DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

GEO POLYMER CONCRETE

Under the guidelines of Head of the department Submitted by

Mr. K.UPENDAR M.Tech Dr.M.S.SIVA KUMAR ME.Ph.D B. CHANDANA 19C11A0102
Assistant Professor
CONTENTS:

➢ Abstract

➢ Introduction

➢ Importance of geopolymer concrete

➢ Composition of geopolymer concrete

➢ Production of geopolymer concrete

➢ Mechanical properties of geopolyer concrete

➢ Applications

➢ Graph

➢ Conclusion

➢ References
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 Abstract:

Concrete made up of cement, aggregates, water & additives is the world's most consumed
construction material since it is found to be more versatile, durable and reliable. Concrete is the second most
consumed material after water which required large quantities of Portland cement. The production of Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC) causes havoc to the environment due to the emission of CO2 as well mining also
results in unrecoverable loss to nature. Hence, it is the need of hour to find an alternative material to the
existing most expensive cement-concrete. Geopolymer concrete is an innovative construction material which
shall be produced by the chemical action of inorganic molecules. Fly Ash, a by-product of coal obtained from
the thermal power plant is plenty available worldwide. Fly ash rich in silica and alumina on reacting with alkaline
solution produce alumino silicate gel that act as the binding material for the concrete. It is an alternative
construction material to plain cement concrete without using any amount of ordinary Portland cement.
Geopolymer concrete shows a greener substitute for ordinary Portland cement concrete in applications.

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Introduction:

The name of geopolymer concrete was named by a French Professor “Joseph Davidovits” in 1978 to
represent a broad range of materials characterized by network of inorganic molecules.Geopolymer concrete is
an eco-friendly product which uses industrial wastes, by-products such as fly ash (waste from thermal power
plants) and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace slag (waste from iron production) as a complete replacement
for a cement in concrete. As a result of this geopolymer concrete reduces CO2 emissions by 80%.Fly ash and
GGBS are rich sources of silicon and aluminum which are polymerized by alkali activating solution to form
molecular chains and networks to create hardened binder.

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Objectives:

• To find an alternative material for the conventional concrete which is eco-friendly.

• To determine the geopolymer concrete composition and its mechanical properties.

• To compare the structure of geopolymer concrete over conventional concrete.

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Importance of geopolymer concrete:

• Concrete is one of the widely used material all over the world for infrastructure purpose but the production of
concrete results in emission of green house gases which are harmful to environment and human.
• To find an alternative for the conventional concrete which is eco-friendly geopolymer concrete is considered.
• Geopolymer concrete is an innovative construction material that utilizes fly ash as one of the waste material in
coal combustion industry as a replacement of OPC.
• Geopolymer concrete lower the green house gases emission by reducing carbon dioxide emission by 40% to
70%.

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Composition of Geopolymer concrete:

• Geopolymer concrete is produced using Fly ash, GGBS, Fine aggregate and Coarse aggregate and
Alkaline activator Solution.

• The two main constituents of geopolymer are:

a. The source materials which are rich in Silicon(Si) and Aluminum(Al) such as Fly ash, Rice husk, silica
Fume, GGBS and

b. The alkaline liquids.

• Alkaline activator solution : Catalytic liquid is used as alkaline activator solution. It is combination of
solutions of Sodium or Potassium silicates and hydroxides or a mixture of those which are soluble in
water. The role of this alkaline solution is to activate Fly and GGBS.

• The same sand and coarse aggregate as used in normal concrete can be used in the production of Geo
polymer Concrete(GPC).

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Fig : Composition of Geopolymer concrete

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PRODUCTION OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE:

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Geopolymerisation:

• The reaction between alkali sources and precursors is called as geopolymerisation. The geopolymerisation
can be explained as follows (Duxson etal. 2007)

• Now, the aluminates and silicates react together to form an alumino silicate gel which is initially formed as
an aluminium rich gel since the aluminium is more reactive and dissolves faster than silicon. At a later
stage as more silicon dissolves, the gel structures gets reorganised to form zeolite gel which is more stable
than the previous gel since Si –O bonds are more stronger than Al-O bonds.

