INTRODUCTION

GENERAL:
Geo polymer concrete (GPC) is an eco friendly product which can be used by industrial waste by-
products such as fly ash (waste from thermal power plants) and ground granulated blast furnace
slag (waste from iron production) as replacement for cement in concrete. As a result of this geo
polymer concrete reduces CO2 emission by 80%.

Geo polymer is gaining importance and acceptance as it ensures [Link] ash and GGBS
are rich sources of silicon and aluminum which are polymerized by alkali activating solution to
form molecular chains and networks to create hardened Binder.

The term Geopolymer was introduced to represent the mineral polymers resulting from
geochemistry. The process involves a chemical reaction under highly alkaline conditions on Si-Al
minerals, yielding polymeric Si-O-Al-O bonds in amorphous form.
Due to its high mechanical properties combined with substantial chemical resistance
(magnesium or sulphate attack), low shrinkage and creep and environment friendly nature (very
less amount of CO2 production in comparison with OPC), it is a better construction material for
future.

GEOPOLYMER CATEGORIES :
There are currently four different geopolymer categories including
➢ Slag based geopolymer
➢ Rock based geopolymer
➢ Fly ash based geopolymer
➢ Ferro-sialate based geopolymer

1. Slag based geopolymer:

The first geopolymer developed was a slag based geopolymer in the [Link] reason for using
this type of cement is due to its the rapid strength gain as it can reach strengths of up to 20 MPa
after just 4 hours. Slag is a partially transparent material and a by-product in the process of
melting iron ore. It usually consists of a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. It is also used
in the cement and concrete industry.

2. Rock based geopolymer:

To compose this type of geopolymer, a fraction of the MK-750(“MK” is an abbreviation for
metakaolin and the “750” represents the temperature at which it was produced) in the slag
based geopolymer is replaced by natural rock forming materials such as feldspar and quarts. This
mixture yields a geopolymer with better properties and less CO2 emissions than that of the
ordinary slag based geopolymer.

3. Fly ash based geopolymer:

Fly ash is the waste material produced in blast furnace. Components of fly ash are amorphous
composition (60%), quartz (20%), mullite (17%), maghemite (1.7%) and hematite (0.9%).
Fly ash is commonly used as a substitute for OPC in concrete.

[Link] sialate based geopolymer:

This type of geopolymer has the same properties as rock based geopolymers but contains
geological elements with high iron oxide content, giving the geopolymer a red colour.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Ram Panth, Syed Anwarul Haque, (2018): This paper briefly reviews the proportions and
behaviour of Geopolymer concrete. Fly ash-based Geopolymer is better than normal concrete in
many aspects such as compressive strength, exposure to aggressive environment, workability
and exposure to high temperature. Geopolymer cement produces a substance that is
comparable to or better than traditional cements with respect to most properties. Higher
concentration of sodium hydroxide solution results in higher compressive strength of
geopolymer [Link] concrete has excellent properties within both acid and salt
environments.

2. Vishnu Ramesh and Annie Joy, (2017): In this paper, discussed about to find out optimum
strength of concrete by replacing cement with fly ash and when it combines with alkaline
solution which is known as a Geopolymer concrete. Self-Compacting Geopolymer Concrete
(SCGC) is a type of concreting execution and it does not require compaction. It is made by
complete elimination of ordinary Portland cement content. SCGC needs more amount of fine
aggregate than coarse aggregate compared to control mix. Geopolymer concrete were
synthesized from fly ash, activated by combination of alkaline solution (sodium hydroxide and
sodium silicate or potassium hydroxide and potassium silicate).
 MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
MATERIALS
1. Fly ash
2. Fine aggregate
3. Coarse aggregate
4. Sodium hydroxide
5. Super plasticizers
6. Sodium silicate
7. Metakaolin
8. Ground granulated blast furnace slag
9. Quarry dust

1. Fly ash: Fly ash is a good material for a wide range of applications [Link] of cement,
substitute of cement in concrete, manufacture of bricks,blocks, tiles, etc. It is highly useful as a
geo-technical material for construction of embankment , filling of underground, open mines,
use in agriculture and reclamation of degraded / waste lands, etc.
[Link] Aggregate : Locally available river sand or crushed stones will be used. Free from silt and
organic matters are to be used. The particle size of the sand used in this study is passes through
4.75 sieve conforming to zone 3 of IS: 3831970. The purpose of the fine aggregate is to fill the
voids in coarse aggregate and to act as a workability agent. Generally coarse aggregate is blended
with fine aggregates to fill in the spaces left between the large pieces and to “lock” the larger
pieces together.

3. Coarse Aggregate: Crushed stone aggregate of 20mm and down size will be used in the
present study. The coarse aggregates are more economical the mix. Larger pieces offer less
surface area of particles than an equivalent volume of small pieces.
[Link] hydroxide: Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic substance that is used to neutralize
acids and make sodium salts. At room temperature, sodium hydroxide is a white crystalline
odourless solid that absorbs moisture from the air. Sodium hydroxide is very corrosive. It is
generally used as a solid or a 50% solution. Other common names include caustic soda and lye.

