Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

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Construction and Building Materials

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Effects of rice husk ash and ber on mechanical properties of pervious

concrete pavement
Saeid Hesami a, Saeed Ahmadi a,, Mahdi Nematzadeh b
a
b

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, 47148-71167 Babol, Iran
Department of Civil Engineering, Mazandaran University, 47416-13534 Babolsar, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s
 Physical and mechanical properties were tested.
 Rice husk ash (RHA) and bers were used to make pervious concrete (PC).
 These RHA could be used as pozzolan to produce PC with acceptable properties.
 The contribution of RHA and ber to the mechanical properties was signicant.
 Reduction of permeability was occurred in containing RHA and ber concrete.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 25 July 2013
Received in revised form 3 November 2013
Accepted 20 November 2013
Available online 17 January 2014
Keywords:
Rice husk ash (RHA)
Fibers
Pervious concrete
Physical and mechanical properties

a b s t r a c t
The use of pervious concrete pavement is signicantly increasing due to reduction of road runoff and
absorption of noise. However, this type of pavement cannot be used for heavy trafc due to a high
amount of voids and consequently low strength of pervious concrete. In this paper, rice husk ash
(RHA) was used in order to strengthen pozzolanic cement paste and the effect of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%,
10% and 12% weight percentages as a cement replacement in concrete mixtures on the mechanical properties was studied. Moreover, 0.2% Vf of glass (where Vf is the proportion of ber volume to total volume
of concrete), 0.5% Vf of steel and 0.3% Vf of polyphenylene sulde (PPS) bers were used to improve the
mechanical properties of the pervious concrete. Also, several water to cement (w/c) ratios were made and
then, physical and mechanical properties of hardened concrete including porosity, permeability, compressive strength, tensile strength and exural strength were investigated. The results indicated a significant increase in compressive, tensile and exural strengths. Also, in all of w/c ratios, a similar trend was
observed in the compressive, tensile and exural strengths of concrete containing RHA and bers but the
optimum percentage of RHA was different so that, it increases rapidly to the optimization point but gradually decreases after this point. The w/c ratio of 0.33 signicantly increased the mechanical properties of
the pervious concrete and reduces the amounts of voids and its permeability.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Pervious concrete consists of cement, water and coarse aggregates (with low or without ne aggregates). Regarding the open
structure of pervious concrete, air and water can penetrate into
the subsoil through voids existing within the concrete. Due to connectivity of pervious concrete voids, ow pipes are generated,
which work as a lter and absorb pollutants (e.g. oil or other pollutions on the ground) [1]. Pervious concrete is usually used in

Corresponding author. Address: Faculty of Civil Engineering, BabolNoshirvani

University of Technology, Babol, Postal Box: 484, Babol, Postal Code: 47148-71167,
Iran. Tel.: +98 9151173217; fax: +98 1113231707.
E-mail addresses: s.hesami@nit.ac.ir (S. Hesami), ahmadi.saeed89@yahoo.com
(S. Ahmadi), m.nematzadeh@umz.ac.ir (M. Nematzadeh).
0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.11.070

north of Iran because of heavy rainfalls in these regions and also

its environmental benets such as controlling runoff, restoring
groundwater supplies and nally reduction of underground water
pollution. Pervious concrete has acoustic properties due to its high
porosity that can reduce noise pollution [2,3]. Although pervious
concrete was available since the middle of 19th century, its rst
application in many countries specially USA and Japan was about
1980. Pervious concrete pavement is better than asphalt or ordinary concrete pavement environmentally [3]. High penetration
velocity of water into pervious concrete has led into using this kind
of pavement in other cases such as hydraulic structures, tennis
courts, greenhouses and as a base course of heavy trafc pavements [4]. However, because of lower durability and strength of
pervious concrete, compared to ordinary ones, its application is
only in regions with low trafc congestion such as parking lots,

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Percent passing the sieve

road shoulders, streets and local roads [5,6]. Void content of pervious concrete is usually 1525%, and it is compressive strength is
about 2.828 MPa [4,7]. Since ne aggregates content is low or
sometimes there are no ne aggregates in pervious concrete, cement paste covers coarse aggregates and preserves integrity of
voids [8]. On the other hand, compressive, tensile and exural
strengths of pervious concrete is less than ordinary ones due to
its high porosity and lack of ne aggregates [9]. So, the serviceability life of this concrete is less than its design life [1,10]. Several
studies have been carried out on mechanical properties of pervious
concrete by Sonebi and Bassuoni [11], Shu et al. [12], Chen et al.
[13], Lian et al. [14] and Agar-Ozbek et al. [15].
The use of various bers in concrete and making brous concrete (FRC) is an effective step in preventing the expansion of micro-cracks and cracks and compensating tensile strength
weakness of concrete [16]. Important characteristics of brous
concrete are energy absorption, exibility and impact resistance
that considerably reduce the risk of concrete failure, especially in
areas under repeated loading. In general, the bers in the pervious
concrete signicantly increase permeability while slightly increasing air in pervious concrete and improve its tensile strength
[5,17,18].
Contact area, the interfacial zone between cement paste and
aggregates or ber, plays an important role in permeability, durability and strength of concrete and is a function of the thickness of
the contact area, type of ber, type of cement, type of pozzolan, w/c
ratio and concrete age. Also, the micro-structure of the cement
paste in the contact area differs from that within the cement paste
and has more porosity and micro-cracks. In this experimental
investigation, rice husk ash (RHA) as articial pozzolan, was used
to strengthen the contact area. Recycling the components of waste
materials saves energy in cement production and preserves natural
resources and environment. One of pozzolanic materials applicable
in the constituent components of agricultural waste is rice husk
that contains relatively large amounts of silica. In addition, the
use of materials with pozzolanic reactions can often signicantly
improve the properties of concrete [1921]. Due to the large number of rice paddies in the north of Iran and other areas of this country, a large amount of rice husk is produce annually. At present,
these husks are of no or limited used. In addition getting rid of
them will have some serious environmental issues as they are
burned and a lot of smoke and pollutants are emitted. However,
it should be noted that husk is a precious agricultural product
and a raw industrial substance of various uses.
RHA, as a partial replacement of cement, increase compressive
strength of normal concrete and its optimal value is between 10% and 30% [22]. Different studies have suggested optimal values for RHA. Andres et al. [23] reported 10% of RHA as optimal
for achieving maximum compressive strength. In some studies,
including a study by Ganesan et al. [24] 15% replacement leads

