Strength of Ternary Blended Cement Sandcrete Containing Afikpo Rice Husk Ash and Saw Dust Ash

This work investigated the compressive strength of ternary blended cement sandcrete containing Afikpo rice husk ash (RHA) and sawdust ash (SDA). 105 sandcrete cubes of 150mm x 150mm x 150mm were produced with OPC-RHA binary blended cement, 105 with OPC-SDA binary blended cement, and 105 with OPC-RHA-SDA ternary blended cement, each at percentage OPC replacement with pozzolan of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. Three cubes for each percentage replacement of OPC with pozzolan and the control were tested for saturated surface dry bulk density and crushed to obtain their compressive strengths at 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 50, and 90 days of curing. The 90-day strengths obtained from ternary blending of OPC with equal proportions of RHA and SDA were 11.80N/mm2for 5% replacement, 11.20N/mm2for 10% replacement, 10.60N/mm2for 15% replacement, 10.00N/mm2for 20% replacement, and 9.10N/mm2for 25% replacement, while that of the control was 10.90N/mm2. This suggests that very high sandcrete strength values could be obtained with OPCRHA-SDA ternary blended cement with richer mixes, high quality control, and longer days of hydration. Thus, OPC-RHA-SDA ternary blended cement sandcrete could be used for various civil engineering and building works, especially where early strength is not a major requirement.