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30 Conference on OUR WORLD IN CONCRETE & STRUCTURES: 23-24 August 2005, Singapore
ABSTRACT:
This paper presents the results of a study on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete.
The test parameters covered certain aspects of manufacture of geopolymer
concrete. The paper also reports the stress-strain behavior of the concrete with
compressive strength in the range of 40 to 65 MPa. Tests were carried out on
100mmx200mm cylindrical geopolymer concrete specimens. Test results show that
a good agreement exists between the measured stress-strain relations of fly ashbased geopolymer concrete and those predicted by a model developed originally for
Portland cement concrete.
Keywords: Geopolymer concrete; fly ash; manufacture; properties.
1 INTRODUCTION
The development of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete is in response for the need of a greener
concrete in order to reduce the carbon dioxide emission from the cement production. Geopolymer
concrete is manufactured from predominantly silica and alumina containing source material. It offers a
significant opportunity to materialise green concrete as it is possible to utilise an industrial by-product
such as fly ash, to totally replace the use of ordinary Portland cement in concrete, and hence to
reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Several papers on the engineering properties of geopolymer concrete have been published [1, 49]. In an earlier paper, the authors [7] have reported some results on the stress-strain behaviour in
compression and elastic constants. As these are important material characteristics of concrete,
especially in design of structural concrete members, study on this matter need to be carried out.
This paper presents the effect of some parameters on the engineering properties of fly ash-based
geopolymer concrete. The measured stress-strain curves of geopolymer concrete in compression are
also compared with those calculated using a model available for Portland cement concrete.
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geopolymer material does not suffer from alkali-aggregate reaction even in the presence of high
alkalinity [3], and possesses excellent fire resistant [1].
In the authors experimental work, geopolymer is used as the binder, instead of cement paste, to
produce concrete. The geopolymer paste binds the loose coarse aggregates, fine aggregates and
other un-reacted materials together to form the geopolymer concrete. The manufacture of geopolymer
concrete is carried out using the usual concrete technology methods.
As in the Portland cement concrete, the aggregates occupy the largest volume, i.e. about 75-80
% by mass, in geopolymer concrete. The silicon and the aluminum in the fly ash are activated by a
combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions to form the geopolymer paste that
binds the aggregates and other un-reacted materials.
3 MANUFACTURE
3.1 Materials
The materials needed to manufacture the fly ash-based geopolymer concrete are the same as
those for making Portland cement concrete, except for the Portland cement. Low calcium (class F)
dry fly ash obtained from a local power station was used as the source material.
For the alkaline activator, a combination of sodium hydroxide solution and sodium silicate solution
was used. The sodium hydroxide solution was prepared by dissolving the sodium hydroxide solids,
either in the form of pellets or flakes, in water. Extra water and Naphthalene Sulfonate-based
superplasticizer were also added to improve the workability of the fresh fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete. The sodium silicate solution used contained Na2O=14.7%, SiO2=29.4%, and 55.9% of
water, by mass. All the liquids were mixed together before adding to the solids.
3.3 Curing
In this study, curing was carried out at a specified elevated temperature, either in an oven (dry
curing) or in a steam chamber. At the end of the curing period, the test specimens were left in the
mold for about six hours. The samples were then removed from the molds, and left to air dry in the
room temperature before testing at a specified age.
SiO2
Al2O3
CaO
Cr
Fe2O3
K2O
MgO
Na2O
P2O5
SO3
TiO2
MnO
LOI
47.8
24.40
2.42
0.01
17.40
0.55
1.19
0.31
2.00
0.29
1.328
0.12
1.10
*)
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Aggregates
Fly
Ash
Sodium
Silicate
solution
NaOH
solution
Super
Plasticiser ***)
Added
Water
Curing
[ kg / m3 ]
1
1848
408
103
41 (14 M)
*)
20.7
60 C (Steam)
1848
408
103
41 (14M)
*)
16.5
90 C (Steam)
1848
408
103
41 (12 M)
*)
14.3
60 C (Steam)
1848
408
103
41 (14M)
*)
17.6
60oC (Steam)
**)
14.3
60 C (Steam)
60 C (Oven)
90 C (Oven)
90 C (Oven)
1848
408
103
41 (12M)
1848
408
103
41 (8M)
1848
408
103
41 (14M)
1848
408
103
41 (8M)
**)
**)
**)
**)
o
o
o
o
o
o
6
0
60 C (Steam)
1848
408
103
55.4(8M)
**)
NaOH Commercial Grade (97% purity); NaOH Technical Grade (98% purity) ***) Naphthalene
Sulphonate Superplasticiser
*)
The chemical composition of fly ash used in this study is given in Table 1; 80% of the fly ash had
particles of less than 38 m in size. The geopolymer concrete was manufactured as described earlier
and was cast in 100x200 mm cylinder steel moulds in 3 layers. Each layer received 60 manual
strokes, and vibrated for ten seconds on a vibrating table. Five cylinders were prepared for each test
variable. The compositions of the mixtures are given in Table 2.
Mixtures 1 and 2 were prepared to investigate the effect of mixing time on the engineering
properties of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. The mixing time ranged from two minutes to sixteen
minutes. The slump of the fresh concrete was measured immediately after mixing.