to higher compressive strength in comparison with 10%. However,

these differences depend greatly on how it is burnt which, has a direct impact on pozzolanic properties. Therefore, for a comprehensive case, the optimum range of 1015% replacement is a better
suggestion than precisely 10% replacement. It is necessary to be
noted the rice husk obtained from different areas has different effects even with the same replacement percentages. For
example, Gemma [25] used the same amount of RHA from two different regions and provided a good comparison between the obtained compressive strength.
In this paper, the effect of ber type, including PPS, steel and
glass bers with different percentages of RHA (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%,
10% and 12%) on the physical and mechanical properties of pervious concrete is investigated. In addition, three water to cement (w/
c) ratios of 0.27, 0.33 and 0.4 are evaluated. This study is an attempt to establish a balance between permeability and strength
of pervious concrete. The compressive strength, tensile strength,
exural strength, porosity and permeability of pervious concrete
are examined. The results of this study show that compressive,
tensile and exural strengths increase for up to 810% higher
RHA replacement (as an optimized value) and then reduce for
higher amounts of RHA. Also, substituting the RHA for cement is
economically justiable and also helps protect the environment. Moreover, PPS bers have caused better improvement physical and mechanical properties of pervious concrete.
2. Experimental design
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Aggregate
Coarse aggregate size used in this study was from 2.36 to 19 mm which is
ranked #67 in the standard ASTM C33 [26]. The sand was selected from sieved
No 4.75 mm equivalent value (SE = 80%). Fine and coarse aggregate curves of the
used materials, according to ASTM C33, are shown in Fig. 1.
2.1.2. Cement
The cement used was of Portland type II. The chemical and physical composition is given in Table 1.
2.1.3. Rice husk ash (RHA)
Firstly, rice husk was burned for 2 h in the furnace outdoors. Black products
from the furnace represent a high percentage of carbon content that reduces its
pozzolanic properties. Then the ash is burned and decarbonized in a special furnace.
Consequently, the ash is let to cool in the ambient temperature. This method leads
to an increase in specic surface area and pozzolanic properties of RHA [27]. Chemical and physical properties of RHA can be seen in Table 2.
Comparing Tables 1 and 2, we can conclude that the amount of silica and calcium oxide, are completely different from each other in cement and RHA so that
the amount of cement silica and RHA are 21.9% and 86.02%, respectively and the
Calcium oxide of the cement and RHA are 63.33% and 1.12%, respectively. As it
can be seen from the total chemical properties of rice husk, the total amount of
silica and Al2O3 and Fe2O3 is 86.5%, which are much more than the amount (min
70%) specied in ASTM-C618 standard [28]. Thus, RHA is known as a pozzolanic

Regulations limit

Regulations limit

Gradation curve of gravel

Gradation curve of sand

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.1

10

Sieve size (mm)

Fig. 1. Gradation curve of ne and coarse aggregates with ASTM C33 standard limits.

100

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Table 1
Chemical and physical composition of the cement.

2.2. Specimen preparation

Chemical analyses of cement

Weight of percent (%)

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
MgO
CaO
SO3

21.9
4.86
3.30
1.15
63.33
2.10

Physical properties
Specic gravity
Specic surface area (cm2/gr)

3.14
3050

All specimens were cast by rodding 25 times in three layers while applying a
vibration for 10 s after rodding each layer. After mixing, the specimens were removed from the molds and kept in 2225 C water until they reach the age of
28 days when they are ready for the experiments. Three 150  300 mm cylindrical
specimens were made to determine the compressive and tensile strengths. Also
three 100  100  500 mm prismatic beams were cast to obtain the exural
strength. Moreover, in order to calculate the permeability coefcient and porosity,
three 100  100 mm cylindrical specimens were cast.
2.2.1. Compressive strength test
Compressive strength test was carried out according to ASTM C39 [29] standard
to evaluate the compressive strength of 150  300 mm cylindrical concrete specimens. Equivalent loading speed was equal to 0.30 MPa/s which according to the relevant standard, is in the range of 0.150.35 MPa/s.

