DEVELOPMENT OF RICE HUSK/OYSTER SHELL CEMENT-BONDED COMPOSITES FOR FARM STRUCTURE APPLICATIONS

Demand of good quality of construction materials to replace the traditional materials and the need for cost effective and durable materials for the low-cost housing has necessitated the researchers to develop varieties of new and innovative building materials. To address this, agricultural wastes, and residues such as rice husk and oyster shell -based construction materials are gaining popularity due to their lightweight, cost-effective, durable, and environmentally friendly properties. This present research focuses on developing eco-friendly building technologies by combining rice husk and oyster shell wastes with cement to produce cement-bonded composites and evaluate their mechanical properties with intention of exploring the composites’ application potential for farm structures and construction. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to design the experiment with three levels and three variable using cement, rice husk, and oyster shell as independent variables and density, water absorption, thickness swelling and compressive strength as dependent variables. The results shown that the density of the board is significantly affected by the presence of oyster shell and cement. Additionally, water absorption and thickness swelling are greatly influenced by the presence of cement and rice husk. Furthermore, the compressive strength of all the tested combinations is largely influenced by the presence of cement. The optimum combination of the materials is 45% cement, 20% rice husk and 35% oyster shell. This combination gave a particle board with a density of 10.87 kg/m3, water absorption of 5.48, thickness swelling of 1.7, and compressive strength of 13.78MPa. It was concluded that oyster shells and rice husks are suitable materials for cement-bonded composites utilized in farm structure applications.