Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites

Edited by Dileep Singh, Dongming Zhu and Yanchun Zhou

Copyright © 2010 The American Ceramic Society

TESTING OF GEOPOLYMER MORTAR PROPERTIES FOR USE AS A REPAIR MATERIAL

Wanchai Yodsudjai, Prasert Suwanvitaya, Weerapong Pikulprayong and Banjerd Taweesappaiboon

Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University
Bangkok, Thailand

ABSTRACT
The objective of this research was to develop geopolymer mortar as a concrete repair material.
The compressive strength test of goepolymer mortar was performed with different mix proportions.
The tensile strength test, the slant shear test and the rapid chloride test of geopolymer mortar were
performed and the results compared with those of the commercial concrete repair materials.
It was found that the geopolymer mortar had potential to develop as a concrete repair material.
The compressive strength of geopolymer mortar was more than 40 MPa at the 28 days age by room
temperature curing. In addition, the tensile strength and the bond strength of geopolymer mortar at 28
days age were close to those of commercial concrete repair materials. However, chloride permeability
of geopolymer mortar test by the rapid chloride test ws higher than those of the commercial concrete
repair materials.

INTRODUCTION
Generally, reinforced concrete structures are durable. However, if they are exposed to severe
environments such as marine environment or exposed directly to dangerous substances, the reinforced
concrete structures deteriorate rapidly. When reinforcement corrodes, the deterioration is always
progressive. Effective action depends absolutely on having a proper understanding of how corrosion is
caused and how it can be controlled. The problem associated with the corrosion of reinforcement is
that the product of corrosion exerts stresses within the concrete, and the concrete therefore cracks. This
leads to a weakening of the bond and anchorage between concrete reinforcement which directly affects
the serviceability and ultimate strength of concrete elements within the structures. To repair reinforced
concrete structures deteriorated by reinforcement corrosion, consideration must first be given to the
cause of the problem. This is fundamental to the success or failure of the repair. Repair of the
deteriorated structures refers to the remedial action taken to prevent or retard its further deterioration
and reduces the possibility of damage. The principal objectives of repairs are (1) to stop further
corrosion of rebars and (2) where chloride ions are involved, to remove or eliminate the chloride ions
in concrete. The durability of repair greatly depends both on its adherence to the substrate concrete and
the protection it can afford to the steel reinforcement against corrosion1.
For effective repair, selection of appropriate materials are needed. This requires an
understanding of material behavior in both cured and uncured states in the anticipated service and
exposure conditions. There are two main categories of factors that need to be considered in selecting
the best repair method. The first is the compatibility of the patch with the adjoining concrete and the
second is service and application conditions . There are various commercial repair materials for
repairing corrosion related deteriorated concrete structures. These repair materials are sometimes
expensive and produced in accordance with standards and limits encountered abroad. There is still no
research to confirm whether these repair materials are appropriate for the Thailand climatic condition.
Therefore, the development of repair materials which is appropriate for Thailand climatic condition is
necessary.
Most of the commercial repair materials contains portland cement as cementitious material. It
has been reported that the transportation industry and the portland cement industry happen to be the
two largest producers of carbon dioxide. The latter is responsible for approximately 7% of the world's
carbon dioxide emissions3. Many researches have attempted to develop new materials to replace the
portland cement. Geopolymer, with associated positive aspects such as abundant raw resource, little

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Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

CO2 emission, less energy consumption, low production cost, high early strength, fast setting, is an
interesting alternative. These properties afford geopolymer great applications in many fields and
industries such as civil engineering, automotive and aerospace industries, non-ferrous foundries and
metallurgy, plastics industries, waste management, art and decoration, and retrofit of buildings.
Geopolymerisation is a geosynthesis, that is, a reaction that chemically integrates minerals involving
naturally occurring silico-aluminates. The silicon (Si) and aluminium (Al) atoms react to form
molecules that are chemically and structurally comparable to those binding natural rock. It is assumed
that geosyntheses are carried out through ohgomers (dimer, trimer), which provide the actual unit
structure of the three-dimensional macromolecular edifice.
To use the geopolymer mortar as the repair material; however, it is necessary to study the
engineering properties of geopolymer mortar; such as, strength and durability properties which are the
important properties for the repair materials. Therefore, this study aimed to develop the geopolymer
mortar for using as the repair materials by testing the engineering properties under Thailand's climatic
condition. It should be noted that it is beneficial for the construction industry in Thailand as the
development of the new repair material may help decrease dependence of imports from abroad. In
addition, the raw material for producing geopolymer mortar is a by-product which is beneficial for the
environmental aspect.