Table 2
Chemical and physical properties of RHA.
Chemical analyses of RHA

Weight of percent (%)

SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
MgO
CaO
Na2O

86.02
0.36
0.16
0.39
1.12
1.15

Physical properties
Specic gravity
Specic surface area (cm2/gr)

2.1
3500

2.2.2. Tensile strength test

The tensile strength of concrete was measured using the ASTM C 496 [30] standard tensile test. This test was done in accordance with the compressive strength
tests on cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 150 mm and height of 300 mm.
Equivalent loading speed was equal to 1 MPa/min which, according to the relevant
standard, is in the range of 0.71.4 MPa/min.
2.2.3. Flexural strength test
The exural strength of concrete was measured according to ASTM C 78 [31]
standard test on prismatic beams with dimensions of 100  100  500 mm. Equivalent loading speed was equal to 0.95 MPa/min which, according to the relevant
standard, is in the range of 0.861.12 MPa/min.

material. According to ASTM-C618, pozzolan is dened as a silica material which is

not adhesive by itself but shows chemical reaction with calcium hydroxide in the
vicinity of moisture at normal temperature and produce compositions with adhesive and cementitous properties. This reduces the porosity of the cement paste
and subsequently increases its strength. So pozzolan is a natural or articial material containing active silica. Being ne is the most important physical property of
RHA that increase the concrete strength. Compared to cement, RHA is ner than cement and has better efciency as cementitious materials. Therefore, it is expected
that these factors may signicantly impact the strength properties of concrete.

2.1.4. Superplasticizer
A superplasticizer (SP) of carboxylic ether (Glenium-110P, BASF) with 1.1 g/cm3
specic gravity (at 20 C) is used.

2.1.5. Fibers
Fibers including PPS, steel and glass were used. The properties of the bers used
are shown in Table 3 and Fig. 2.

2.2.4. Permeability test

The best denition for a pervious and permeable concrete is its permeability
and porosity properties. Permeability is a function how pores are related to each
other. To dene the permeability of a material, the permeability coefcient
should be determined that is the amount of uid owing through a unit area
per unit time under a unit hydraulic gradient (that is usually expressed in terms
of centimeters per second). Pervious concrete permeability can be determined
using the falling head tests. In these tests, lateral surfaces of the specimens are
covered and pressurized water is applied on the upper surface of the specimens.
When there is a steady stream of water, the amount of water passing from a certain height within a specied time is measured. Average permeability coefcient
is calculated according to Eq. (1) based on Darcys law and layer ow assumption
[32]. The average results of the tests on three cylindrical specimens with a diameter and height of 100 mm are reported as the permeability coefcient. A picture
of the device used to determine the permeability of pervious concrete is shown in
Fig. 3.

 
aL
h1
LN
h2
At

Table 3
Properties of glass, steel and PPS bers.
Type

Length (mm)

Diameter (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Young modulus (kg/cm2  105)

Specic gravity (gr/cm3)

Steel
PPS
Glass

36
5054
12

0.7

0.1

0.07

16
3.5
8.7

7.8
0.90
2.65

Fig. 2. (a) Steel bers, (b) PPS bers and (c) glass bers used in this study.

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

2.3. Concrete mix design

In this study four mix designs namely A, B, C and D are made. Mixes A, B and C,
respectively have a w/c ratio of 0.27, 0.33 and 0.4 and each contains three types of
ber, 0.5% Vf steel, 0.2% Vf glass and 0.3% Vf PPS. Also in each of these mix designs 0%,
2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, and 12% RHA cement replacement has been used. Moreover, the
mix design of D series includes mixtures without ber and 4%, 8% and 12% RHA cement replacement. The amounts of gravel, sand and water were constant in each of
the four mix designs. So that 7 wt.% natural sand was used as coarse aggregate
replacement. The parameter Vf in Tables 47 represents the percentage of ber volume to concrete volume.
Considering the mix designs in the given tables, specic surface area of RHA is
signicantly greater than the cement. Therefore the concrete performance is reduced drastically and more water is needed to x it. Because the concrete performance should not be changed, the amount of superplasticizer is increased.
Habeeb et al. [34] produced ashes with neness of 27.4 m2/g, 29.1 m2/g and
30.4 m2/g by grinding ashes at intervals of 180, 270 and 360 min, respectively.
The results of their study showed that the ner the ash particles, the more superplasticizer is needed to achieve the same slumps. Since in this study more than 10%
of RHA in concrete, has made the slump too low even with heavy use of superplasticizer, it seems that the most desirable amount of RHA is 10% which requires a reasonable amount of plasticizer. It should be noted that the RHA is a waste material
but too much superplasticizer is needed to achieve the desired slump, economically
justiable. Also, high percentages of RHA reduce the concrete strength and slump.

3. Analysis of results

Fig. 3. The constructed device for permeability test.

3.1. Effect of ber type on mechanical properties

where k is the coefcient of permeability, cm/s; a the cross sectional area of the
standpipe, cm2; L the length of sample, cm; A the cross-sectional area of specimen,
cm2; t the time in seconds from h1 to h2; h1 the initial water level, cm; h2 is the nal
water level, cm.

2.2.5. Porosity test

Porosity is the amount of the concrete pores and cavities dened as a percentage of total volume of the matter. The porosity of the specimens was measured by
calculating the difference between dry and weight under water according to Eq. (2)
[33]. First, specimens are placed in oven at 105 C for 24 h and then weighing the
specimens the dry weight (W2) is obtained. Then, the dried specimens are weighed
in water and the weight under water (W1) is obtained. Using Eq. (2) the porosity of
the specimens are calculated. The average test results on three cylindrical specimens of 100 mm diameter and height is reported as the porosity percentage.