In the authors work, the term rest period is used to indicate the period between the end of
casting and the start of curing of specimens at an elevated temperature. Previously, we have reported
o
that a rest period of only 60 minutes before curing in the oven at 60 C for 24 hours did not show any
variation in compressive strength compared to the specimens with no rest period. To investigate the
effect of longer rest periods on the compressive strength, four different mixtures were made i.e.
Mixtures No 3 to 6. The mixing time of these Mixtures was four minutes.
After casting, the specimens from Mixtures No 3, 4 and 6 were left at room temperature until the
start of curing. On the other hand, the specimens from Mixture No 5 were placed in an oven during
o
the rest period. The oven temperature on the first day of rest period was 32 C; on other days of the
o
rest period, the temperature was 40 C. This variation in temperature simulated the ambient variations
during the rest period.
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250
Slum p (m m )
200
Mixture
Mixture
11
150
100
Mixture
Mixture
2 2
50
0
0
10
15
20
70
60
Mixture 2
50
40
Mixture 1
30
20
10
0
0
10
15
20
2450
Density (kg/m 3)
2400
2350
2300
2250
Mixture 1
Mixture 2
2200
2150
2100
2050
2000
0
10
15
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90
80
70
60
50
40
Mixture 6
30
20
10
0
Mixture 5
Mixture 4
Mixture 3
5 STRESS-STRAIN RELATION
5.1 Mixture proportions
Mixtures 7, 8, and 9 were made to yield three different compressive strengths ranging from 40 to
65 MPa. The details of the mixtures are given in Table 2. The mixing time of these Mixtures was four
minutes. There was no rest period before the start of curing.
60
Mixture 8
Stress
50
40
Mixture 9
30
20
10
0
0
0.005
0.01
0.015
Strain
Figure 5. Stress-strain Relations of Geopolymer Concrete
In order to obtain the stress-strain curves in compression, tests were performed in a deformationcontrol testing machine. Figure 5 shows the measured stress-strain relations of fly ash-based
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geopolymer concrete for various compressive strengths. The test data show that geopolymer concrete
with higher compressive strength tends to have higher modulus of elasticity.
In order to ascertain the fact that the stress-strain relation of geopolymer concrete is similar to that
of Portland cement concrete, an analytical model proposed by Collins et al [2] was used. The model,
which applies to both normal and high strength Portland cement concrete is given by :
c = f cm
c
n
cm n 1 + ( c cm ) nk
(1)
where:
fcm = peak stress
cm = strain at peak stress
n = 0.8 + (fcm/17)
k = 0.67 + (fcm/62) when c/cm>1
= 1.0 when c/cm1
70
Stress (MPa)
60
50
Measured
40
Equation 1
30
20
10
0
0
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
0.01
Strain
Figure 6: Predicted and Test Stress-Strain Relations for Concrete made from Mixture 7
70
Stress (MPa)
60
50
Measured
40
Equation 1
30
20
10
0
0
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
Strain
Figure 7: Predicted and Test Stress-Strain Relations for Concrete made from Mixture 8
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30 Conference on OUR WORLD IN CONCRETE & STRUCTURES: 23-24 August 2005, Singapore
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Measured
Equation 1
0.005
0.01
0.015
Strain
Figure 8: Predicted and Test Stress-Strain Relations for Concrete made from Mixture 9
In Figures 6 to 8, the stress-strain relations predicted by Equation 1 are compared with the test
curves. The analytical curves were calculated by using the measured values of fcm and cm in Equation
1. This comparison reveals that the stress-strain relations of geopolymer concrete can be predicted by
using Equation 1 developed for Portland cement concretes. Earlier, the authors [7] have reported that
the modulus of elasticity, the Poissons ratio, and the tensile strength of fly ash-based geopolymer
concrete are similar to those of Portland cement concrete.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The paper reported the results of a study carried out on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. The
following conclusions are drawn from this study:
a. Longer mixing time yielded lower slump of fresh concrete, and higher compressive strength
and higher density of hardened concrete (Figures 1 to 3). This suggests that the extended
mixing time resulted in better polymerisation process, and hence enhanced properties of
hardened concrete.
b. The term rest period is used to indicate the time taken from the end of casting to start of
curing at an elevated temperature. The compressive strength of specimens increased with a
rest period of one day or more after casting. The extent of strength gain is significant, in the
range of 20 to 50 percent compared to the compressive strength of specimens with no rest
period (Figure 4).
c. The measured stress-strain relations of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, both the
ascending and the descending parts, agree well with the predictions of Equation 1 developed
originally for Portland cement concrete (Figures 6 to 8).
d. Because the modulus of elasticity, the Poissons ratio, the tensile strength, and the stressstrain relations of geopolymer concrete are similar to those of Portland cement concrete, the
provisions of current codes and standards for concrete structures can be used to design fly
ash-based geopolymer concrete structures. The authors [10] earlier work on reinforced
geopolymer concrete columns also supports this conclusion.
7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first and second authors are recipient of the Australian Development Scholarship. The third
author is supported by the TPSDP Asian Development Bank. The authors express their gratitude to
Professor Stephen Foster of the University of New South Wales for his help in obtaining the test data
reported in Figures 6 to 8.
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8 REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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