Sustainability of self-cured cementless self-compacting concrete using industrial waste

Abstract

In the concrete industry, cement-less concrete made from alkali activated industrial waste such as fly ash and slag has emerged out to be the best low-carbon emission alternative to OPC. The investigation of sustainability of such an unique self cured self-compacting concrete from the strength and durability point of view is quite essential for its implications in the field. In this paper, the fly ash based self-compacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC) has been designed after verifying the fresh and mechanical properties by replacing fly ash with different percentages of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and varying the molarity of sodium hydroxide solution with self curing under ambient condition. As per the fresh property investigation, the SCGC with more than 30% GGBFS did not exhibit the results within the EFNARC limitations. The specimens containing 30% GGBFS with 12 molarity attained the highest strength in 28 and 56 days of maturation. The sulfuric acid attack was the most hazardous among all chemical attacks, and the SCGC specimens were less affected than SCC in all cases of exposure to adverse environment, as established from the durability studies with normal water, sea water, 5% concentration of sulfuric acid and 5% concentration of magnesium sulphate. The SCGC specimens containing 30% of GGBFS offered the highest resistance to all the chemical attacks.