EXPERIMENTS

Geopolymer Mortar Preparation

Table 1 shows the mix proportion of geopolymer mortar, varying the NaiO.SiCVNaOH ratios
(0.7 to 1.1) and sand contents (640 to 768 kg/m3). Constant fly ash content of 404 kg/m3 and water
content of 40 kg/m3 were used for the total 25 mixes (GM 1 to GM 25).

Table 1. Mix Proportion of Geopolymer Mortar by Varying Na2O.Si03/NaOH Ratios and Sand
Contents
Ratio Materials (kg/m3)
Mix
Na 2 O.Si0 3 /
Symbol Sand
NaOH
GM 1 - G M 5 0.7
GM 6 - GM 10 0.8
640 672 704 736 768
GM 1 1 - G M 15 0.9
GM 1 6 - G M 2 0 1.0
GM21-GM25 1.1

Table 2 shows the mix proportion of geopolymer mortar by varying the sand contents (672 and
704 kg/m3) and water contents (35 and 30 kg/m3). Constant of fly ash content of 404 kg/m3 is used for
the total 6 mixes (GM 26 to GM 31).

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 Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Table 2. Mix Proportion of Geopolymer Mortar by Varying Water Contents

Ratio Materials (kg/m3)
Mix Symbol Na2O.Si03/NaOH sand Fly ash Water
GM26 0.9 672 404 35
GM27 1.0 704 404 35
GM28 1.1 704 404 35
GM29 0.9 672 404 30
GM30 1.0 704 404 30
GM31 1.1 704 404 30

Table 3 shows the mix proportion of geopolymer mortar, with various sand sizes. Constant fly
ash content of 404 kg/m3 was used for the total 6 mixes (GM 32 to GM 37). The sand content used was
similar to the mix proportion in Table. 2. However, the sand sizes were different. The sand used was
80% by weight of sand passing sieve No. 30, 15% by weight of sand passing sieved No.50 and 5% by
weight of sand passing sieve No. 100. The three highest compressive strengths of all mix proportions
(37 mixes) were investigated and selected. It was found that the mix proportion of GM 32, GM 36 and
GM 27 gave the highest compressive strength among the 37 mixes. Therefore, the other properties; that
is; flexural strength, bonding strength, setting time and chloride penetration were investigated
comparing with those of conventional repair materials. It should be noted that the geopolymer
specimens are cured in the plastic bag (Figure 1.) at room temperature (30 ° C) as the repair work was
generally performed without thermal curing.

Table 3. Mix Proportion of Geopolymer Mortar by Varying Sand Sizes

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Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 1. Curing of Geopolymer Mortar

Test Specimens
The compressive strength of the geopolymer mortar was determined with the cubic specimens
of 50 x 50 x 50 mm. in accordance with ASTM C109 as can be seen in Figure 2 and Figure 3. The
flexural strength test was performed with the prism specimens of 40 x 40 x 160 mm. as can be seen in
Figure 4 and Figure 5. The shear strength test was performed by the slant shear test in accordance with
ASTM C882. The specimens for slant shear test were cylinder shaped with the 76.2 mm. diameter and
142.2 mm. height as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. The initial and final setting time were performed
by the penetration resistance test in accordance with ASTM C403. The chloride penetration test was
determined with cylindrical specimens with 60 mm. in diameter and 100 mm.in height. The specimens
were soaked in 3% by weight chloride solution for 7, 14 and 28 days. Then, the specimens were cut
and asprayed with the 0.1 N silver nitrate solution. The chloride penetration depth was measured by the
white precipitation of silver chloride as can be seen in Figure 8. In addition, to compare the
engineering properties of the geopolymer mortar with the commercial repair materials, the properties
of the 2 commercials repair materials were tested.

