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Effect of slag on strength, durability and microstructural characteristics of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete

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Abstract

Geopolymers are emerging construction materials with lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to the conventional cementitious materials. In this paper, an experimental investigation on the strength, durability and microstructural characteristics of GC blended with fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and sodium-based alkaline solution. It was observed that the addition of 40% GGBFS in FA-based GC increases the 91-day compressive strength by 37% compared to control mix (cement-based concrete). The durability studies are revealed that the addition of FA with GGBFS has shown great impact in the decrement of pore structure. The microstructure investigation of the GC using SEM, and XRD showed the generation of steady and uniform geopolymeric reaction. The SEM images showed a closely packed and dense geopolymer matrix, which explains the reason behind the strength attainment of FA-GGBFS based GC samples. This was confirmed experimentally by the detection of the Ca-rich C-A-S-H gel in the interfacial transition zone. The experimental results showed that the inclusion of GGBFS with FA (Class F) helped achieve enhanced compressive strength to those of ordinary Portland cement. It was concluded that the fly ash and GGBFS combination did tend to form successful stable geopolymer concrete with high mechanical durability properties.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank AEC (autonomous) for financial support to carry out this study in a systematic approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Aditya Engineering College (Autonomous), Aditya Nagar, ADB Road, Surampalem, East-Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, 533437, India

    Ramamohana Reddy Bellum, Ravi Kishore Pilla & Sumit Choudhary

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Aqaba University of Technology, Aqaba, Jordan

    Mahmoud Al Khazaleh

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, CVR College of Engineering, Vastunagar, Mangalpalli (V), Telangana, 501510, India

    Chava Venkatesh

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  1. Ramamohana Reddy Bellum
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  2. Mahmoud Al Khazaleh
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  3. Ravi Kishore Pilla
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  4. Sumit Choudhary
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  5. Chava Venkatesh
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Correspondence to Ramamohana Reddy Bellum.

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Bellum, R.R., Al Khazaleh, M., Pilla, R.K. et al. Effect of slag on strength, durability and microstructural characteristics of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. J Build Rehabil 7, 25 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41024-022-00163-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41024-022-00163-4

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