher
than the average strength values of 40RHA and 40GS
mortars. The relatively high strength obtained with the
use of blend of RHA and GS was probably due to the
synergic effect between a fine pozzolanic material and
a fine inert material. It has been shown that the use of
two pozzolans of equal portions (50/50) produced
concrete with higher strength than the use of single
pozzolan (100/0) [16]. The improvement in the use of

Materials and Structures

Fig. 4 Total charge passed in coulombs of rapid chloride

penetration test (RCPT)

blend of fine pozzolanic materials was attributed to the

synergic effect of the two pozzolans in the cementitious system [10]. The synergic effect could be due to
the use of two fine materials and more work is needed
to confirm this.
3.2 Chloride penetration
3.2.1 Results of RCPT
The results of the RCPT are given in Fig. 4. The
resistances to chloride penetration of OPC mortars
were intermediate at the charges passed of 7,500 and
6,700 Coulombs at the ages of 28 and 90 days,
respectively. The replacements of OPC by GS greatly
reduced the resistance to chloride penetration and the
reductions were more with the increase in GS
replacement level. At the age of 28 days, incorporations of 20 and 40 % of GS increased the charges
passed to 11,500 and 13,500 Coulombs and to 10,500
and 11,500 Coulombs at the age of 90 days. The
reduced chloride penetration resistance was from the
reduction in OPC content and the reduced hydration
products [16]. The GS acted as a filler and contributed
only to the packing effect and its incorporation
reduced both strength and resistance to chloride
penetration of mortars.
At the age of 28 days, incorporations of 20 and
40 % of RHA improved the resistance to chloride
penetration by reducing the charges passed to 800 and
200 Coulombs. At the age of 90 days, the charges
passed of RHA mortars were very low. This improvement in chloride penetration resistance was associated

Fig. 5 Chloride ion diffusion coefficients of mortars at 28 and

90 day

with the pozzolanic effect and filling effect of fine

RHA. It was reported that the incorporation of fine
pozzolan increased the nucleation sites and hydration
of fine RHA particles with the much reduced Ca(OH)2
of mortar [16]. In particular, the incorporation of RHA
produced good quality concrete with reduced porosity
and reduced Ca(OH)2 [21].
For the use of blend of equal part of RHA and GS,
the charges passed of BRGS mortars were also low
compared to those of OPC and GS mortars as shown in
Fig. 5. The charges passed at the age of 28 days of
20BRGS and 40BRGS mortars were 2,500 and 800
Coulombs. For the replacement of 20 % RHA alone,
the charges passed was also around 800 Coulombs
which was the same order as those of 40BRGS
mortars. The incorporation of 20 % RHA and 20 %
GS reduced the amount of OPC by 40 % whereas the
incorporation of 20 %RHA reduced the amount of
OPC by 20 %. Similar improvement in chloride
penetrations of 40BRGS mortar (60 %OPC) and
20RHA mortar (80 %OPC) suggested the existence
of synergic effect on resistance to chloride penetration
of mortar containing blend of RHA and GS. As
expected, the resistances to chloride penetration at the
age of 90 days were slightly better than those at the
age of 28 days owing to the hydration and pozzolanic
reactions with time.
The RCPT value for the OPC control mortar at
28 days of 7,400 coulombs was high but consistent
with the previous research [15]. The use of GS resulted
in extremely high RCPT values and should be for
comparison only.

Materials and Structures

3.2.2 Results of CIDC

The results of CIDC using 30 V DC as shown in Fig. 5
were similar to those of RCPT. The diffusion coefficients of GS mortars were higher than those of OPC
mortars at the same age. At the age of 28 days, the
diffusion coefficients of 20GS and 40GS mortars were
5.5 9 10-6 and 13.5 9 10-6 cm2/s compared to
2.5 9 10-6 cm2/s of OPC mortar. For mortar with
RHA, the diffusion coefficients of mortars were
significantly lower than those of OPC and GS mortars.
The diffusion coefficients of 20RHA and 40RHA
mortars were 0.4 9 10-6 and 0.5 9 10-6 cm2/s. This
is consistent with the results of RCPT which also gave
low charges passed of 200800 Coulombs for these
mortars. Again, the diffusion coefficients of the
mortars reduced with an increase in age as expected.
This was due to the increase in hydration of cementitious materials. At the age of 90 days, the diffusion
coefficients of 20GS and 40GS mortars were
4.5 9 10-6 and 11.5 9 10-6 cm2/s compared to
2.1 9 10-6 cm2/s of OPC mortar at the same age.
The diffusion coefficients of 20RHA and 40RHA
mortars at 90 days were only 0.3 9 10-6 and
0.2 9 10-6 cm2/s confirming the excellent resistance
to chloride penetration with the incorporation of RHA.
Previous research also showed that RHA was the most
effective pozzolan compared with the palm oil fuel ash
and fly ash in improving the resistance to chloride [6].
For the use of blend of RHA and GS, the diffusion
coefficients of mortars were also very low in comparison with those of OPC mortar at the same age. The
diffusion coefficients of 20BRS and 40BRS mortars at
the age of 28 days were 0.7 9 10-6 and
0.6 9 10-6 cm2/s which were only slightly higher
than those of RHA mortar at the same replacement
levels. The results confirmed the synergic effect of the
blend of RHA and GS in reducing the chloride
diffusion coefficients of mortars.
3.2.3 Results of CIT
Figure 6 shows the results of chloride penetration test
of mortar immersed in 3 % NaCl solution for 30 days.
In general, the results were similar to those of RCPT
and CIDC. The immersion tests gave the direct
measure of chloride penetration depth of samples
immersed in NaCl solution. The results thus confirmed
that the incorporation of RHA or blend of RHA and

Fig. 6 Chloride depths of mortars after 30 days immersion in

3 % NaCl solution

GS gave mortars with excellent resistance to chloride

penetration.

4 Conclusion
From the tests, it can be concluded that the resistance
to chloride penetration of mortars increased with the
incorporation of RHA and blend of RHA and GS. The
use of GS to replace part of OPC in mortar, however,
resulted in only a filler effect and the strengths and
resistances to chloride penetration were thus greatly
reduced. For the incorporation RHA, the relatively
high compressive strengths were obtained owing to its
pozzolanic reaction while the resistances to chloride
penetration as measured by RCPT, CIDC and CIT
tests were significantly improved. The improvements
were associated with the filling effect, the increased
nucleation sites and hydration of fine RHA particles,
and the much reduced Ca(OH)2 of mortars. The blend
of GS and RHA also produced mortars with relatively
good strength and good resistance to chloride penetration as a result of the synergic effect of RHA and
fine GS. The results encourage the use of blend of
RHA and GS as a base material for cement replacement as it can reduce the cost of cement and the
negative environmental effects of disposing waste ash.
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Thailand
Research Fund (TRF) under the TRF Research Grant for New
Scholar No. MRG5580120; Rajamangala University of
Technology Phra Nakhon (RMUTP); and Khon Kaen
University and the TRF under the TRF-Senior Research
Scholar grant No. RTA5780004.

Materials and Structures

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