Figure 2. Specimens Preparation for Compressive Strength Test

328 Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites

 Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 3. Compressive Strength Test

Figure 4. Specimens Preparation for Flexural Strength Test.

Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites · 329

Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 5. Flexural Strength Test.

Figure 6. Specimen for Slant Shear Test in Accordance with ASTM C882.

330 ■ Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites

 Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 7. Slant Shear Test

Figure 8. Chloride Penetration Depth Test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 9 shows the compressive strength of the geopolymer mortars (the 3 mixes that had the
highest compressive strength) compared with the compressive strength of the commercial repair
mortars. As shown, the compressive strength of the geopolymer mortar (all 3 mixes) increased as age
increased. Compared with commercial repair mortars, the compressive strength of the geopolymer
mortar was still lower than that of the commercial repair mortar.

Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites · 331

Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 9. Compressive Strength.

Figure 10 shows the flexural strength. As can be seen, the flexural strength of the geopolymer
mortar was lower than that of the commercial repair mortar at the age of 1 to 14 days. At 28 days age,
the flexural strength of the geopolymer mortar was close to that of commercial repair mortar type 2;
however, it was still lower than that of the commercial repair mortar type 1.

Figure 10. Flexural Strength.

Figure 11 shows the bond strength between repair material and substrate tested by slant shear
test. Similar to the result of flexural strength, the bond strength between geopolymer mortar and
substrate was lower than that of commercial repair mortar and substrate at the age of 1 to 14 days. At
28 days age, the bond strength of the geopolymer mortar and substrate was close to that of the
commercial repair mortar type 2 and substrate; however, it was still lower than that of commercial
repair mortar type 1 and substrate.

332 · Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites

 Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 11. Bond Strength between Repair Mortar and Substrate.

Figure 12 shows the initial and final setting times of the repair mortar. As shown, both the
initial and final setting times of the geopolymer mortar were shorter than that of the commercial repair
mortar.

Figure 12. Setting Time.

Figure 13 shows the chloride penetration depth of the geopolymer mortar compared with the
commercial repair mortar and conventional cement mortar. As shown, the chloride penetration depth of
all mixes of the goepolymer mortar was higher than that of the commercial repair mortar and
conventional cement mortar at all ages. This implied that the use of the geopolymer mortar as the
repair material still was not effective enough in term of the durability. Further research work should be
conducted to develop this property of the geopolymer.

Design, Development, and Applications of Engineering Ceramics and Composites · 333

Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material

Figure 13. Chloride Penetration Depth

CONCLUSIONS
There is a potential to develop the geopolymer mortar as a repair material. However, further
research is necessary to find ways to overcome low early strength and increase the chloride penetration
resistance. It is possible to produce more than 40 MPa compressive strength of geopolymer mortar
which is enough for using as the repair mortar without the heat curing. The flexura] strength and bond
strength between geopolymer mortar and substrate are close to the commercial repair mortar at the age
of 28 days. However, the setting time of the geopolymer morar is still longer than that of the
commercial repair mortar.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the Thailand Research Fund (TRF.) and the Siam City
Cement Public Company Limited for financial support. The work described is a part of the research
grant No. RDG 5150007.

REFERENCES
'G. Nounnu and Z.U.H. Chaudhary, Reinforced Concrete Repair in Beams, Construction and Building
Materials, 13, 195-212(1999)
2
N. Mailvaganam and L. Mitchell, Repairs to Restore Serviceability in Concrete Structures,
Construction Technology Update, 59, Institute for Research in Construction-National Research
Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
3
P.K. Mehta, Concrete Technology for Sustainable Development, Concrete International, 21, 47-52
(1999)
4
N. Otsuki, S. Nagataki and K Nakashita, Evaluation of AgNOî Solution Spray Method for
Measurement of Chloride Penetration into Hardened Cementitious Matrix Materials, ACI Materials
Journal, 89,587'-592(1992)

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