Studying the behavior of geopolymer concretes under repeated loadings

Abstract

This article investigates utilization of polypropylene microfibers as reinforcement in geopolymer concrete to enhance the ductility characteristics since the geopolymer concrete is considered a brittle material. The polypropylene microfibers were added to geopolymer concrete at the fiber volume content of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%. In this article, a slump test and compressive strength were tested for geopolymer concretes to measure the effect of polypropylene microfibers on geopolymer concretes. Also, static flexural strength and dynamic loading were applied to find out the attitude of polypropylene fiber-reinforced geopolymer concrete and to measure both the deflection and number of load cycles until failure. While comparing the results with reference geopolymer concrete, all samples were tested at 28 days and, finally, a statistical test was carried out. The results concluded that the use of polypropylene microfibers improves the compressive strength and enhances the properties of polypropylene fiber-reinforced geopolymer concretes, increases the loading for the appearance of the first crack, and decreases the deflection of polypropylene fiber-reinforced geopolymer concretes compared with reference geopolymer concrete.