Strength and Durability Behaviour of Fly Ash Based Geopolymer Concrete in Structural Applications

Abstract

The cement production which causes environmental pollution cannot be eliminated completely but its use can be reduced by utilizing
other cementing materials. The production of Geopolymer with fly ash consume less energy and this technology has the ability to
minimize the emissions by 80%. For the present work, a Geopolymer prepared from low-calcium fly ash is used in place of cement to
produce M60 concrete. The experimental program consists of three main stages. In the first stage, mix design was done to prepare
M60 concrete for both conventional and Geopolymer concretes. In the second stage, strength parameters of the concretes were
assessed by testing cubes (for evaluating the compressive strength), prisms (for flexural strength) and cylinders (for split tensile
strength) using those two concrete types. In the third stage, durability study was conducted on both conventional and fly ash based
Geopolymer concretes. From this study it was observed that the Geopolymer concrete with fly ash showed higher compressive
strength and lower tensile strength when compared with normal concrete of same grade. The durability properties of the
Geopolymer concrete showed good resistance to acid, sulphate, sea water and corrosion.