P

1



W2  W1
100%
Vol  qW

where P is the total porosity, %; W1 the weight under water, kg; W2 the oven dry
weight, kg; Vol the volume of sample, cm3; qw the density of water @ 21 C, kg/cm3.

3.1.1. Compressive strength

Fig. 4 shows the effect of ber type (glass, steel and PPS) without RHA on the compressive strength of pervious concrete in accordance with the results of series A, B and C, respectively. In w/c ratio
of 0.27, compressive strength, compared to the control concrete
(without bers), increases by 32%, 24% and 28% for glass, steel
and PPS bers, respectively. In the w/c ratio of 0.33, with glass,
steel and PPS bers the compressive strength is increased by
46%, 40% and 50% compared to the control concrete (without bers), respectively. Moreover in w/c ratio of 0.4 the compressive
strength increases by 36%, 26% and 30% when glass, steel and
PPS bers are used, respectively. It is clear that when the vertical
compressive force is exerted to the concrete element, the specimen
inclines to show lateral strain increase. Due to high exibility and
length of PPS bers and also their proper placement and distribution in the concrete mixture which makes better interlocking between the ber and the paste, the lateral strain is delayed and
consequently the compressive strength increases. It should be

Table 4
Mixes with w/c ratio of 0.27 (Series A).
Component

RHA
0

10

12

PPS ber Vf = 0.3%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
93
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
93
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
93
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
93
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
93
3.1

306
34
1395
105
93
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
93
4

Steel ber Vf = 0.5%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
93
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
93
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
93
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
93
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
93
3.1

306
34
1395
105
93
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
93
4

Glass ber Vf = 0.2%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
93
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
93
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
93
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
93
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
93
3.1

306
34
1395
105
93
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
93
4

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Table 5
Mixes with w/c ratio of 0.33 (Series B).
Component

RHA
0

10

12

PPS ber Vf = 0.3%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
112
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
112
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
112
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
112
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
112
3.1

306
34
1395
105
112
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
112
4

Steel ber Vf = 0.5%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
112
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
112
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
112
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
112
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
112
3.1

306
34
1395
105
112
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
112
4

Glass ber Vf = 0.2%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
112
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
112
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
112
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
112
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
112
3.1

306
34
1395
105
112
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
112
4

Table 6
Mixes with w/c ratio of 0.40 (Series C).
Component

RHA
4

10

12

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
135
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
135
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
135
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
135
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
135
3.1

306
34
1395
105
135
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
135
4

Steel ber Vf = 0.5%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
135
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
135
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
135
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
135
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
135
3.1

306
34
1395
105
135
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
135
4

Glass ber Vf = 0.2%

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

340
0
1395
105
135
0

333.2
6.8
1395
105
135
1.8

326.4
13.6
1395
105
135
2.3

319.6
20.4
1395
105
135
2.7

312.8
27.2
1395
105
135
3.1

306
34
1395
105
135
3.5

299.2
40.8
1395
105
135
4

Table 7
Mixes containing RHA (Series D).
Component

Fiber Vf (%) = 0%

RHA

Cement (kg)
RHA (kg)
Gravel (kg)
Sand (kg)
Water (kg)
SP (kg)

12

340
0
1395
105
93
0

326.4
13.6
1395
105
93
2.2

312.8
27.2
1395
105
93
2.8

299.2
40.8
1395
105
93
3.5

noted that because of high exibility and length of PPS bers and
also their proper placement, the pull strength is also increased as
well as the compressive strength.
3.1.2. Tensile strength
Fig. 5 shows the effect of ber type (glass, steel and PPS)
without RHA on the tensile strength of pervious concrete in
accordance with the results of series A, B and C, respectively. As
shown in the gure, tensile strength is increased by increasing

Compressive Strength (MPa)

PPS ber Vf = 0.3%

Control

PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

Glass Fiber

Fig. 4. Bar chart compressive strength of pervious concrete containing bers (Series
A, B and C).

the amount of bers, similar to the compressive strength trend at

presence of bers. In the w/c ratio of 0.27, tensile strength, compared to the control concrete (without bers), increases 31%, 27%
and 28% when glass, steel and PPS bers are used, respectively.

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Mix containing RHA

w/c=0.27

w/c=0.33

w/c=0.40

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Tensile Strength (MPa)

3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0

Control

PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

18

16

14

12

10

Glass Fiber

10

12

Rice husk ash (%)

Fig. 5. Bar chart tensile strength of pervious concrete containing bers (Series A, B
and C).

w/c=0.27

w/c=0.33

w/c=0.40

3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Control

PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

Glass Fiber

Fig. 6. Bar chart exural strength of pervious concrete containing bers (Series A, B
and C).

Mix With Glass Fiber

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Flexural Strength (MPa)

3.5

Fig. 7. The compressive strength of concrete containing RHA without bers (Series
D).

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

30
25
20
15
10

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 8. The compressive strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio
0.27 (Series A).

Also in w/c ratio of 0.33, with glass, steel and PPS bers the tensile
strength is increased 28%, 33% and 37%, compared to the control
concrete (without bers), respectively. Moreover in w/c ratio of
0.4, the tensile strength increases 19%, 30% and 31% when glass,
steel and PPS bers are used, respectively. As a conclusion, the effect of PPS bers is much better than the glass and steel bers because the PPS bers have more interlock in the matrix of cement
due to their suitable exibility and appropriate placement within
the concrete. Therefore the resultant tensile strength is higher
compared to the concrete containing glass and steel bers.