• This reorganization process continues and results in crystallized zeolite formation. Thus, the gel forms into
a solid mass similar to the hydration of OPC.

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• Fig Shows that Conceptual model of geopolymerisation
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Mechanical Properities Of Gpc :

S.No. PROPERTY GPC

1. 24hrs compressive strength 25 to 35 Mpa

2. 28 days compressive strength Up to 70 Mpa

3. Rate of gain in strength Faster than normal concrete

4. Modulus of Elasticity Marginally lower than normal

concrete
5. Porosity Low

6. Chloride Penetration Low or Very low as per ASTM

1202C standard
7. Drying Shrinkage Low
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8. Heat of hydration Low

9. Fire resistance High

10. Acid resistance High

11. Geopolymer concrete beams At service loads behaves

similar to cement concrete
beams

12. Geopolymer concrete columns Exhibit failure modes and

Crack patterns similar to
cement concrete columns.
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 Applications:

PAVEMENTS:

• Light pavements can be cast using GPC

• No bleed water rise to the surface

• Aliphatic alcohol based spray used to provide protection against drying

• Fig shows Placing of Pavement using Geopolymer Concrete

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RETAINING WALL:

• 40MPa precast panels were used to build a retaining wall

• Panels were 6m long and 2.4m wide

• These panels were cured under ambient condition

• Fig shows that precast geopolymer retaining wall

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 WATER TANKS:

• Two water tanks were constructed one with 32MPa concrete with blended cement and other with GPC

• Autogenous healing occurred in OPC due to calcium hydroxide deposition

• In GPC tank there is little calcium hydroxide

• Nominal leaking in tank healed rapidly due to gel swelling mechanism

• Fig shows that left tank is blended concrete and right one is geopolymer concrete
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BOAT RAMP:

• Approach slab on ground to ramp was made using geopolymer reinforced with FFRP

• Entire constituents remained dormant until activator chemicals were added

• Fig shows that Boat Ramp constructed with both in site and precast geopolymer concrete
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 PRECAST BEAM:

• GPC beams formed three suspended floor levels of GCI building

• Beams had arched curved soffit

• Water pipes were placed inside them for temperature controlled hydronic heating of building spaces above and below

• Fig shows that geopolymer concrete beam

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M20 Grade

25

Compressive strength
20
15
10 Nominal concrete
Geopolymer concrete
5
0
7 days 14 days 28 days
Age of concrete

Days Nominal concrete Geopolymer concrete

7 12Mpa 12.5Mpa
14 18Mpa 19Mpa
28 20Mpa 21.5Mpa

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Cost of geopolymer concrete:

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Conclusion:

• Geopolymer concrete is a promising construction material due to its low carbon dioxide emission.

• Geopolymer concrete is a potential material for future because it is not only eco friendly but also possess
good strength, durability, acid resistance, fire resistance low creep and shrinkage makes it better usage
than OPC

• Widespread applications in precast industries due to its

a. Its high production in short duration.

b. Less breakage during transportation.

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Reference:

• Amer Hassan, Mohammed Arif , M. Shariq, Use of geopolymer concrete for a cleaner and sustainable
environment-A review of mechanical properties and microstructure, Journal of Cleaner Production, 223
(2019) 704-728.

• Aligizaki, K.K., 2006. Pore Structure of Cement-Based Materials. Taylor & Francis, New York.

• Duxson, P., et al., 2007b. Geopolymer technology: the current state of the art, Journal of Material Science.
42, 2917 - 2933.

• Mehta, P.K., Monteiro, P.J.M., 2006. Concrete : Microstructure, Properties, and Materials. McGraw-Hill,
New York.

• Wallah, S.E., Hardjito, D.S.D.M.J., R.B.V.,2005. Performance of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete under
sulphate and acid exposure’. Geopolymer Proc 153-156.

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THANK YOU