Experimental investigation and numerical validation on the effect of naoh concentration on ggbs based self-compacting geopolymer concrete

Abstract

The construction sector is booming all over the world with an increase in the demand for the production of cement. Cement produced by India by the end of the financial year 2012-2013 was about 8 % of the global production. Cement production accounts for 7 % of total CO2 emission into the atmosphere. It’s high time for a sustainable replacement for cement in order to prevent greenhouse effect and global warming and other environmental impacts. In the present study, laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the effect of sodium hydroxide concentration on the fresh properties and compressive and flexural strength of selfcompacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC) incorporating ground granulated blast slag (GGBS). The experiments were conducted for five different molarities ofNaOH varying between 3 and 11 M with an increment of 2 M. In order to investigate the fresh concrete properties of SCGC, slump flow, V-Funnel, and T50 tests were carried out. The workability of GGBS based self-compacting geopolymer concrete showed an evident decrease with the increase in sodium hydroxide concentration. Standard cubes and beams were casted and cured in the open atmosphere. Its 28 days compressive strength and flexural strength were found to bedecreasing with the increase in sodium hydroxide concentration. Using ABAQUS numerical modeling for compressive strength and flexural strength was determined and the results obtained were found to be similar to that of the experimental results.