Development of ggbs dolomite geopolymer concrete and its structural applications

Abstract

Concrete is the inevitable building material for the infrastructural development of a newlinecountry. Cement concrete has a significant role in the creation of greenhouse gases in newlinethe atmosphere during its production. Hence, a stage has come where it is necessary to newlinereduce the use of cement concrete. Geopolymer concrete (GPC) is cementless concrete newlinein which polymeric reaction gives strength to concrete. This research focuses on the newlinedevelopment of geopolymer concrete using Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag newline(GGBS, a by-product from steel plant) and dolomite (a by-product from rock crushing newlineplant) as source materials. newlineFly ash, GGBS, metakaolin, rice husk ash etc. are normally used as binder materials newlinefor the development of geopolymer concrete. GGBS is an aluminosilicate material, which newlinecan be used for the production of geopolymer concrete due to its wide availability and newlinesuitable chemical composition. The objective of this research is to develop GGBSDolomite newlineGPC using GGBS as the principal source material where GPC can be cured in newlineambient conditions instead of temperature curing. Lack of proper mix design procedure newlinefor geopolymer concrete is the reason for the limited use of GPC in the structural newlineapplications. Therefore, mix proportioning of GPC to get a target compressive strength newlineof 60 MPa was carried out using trial and error method. A combination of sodium silicate newlineand sodium hydroxide solutions was used as the alkaline activator. GGBS was blended newlinewith additives like fly ash, metakaolin, lime, silica fume and dolomite in order to improve newlinethe engineering properties of geopolymer concrete. It was observed that dolomite newlineperformed better with GGBS than other additives. newlineGeopolymer mortar and concrete mixes were prepared with different proportions of newlinedolomite and cured in ambient condition (25-280C). Setting time and workability were newlinesatisfied with the criteria of IS 456 (2000): Plain and Reinforced Concrete - Code of newlinePractice. newline