Abstract

Cement is the most useful and diverse construction material globally next water. Its demand to address housing deficit is on the rise daily due to increasing population. Cement production are economically expensive and contribute about 7 to 10 per cent (%) of the total global emissions, with potentially adverse environmental implications. Compressive strength of concrete is the important parameter that determines the performance of the material during service condition. It plays a key role in offering high-quality modified concrete. This paper presents the findings of an investigation on the strengths of self-compacting concrete (SCC) containing Millet Husk Ash (MHA) and development of strength prediction models of the concrete. The MHA used was obtained by controlled burning of millet husk to a temperature of 650 o C and sieved through 75 μm sieve after allowing cooling. The compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths of (MHA)-SCC grade 40 were investigated at replacement levels of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 %, respectively, at curing ages of 3, 7, 28, 56 and 90 days in accordance with standard procedures. The strengths of MHASCC were modeled using Response Surface Methodology. The result of the investigations showed that the strength properties of SCC decreased with increase in MHA content. However 10% MHA replacement was considered as optimum for structural concrete. The models of MHA-SCC for compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths were developed with R 2 values of 0.9937, 0.9959 and 0.9952, respectively and are considered to be good for prediction of concrete strengths.