Fresh, Mechanical, and Durability Behavior of Fly Ash-Based Self Compacted Geopolymer Concrete: Effect of Slag Content and Various Curing Conditions

Aryan Far H Sherwani; Khaleel H Younis; Ralf W Arndt

doi:10.3390/polym14153209

Fresh, Mechanical, and Durability Behavior of Fly Ash-Based Self Compacted Geopolymer Concrete: Effect of Slag Content and Various Curing Conditions

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Aug 6;14(15):3209. doi: 10.3390/polym14153209.

Authors

Aryan Far H Sherwani^{1

2}, Khaleel H Younis^{3

4}, Ralf W Arndt²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Soran University, Soran 44008, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
² Department of Civil Engineering, Fachhochschule Erfurt, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, 99084 Erfurt, Germany.
³ Department of Surveying and Road Construction, Erbil Technology College, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil 44001, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
⁴ Civil Engineering Department, Tishk International University, Erbil 44001, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

Abstract

This investigation evaluates the influence of various curing conditions and slag inclusion on the fresh, mechanical, and durability properties of self-compacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC) based on fly ash (FA). Curing temperature and curing time have a vital role in the strength and microstructure of geopolymer concrete. Therefore, to begin the research, the impacts of different curing conditions (curing temperature and curing time) and slag content on the compressive strength of FA-based SCGC were examined to determine the optimum curing method. A series of four SCGC mixes with a fixed binder content (450 kg/m³) and an alkaline/binder ratio of 0.5 was designated to conduct a parametric study. FA was replaced with slag at four different substitution percentages, including 0%, 30%, 50%, and 100% of the total weight of the binder. The fresh properties of the produced SCGC specimens were investigated in terms of slump flow diameter, T50 flow time, and L-box height ratio. Additionally, the following mechanical properties of SCGC specimens were investigated: modulus of elasticity and fracture parameters. The water permeability and freezing-thawing resistance were studied to determine the durability behavior of SCGC. In this study, the optimum curing temperature was 85 °C for the duration of 24 h, which provided the maximum compressive strength. The results confirmed that adding slag affected the workability of SCGC mixtures. However, the mechanical characteristics, fracture parameters, and durability performance of SCGC were improved for slag-rich mixtures. When using 50% slag instead of FA, the percentage increase in compressive, flexural, elastic module, and fracture energy test values were about 100%, 43%, 58%, and 55%, respectively, whilst the percentage decrease in water permeability was 65% and the resistance to freeze-thaw test in terms of surface scaling was enhanced by 79%.

Keywords: curing time and temperature; freezing and thawing; fresh properties; mechanical properties; modulus of elasticity; self-compacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC); slag (GGBFS)/fly ash (FA); sorptivity.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.