Studies on compressive strength of Geopolymer Concrete Partially Substituted with Recycled Coarse Aggregate and Quarry Stone Dust under natural and acidic environments

Abstract

Finding an alternative for the huge environmental pollution emanating from cement manufacturing industry and utilization of solid wastes are the two major challenges faced by the construction industry. Geopolymer concrete offers an attractive solution for abating these issues as cement can be offset with silicate salts in an alkaline environment in the presence of aggregates. To curtail pollution and also to effectively utilize solid wastes, an attempt has been made in this study to prepare Geopolymer concrete using locally available alternatives. Recycled Coarse aggregate (RCA) was used as a partial substitute for conventional coarse aggregate and locally available Quarry Stone Dust (QD) was used as a partial substitute for fine aggregate in varying proportions. Also tests were performed on durability of the prepared concrete in an acidic environment. It was observed that at 40% of Quarry Stone Dust, the compressive strength of concrete attained optimum of 76N/mm2 at 90 days of ambient curing. Similarly, replacement with Recycled Coarse Aggregate reduced the compressive strength, to a minimum of 46 N/mm2. Acidic environment affected the durability of the prepared geopolymer concrete which was observed with a decrease in compressive strength value to 41N/mm2. Thus Geo-polymer concrete with RCA can be utilized effectively as a substitute for conventional concrete for pollution control as well as for utilization of solid wastes.