Experimental Investigation on the Strength Properties of Agro-Waste Ash and Industrial Waste in Mortar

As construction materials, agro-industrial by-products have been considered as a partial replacement of cement and fine aggregates due to the increasing pressure to establish sustainable and economical building materials. This experiment examines the synergistic effect between Wheat Husk Ash (WHA), an agro-waste composed of amorphous silica, and Quarry Dust (QD), an industrial waste originating from crushing stone, in an MM7.5 grade mortar with a 1:3 ratio of cement to sand. Cement was substituted by WHA at varying degrees of 5, 10, 15 and 20 with QD substituting sand at the same rate in reverse proportions (20, 15, 10, and 5). The performance and durability of the products in compressive strength (7, 14, and 28 days), water absorption, and adhesion strength were tested. Findings obtained that moderate replacement with particular 10% WHA and 15% QD gave the best compressive strength with less water absorption, and this means better matrix density. WHA helped to strengthen in the long term due to pozzolanic reactions, whereas QD helped to increase the early strength and decrease porosity. The use of the composite materials was found to be effective in the production of environmentally friendly, durable and cost-efficient mortar, which does not rely on natural sand and cement, but instead on adhesion strength and water absorption at 28 days. It was found that the addition of WHA and QD increased mechanical and durability properties. The combination of 10 per cent WHA and 15 per cent QD produced the best 28 per cent compressive strength and a minimum percentage of water absorption, which reflected better pore refinement and bond strength. On the whole, the research comes to a conclusion that the use of WHA and QD not only enhances the performance of mortar but also provides a costeffective and sustainable method of minimising environmental pollution and dependence on conventional building materials.