3.1.3. Flexural strength

Fig. 6 shows the effect of ber type (glass, steel and PPS) without RHA on the exural strength of pervious concrete in accordance with the results of series A, B and C, respectively. As
shown in the gure, exural strength is increased by increasing
the amount of bers, similar to the tensile and compressive
strengths trends at presence of bers. In the w/c ratio of 0.27, exural strength, compared to the control concrete (without bers),
increases by 24%, 22% and 21% when glass, steel and PPS bers
are used, respectively. Also in w/c ratio of 0.33, with glass, steel
and PPS bers the exural strength is increased by 17%, 19% and
21%, compared to the specimen control concrete (without bers),
respectively. Moreover in w/c ratio of 0.4, the exural strength increases by 7%, 13% and 17% when glass, steel and PPS bers are
used, respectively. As a conclusion, the effect of PPS bers is much
better than the glass and steel bers because the PPS bers have
more interlocking in the matrix of cement due to their suitable
exibility and appropriate placement within the concrete.
Therefore the resultant exural strength is higher compared to
the concrete containing glass and steel bers.

3.2. Effect of RHA on compressive strength

In terms of microstructure, concrete is composed of three
phases: aggregate, cement and transition zone. Although most of
the concrete is aggregate and cement phase, the transition zone
is more effective on the mechanical properties of concrete in spite
of its smaller proportion than the two other phases and thus plays
a critical role in the concrete structure [35,36]. In pervious concrete
without admixtures, concrete failure generally occurs on the surface of the hardened paste or the transition zone between the
aggregates and the paste [37]. Pozzolanic properties of rice husk,
as well as its role as a chemical ller improves the physical structure of the cement and makes the cement paste denser. The RHA as
a pozzolan reacts with calcium hydroxide in the hydration process
and improves aggregate-paste connectivity and hence reduces
transition zone thickness between aggregate and cement paste.
This causes the failure occurs in the through aggregate which is intended because this phase has denitely higher strength than the
transition zone and improves the mechanical properties of the concrete including compressive, tensile and exural strengths. The effect of RHA on the concrete compressive strength is shown in Fig. 7
based on the results of concrete containing RHA (series D). As observed, the compressive strength of concrete containing RHA is 29%
more than control concrete and a RHA of 8% was considered as
optimum.
3.3. Combined effect of ber and RHA on the mechanical properties of
concrete
Due to the low pull strength of bers in pervious concrete containing ber (Series A, B, C), it appears that the total capacity of the

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

3.6

25
20
15
10

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

30

6
8
Rice Husk Ash (%)

10

12

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Mix With Glass Fiber

3.2
2.8
2.4
2

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 9. The compressive strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio
0.33 (Series B).

Mix With Glass Fiber

Fig. 12. The tensile strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio 0.33
(Series B).

Mix With Steel Fiber

30
25
20
15
10

10

12

3.6

3.2
2.8
2.4
2

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 10. The compressive strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c
ratio 0.40 (Series C).

Mix With Glass Fiber

10

12

Fig. 13. The tensile strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio 0.40
(Series C).

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 11. The tensile strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio 0.27
(Series A).

ber is not used. However, due to the low value of ne aggregate,

cement matrix of pervious concrete is poor. Thus the interlocking
between bers and concrete components should be improved
through strengthening the cement paste. However, it should be taken into account that the volume of the cement paste cannot be increased since this would affect the permeability of the concrete
which contradicts the nature of pervious concrete. Thus, a proportion of the existing cement can be removed and the same amount
of RHA can be substituted so that pozzolanic property of RHA is
utilized. RHA has a high pozzolanic activity and is commonly used
as pozzolanic materials in concrete.
Increase in the strength and durability of concrete containing RHA is due to strengthened the transition zone, void structure

Flexural Strength (MPa)

2.4

Mix With Glass Fiber

2.8

Mix With Steel Fiber

3.2

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Mix With PPS Fiber

3.6

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Mix With Glass Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

5
4
3
2
1

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 14. The exural strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio
0.27 (Series A).

reformation, blocking large voids in the hydrated cement paste because of pozzolanic reaction. Another important pozzolanic material is silica. Improvement of the mechanical properties and
reduction of the permeability of concrete containing micro-silica
is due to the reduction of the thickness of the transition zone between aggregate and cement paste [38]. Hence, because ne micro-silica is extremely ne and has high pozzolanic reactivity,
this material decreases the permeability of concrete and reduces
the amount of calcium hydroxide. Since micro-silica is ner than
RHA, it reduces the porosity of the transition zone and further improves the mechanical properties of the concrete compared to RHA
[39].

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Flexural Strength (MPa)

Mix With Glass Fiber

Table 9
Percentage of tensile strength increase for optimum RHA amount compared to control
concrete.

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

6
5
4

PPS ber

Steel ber

Glass ber

0.27
0.33
0.4

37
28
32

41
30
33

30
31
38

3
2
1

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 15. The exural strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio
0.33 (Series B).

4
3
2

PPS ber

Steel ber

Glass ber

0.27
0.33
0.4

59
69
53

54
63
57

48
64
63

Glass Fiber

w/c

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With PPS Fiber

Table 10
Percentage of exural strength increase for optimum RHA amount compared to
control concrete.

