Study on characteristic strength of Geopolymer Aggregate Concrete

Abstract

The stone quarrying activities to meet the demand for infrastructure development, which in turn impacts on the soil and water resources, affect the hydro-geological and hydrological regimes. Due to the increase in urbanisation and industrialization, a large quantity of industrial waste is produced in developing as well as developed countries, and the unscientific disposal of this industrial waste is creating huge environmental problems. In this study, an attempt is made to incorporate both the problems and to find an alternative for natural aggregates with industrial by-products fly ash and GGBS for manufacturing artificial aggregates by adopting the geo-polymerization technique. The characteristic strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength of geopolymer aggregate (GPA) concrete for varying percentage replacements, such as 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% for natural coarse aggregates, have been studied and compared with normal concrete. Based on the test results, geopolymer aggregates could be considered as an alternate source for natural aggregates. The 28-day compressive test results showed that for 75% and 100% replacement, GPA3 concrete has been conducted with XRD analysis and SEM analysis on the microstructure of geopolymer aggregates manufactured with varying mix ratios of source materials and curing periods of X-Ray diffractograms and patterns. exhibit the formation of N-A-S-H and C-A-S-H compounds, which indicates the geopolymer formed has similar chemical compositions as natural rocks.