Effect of waste rice husk ash (RHA) on structural, thermal and acoustic properties of fired clay bricks

Clay mixed with waste RHA improved the mixture for brick manufacturing. Lightweight bricks produced with waste RHA show the optimum compressive strength of 3.55 N/mm2, (32.7% improvement compared to the conventional fired clay brick) and water absorption of 19% at 4% RHA, implying that the RHA has a potential to improve the structural properties. At 4% RHA, the brick shows 6 °C in-door temperature reduction and 10 dB noise reduction compared with that of the conventional fired clay brick. Waste RHA added clay brick showed better structural, thermal and acoustic properties compared with the conventional clay bricks, while managing waste RHA by decentralization, which will be a remarkable environmental and ecological achievement.