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Mix With Glass Fiber

Flexural Strength (MPa)

w/c

10

12

30

W/C=0.27

W/C=0.33

W/C=0.4

25
20
15
10
5
0

Rice Husk Ash (%)

10

12

10

12

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Table 8
Percentage of compressive strength increase for optimum RHA amount compared to
control concrete.
w/c

PPS ber

Steel ber

Glass ber

0.27
0.33
0.4

47
36
41

43
37
37

41
34
30

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Fig. 16. The exural strength of concrete containing RHA and bers in w/c ratio 0.40
(Series C).

Steel Fiber
30

W/C=0.27

W/C=0.4

25
20
15
10
5
0

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Nielsen [40] using the X-ray analysis technique reported that

RHA replacement to the cement causes reduction in the relative
concentration of calcium hydroxide in the transition zone.
The properties of rice husk can be studied from two aspects,
chemically and physically, both of which improve the mechanical
properties of concrete. The most important feature of RHA that
causes pozzolanic reaction to occur is its amorphous material. Production of RHA can lead to the formation of about 8595% amorphous silica [41]. In the cement hydration process, large amounts
of calcium hydroxide crystals are formed. These crystals that are
hexagonal and are mainly formed at the transition zone between
the aggregates and cement paste have been crucial in the concrete
permeability. The term Chemical property of the RHA means that
due to its large specic surface area, it is highly reactive. It can react to with calcium crystals hydroxide quickly and produce CSH
gel. Therefore, the dimensions and quantity of calcium hydroxide
crystals are reduced and instead CSH gel lls voids on the contact surface of cement paste with aggregates making it denser.
The physical effects of RHA include improvement of interlocking between solid materials and lling the space between cement
particles. In other words, minute RHA particles are ner than

W/C=0.33

PPS Fiber

35

W/C=0.27

W/C=0.33

W/C=0.4

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

6
4
8
Rice Husk Ash (%)

10

12

Fig. 17. The compressive strength of concrete containing RHA and bers with
different w/c ratios.

cement particles and ll the space between them. So, all these processes will strengthen the microstructure and result in a denser cement paste.

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

Table 11
Porosity and permeability percentage in different w/c ratios.

0.33

0.4

PPS

Steel

RHA

Porosity
(%)

Permeability
(cm/s)

Porosity
(%)

Permeability
(cm/s)

Porosity
(%)

Permeability
(cm/s)

0
2
4
6
8
10
12

23.2
20.5
19.5
18.2
16.6
14.8
23.7

0.25
0.202
0.18
0.165
0.14
0.108
0.26

23.3
20.2
17.5
15
12.5
21.1
27

0.25
0.22
0.186
0.16
0.12
0.23
0.28

22.9
19
18
16
13.5
20.5
24

0.24
0.22
0.19
0.17
0.145
0.2
0.25

0
2
4
6
8
10
12

21.5
19.4
18
17.5
15.5
12
19

0.21
0.18
0.19
0.15
0.12
0.095
0.21

22
20
17.5
15
12.5
10
20

0.21
0.19
0.17
0.14
0.12
0.09
0.23

19
19.5
16
14
11
9
21

0.19
0.16
0.13
0.14
0.1
0.08
0.24

0
2
4
6
8
10
12

28
25
22
20
18
14
24

0.45
0.41
0.38
0.35
0.3
0.36
0.38

26
23
21
20
16
13
21

0.41
0.37
0.33
0.3
0.26
0.21
0.32

29
25
22
21
17
25
29

0.48
0.45
0.39
0.33
0.37
0.39
0.47

Permeability (cm/s)

0.27

Fiber

Glass

Mix With PPS Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1

Mix With PPS Fiber

3.3.3. Flexural strength

The results of the exural test are shown in Figs. 1416. As observed, generally while the rate of cement replacement with RHA
particles increases, the exural strength has an increasing trend
at rst, but it decreases after a while. The increase in exural
strength could be due to the improvement of the bond between
the cement matrix and aggregate in the presence of RHA. As it

10

12

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05

3.3.2. Tensile strength

The results of the tensile test are shown by Figs. 1113. It can be
seen that, as it was detected for compressive strength trend, generally while the rate of cement replacement with RHA particles increases, the tensile strength has an increasing trend at rst, but
it decreases after a while. As it can be seen in Table 9, the tensile
strength values increase 3038% for glass ber, 3041% for the
steel bers and 2837% for the PPS bers. It can be said that increase of RHA strengthens the cement paste. In other words, the
used bers have better performance in the presence of RHA than
when the concrete exclude RHA particles. Other reasons why tensile strength is increased is the small size of RHA particles and their
lling effect. Habeeb et al. [34] reported that the ner the RHA particles, the more the tensile strength is improved.

8
6
Rice Husk Ash (%)
4

w/c=0.33 (Series B)
0.3

8
6
4
Rice Husk Ash (%)

10

12

w/c=0.4 (Series C)
0.6

Permeability (cm/s)

3.3.1. Compressive strength

The results of the compressive strength test are shown in
Figs. 810. As it can be seen, the compressive strength increased
with increasing the amount of RHA, but using more of them reduces the strength. Therefore, the range of 810% of RHA can be
considered as the optimal value and leads to signicant improvement in strength. As it can be seen in Table 8, the compressive
strength values increase 3041% for glass ber, 3743% for the
steel bers and 4147% for the PPS bers. It should be noted that
due to reduction of porosity, the amount of calcium hydroxide
and the thickness of the transition zone between aggregate and cement paste, and also increase of RHA up to optimum value (810%)
the compressive strength increases compared to the control concrete (concrete containing ber) and then decreases with the further increase of RHA. This is because workability and lack of
required water.

Mix With Steel Fiber

0.05

Permeability (cm/s)

w/c

w/c=0.27 (Series A)
0.3

Mix With PPS Fiber

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

8
6
4
Rice Husk Ash (%)

10

12

Fig. 18. Permeability of pervious concrete containing RHA and bers with different
w/c ratios (Series A, B and C).

can be seen in Table 10, the exural strength values increase 48

63% for glass ber, 5463% for the steel bers and 5369%
for the PPS bers. Gemma [25] reported that the use of RHA
results in signicant improvement in the exural strength of
concrete.
From the above results, it can be seen that, as previously mentioned, the optimum percentage of RHA in series D (without bers)
is 8% while the optimum percentage of RHA in specimens containing ber series (A, B and C) is between 8% and 10%. The difference
of RHA amount between two types of specimens is negligible. This
means that the addition of bers to concrete containing RHA does
not affect the optimal amount considerably. It also can be seen that
the curve slope, for all w/c ratios, before the optimum of RHA is
steeper than the slope after the optimum RHA amount. In fact,
using 12% of RHA slightly decreases the compressive, tensile and
exural strengths, compared to the 10% RHA, while considerably
increasing the permeability which is economic and practical. As
it is obvious, combination of ber and RHA increases the compressive strength in comparison with concrete containing RHA and
without bers (series D).

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

3.4. Effect of water to cement ratio

3.5. Porosity and permeability test results

In order to evaluate the effect of the w/c ratio on the

mechanical properties of bers and concrete containing RHA, a
bar graph for compressive strength is depicted in Fig. 17. As
can be seen the specimens with w/c ratios of 0.27 and 0.40 have
lower strengths compared to a w/c ratio of 0.33. It may be concluded that, for the w/c ratio of 0.27 the failure has occurred on
cement paste that is due to insufcient water content to operate
the hydration. The w/c ratio of 0.33 leads to increased workability of the mixture which causes full hydration of the cement
paste and consequently generates stronger mixes. In the w/c ratio of 0.4, there is high-water content in the cement paste that
causes the formation of small pores in the cement paste and
thus the compressive strength will be reduced. According to
the tests carried out by Lian and Zhuge [37] on the pervious
concrete, increasing the w/c ratio to a value of 0.34 increases
the compressive strength and then further increase of the w/c
ratio will decrease the compressive strength.

The results of the porosity and permeability tests with the w/c
ratios of 0.27, 0.33 and 0.4 are shown in Table 11. As it can be seen,
the permeability is roughly 0.080.48 cm/s and porosity is in the
range of 929%, which are high enough and can be used as a drainage layer in pavement. As shown in Fig. 18 for the permeability and
Fig. 19 for porosity with different w/c ratios, ber does not have
considerable effect on the permeability while using RHA leads to
rapid decrease in porosity and the permeability. However, porosity
and permeability decrease when RHA is increased to 810%, and
then it increases for more RHA contents. This is opposite to the
compressive strength trend where it increases when RHA increases
to 810% and then decreases. As it is clear, the permeability and
porosity have a direct relationship with each other [42] in which
the permeability coefcient increases when porosity is increased.
As previously mentioned, the thickness of the transition zone decreases with increasing RHA and so the porosity and permeability
will be reduced to the optimization point and after that compressive and tensile strengths are reduced while porosity and permeability are increased as shown in Fig. 18. As shown in Fig. 18, the
permeability, in the w/c ratio of 0.27, is more than that of 0.33
but far less than the case related to the w/c ratio of 0.40.

w/c=0.27 (Series A)
30

Mix With PPS Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

Mix With Steel Fiber

w/c=0.27 (Series A)

20

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Porosity (%)

25

15
10
5
0

Rice Husk Ash (%)

PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

Glass Fiber

3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
15

17

19

21

23

25

Compressive Strength (MPa)

w/c=0.33 (Series B)
25
Mix With PPS Fiber

Mix With Steel Fiber

Mix With Glass Fiber

w/c=0.33 (Series B)
PPS Fiber

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Porosity (%)

20
15
10
5
0

20

22

w/c=0.4 (Series C)

26

28

30

23

25

w/c=0.4 (Series C)

Mix With Glass Fiber

30

PPS Fiber

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Porosity (%)

24

Compressive Strength (MPa)

35
Mix With Steel Fiber

Glass Fiber

3.6
3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Mix With PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

25
20
15
10
5
0

15

Rice Husk Ash (%)

Fig. 19. Porosity pervious concrete containing RHA and bers with different w/c
ratios (Series A, B and C).

Steel Fiber

Glass Fiber

3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
17

19

21

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Fig. 20. Relationship between tensile strength and compressive strength in
different w/c ratios (Series A, B and C).

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S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

w/c=0.27 (Series A)

w/c=0.27 (Series A)
Steel fiber

Glass Fiber

PPS Fiber

Permeability (cm/s)

0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
10

15

20
Void Content (%)

25

30

Compressive Strength (MPa)

PPS Fiber

28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
10

Steel Fiber

15

Glass Fiber

20

25

30

Void Content (%)

w/c=0.33 (Series B)
Steel fiber

w/c=0.33 (Series B)

Glass Fiber

PPS Fiber

0.25
0.2

0.15
0.1
0.05
10

12

14

16
18
20
Void Content (%)

22

24

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Permeability (cm/s)

PPS Fiber

25
20
15
10
8

13

0.45
0.35

0.25
0.15
15

20
Void Content (%)

23

w/c=0.4 (Series C)

Glass Fiber

0.55

0.05
10

18

Void Content (%)

25

30

Fig. 21. Relationship between void content and permeability in different w/c ratios
(Series A, B and C).

As previously mentioned, RHA reacts with calcium hydroxide in

the hydration process and the amount of RHA is reduced, leading to
the production of the CSH gel. Thus porosity and permeability
increase and the compressive strength decreases with the increase
of RHA. Although, using a further amount of RHA causes reduction
in the compressive strength. From this stage on, the RHA had a
negative effect on the hydration of cement and results in an increase of porosity in the cement paste and consequently increases
concrete porosity and permeability. This is because high specic
surface area of RHA and lack of required water absorption by
RHA particles cause the compressive strength to reduce and consequently increase the permeability and porosity.
3.6. Relations between mechanical properties
Figs. 2022 show the relationship between the physical and
mechanical properties of the specimens containing glass ber, steel
ber, PPS ber and RHA with w/c ratios of 0.27, 0.33 and 0.4. These
relationships are similar to normal concrete [43].
Fig. 20 shows the relationship between compressive and tensile
strengths of pervious concrete. As it is obvious, by increasing compressive strength, the tensile strength also increases and the relationship between them is almost linear. As it can be seen, curve

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Permeability (cm/s)

Steel fiber

Glass Fiber

30

w/c=0.4 (Series C)
PPS Fiber

Steel Fiber

35

PPS Fiber
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
10

Steel Fiber

15

Glass Fiber

20

25

30

Void Content (%)

Fig. 22. Relationship between compressive strength and the void content in
different w/c ratios (Series A, B and C).

slopes of the specimens containing PPS is more than that of steel

and glass bers. Fig. 21 shows the relationship between the void
content and permeability of pervious concrete. It can be concluded
that the permeability of the pervious concrete is related linearly
with the amount of air. As it is apparent, permeability of concrete
increases with increasing the amount of air and this trend continues until the optimum value is reached and then the amount of air
increases and compressive strength is reduced. One of the challenges of using pervious concrete is to achieve an acceptable balance between the permeability and high compressive strength.
As is clear from Fig. 22, increasing the amount of RHA decreases
the amount of air while increasing compressive strength. That is
because when RHA is mixed with concrete, the compressive
strength increases due to chemical reactions and after the optimum point the compressive strength is reduced while porosity is
increased.
4. Conclusion
In this study the results of the experimental tests to investigate
the physical and mechanical properties of pervious concrete containing bers and RHA is as follows:

S. Hesami et al. / Construction and Building Materials 53 (2014) 680691

1. The optimum percentage of RHA in the specimens without

bers (series D) is 8% while it is between 8% and 10% in the
specimens with ber series (A, B and C). This indicates that
the addition of bers to the concrete containing RHA does not
considerably affect the optimal amount.
2. The compressive, tensile and exural strengths in concrete with
12% of RHA were found to be slightly lower than those of 10% of
RHA, as the optimum RHA amount, while its permeability is
considerably higher than that of 10% of RHA. Hence, it seems
that 12% of RHA can be more suitable for concrete pavements.
3. The mechanical properties including the compressive, tensile
and exural strengths were found to be the maximum for w/c
ratio of 0.33.
4. For 810% replacement of RHA and w/c ratio of 0.33, the compressive strength of pervious concrete containing bers and
RHA increases by 34%, 37% and 36% for glass, steel and PPS
bers, respectively. Also, for the above-mentioned mix design,
the tensile strength increases by 31%, 30% and 28% for glass,
steel and PPS bers, respectively. Finally, the exural strength
undergoes a 64%, 63% and 69% increase when glass, steel and
PPS bers are used, respectively.
5. In three w/c ratios of 0.27, 0.33 and 0.4, a similar trend was
observed for the compressive, tensile and exural strengths of
concrete containing both RHA and ber but the range of optimum percentage of RHA was different. Moreover for all cases,
the compressive, tensile and exural strengths rises at a rapid
slope before the optimum percentage and drops gradually afterwards. The same trend is detected when for concretes with
bers and without RHA.
6. The pervious concrete permeability was obtained to be between
0.08 cm/s and 0.48 cm/s, and the porosity is in the range of 9%
and 29%, which are appropriate for a drainage layer of pavement to be used.
7. The compressive strength of the pervious concrete increases
linearly with the increase of the tensile strength.
8. The permeability of concrete decreases with the increase of
RHA amount until the optimum RHA amount is reached. After
it, the permeability increases and the strengths are reduced.

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[2] Nader G, Shivaji D. Development of no-nes concrete pavement applications.
ASCE J Transport Eng 1995:2838.
[3] Ferguson BK. Pervious pavements. New York: Taylor and Francis Group; 2005.
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Association, Maryland: Silver, Spring; 2004.
[5] Yang J, Jiang G. Experimental study on properties of pervious concrete
pavement materials. Cem. Concr. Res. 2003;33(3):3816.
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