[Link]: In order to increase the workability naphthalene- based plasticizer is used in

mixture. The superplasticizers are used to increase the fluidity of concrete without adding access
water and the concrete workability can be maintained for long period of time (1-2 hours or
more) which is beneficial to many processes including transport, pouring, pumping, compaction
and casting.
[Link] silicate: Sodium silicate, usually known as "water glass" or “liquid glass”, is well-known
due to wide commercial and industrial application. It is mostly composed of oxygen-silicon
polymer backbone lodging water in molecular matrix pores. Sodium silicate products are
manufactured as solids or thick liquids, depending on proposed use.

[Link]: It is obtained from the calcinations of kaolinite clay at temperatures ranging from
500 - 750ᴼC. Metakaolin is one of the Pozzolanic materials used in concrete as a binder replaced
by cement. Metakaolin is a dehydroxylated form of the clay mineral kaolinite. The particle size of
metakaolin is smaller than cement particles, but not as fine as silica fume. The quality and
reactivity of metakaolin is strongly dependent of the characteristics of the raw material used. The
quality and reactivity of metakaolin is strongly dependent of the characteristics of the raw
material used.
[Link] granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS): GGBS is a by- product of iron and steel-making
industry obtained from a blast furnace and is a fine powder. GGBS is a glassy, granular, non-
metallic material consisting essentially of silicates and aluminates of calcium and other bases.

[Link] dust: Now-a-days the natural river sand has become scarce and very costly. Hence we
are forced to think of alternative materials. The Quarry dust may be used in the place of river
sand fully. The particles passing through 4.75mm sieve are called as quarry dust. The quarry dust
is used to sprinkle over the newly laid bituminous road as filler between the bitumen and coarse
aggregate and manufacturing of hollow blocks.
 METHODOLOGY
•Procuring materials from different sources.
•Preparing mix design of geopolymer concrete.
•Fly ash is replaced with metakaolin or ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) at
different percentage to obtain optimum blend.
•Conducting the workability tests on geopolymer concrete by slump test, Vee- Bee test and
compaction factor test.
•Casting of specimens for strength characteristics of geopolymer concrete.
•It is planned to study workability, strength properties of metakaolin or GGBS blended
geopolymer concrete and the results will be compared with that of conventional concrete.
•The fly ash-based geopolymer concrete density is in the range of 2290 – 2460 kg/m3, whereas
the density of ordinary concrete is found to be 2200 – 2400 kg/m3. Thus, Geopolymer concrete
has a higher density compared to regular concrete.
 EXPERIMENTAL WORK
General: This Chapter describes the experimental work. First, Mix design of geo-polymer
concrete, manufacturing and curing of the test specimens are explained. This is then followed by
description of types of specimens used, test parameters, and test procedures.

MIX DESIGN
The mix design in the case of geo-polymer concrete is based on conventional concrete with some
modification. In the case of conventional concrete the material proportion can be found out for
the required strength using the code, but in the case of geopolymer concrete there is no design
method or codal provisions. Here by means of trial and error method optimized mixes is being
produced.
The trial mixture proportion is as follow:
Combined aggregates = 1848 kg/m3,
GGBS = 408 kg/m3
Sodium silicate solution = 103 kg /m3,
Sodium hydroxide solution = 41 kg/m3 (2M solution).
20 mm aggregates = 910 kg/m3 ,
12 mm aggregates = 390 kg/m3 ,
Fine sand = 554 kg/m3 .

The geo-polymer concrete is wet-mixed for four minutes and cured at 60o C for 24 hours in hot
air oven after casting. Commercially available super plasticizer of about 0.75% of mass of GGBS,
i.e. 5 kg/m3 is added to the mixture to facilitate ease of placement of fresh concrete. In this
manner, by changing the quantities of aggregates and by increasing the fines in the mixture the
final mix is as follows. The total volume occupied by the aggregates (Coarse and fine aggregates)
is assumed to be 65%. The alkaline liquid to GGBS ratio is taken as 0.30. The quantities of all
ingredients are kept constant except the molarity of NaOH is changed in the each mix.

Assume the density of geo-polymer concrete as 2500 kg/m3. Assume the volume of combined
aggregates occupied 70% of the mass of concrete, i.e. 0.70x2500= 1750 kg/m3.
In this,
The mass of fine aggregates + coarse aggregates = 1750kg/m3.
Coarse Aggregate = 60% of 1750
= 1050 kg/m3
Quarry dust = 40% of 1750
= 700 kg/m3
Mass of Alkaline liquid and Fly ash = 2500-1750
Asumme , = 750 kg/m3
Mass of fly ash = 60% of 750
= 450 kg/m3
Mass of alkaline liquid = 40% of 750 kg/m3
=300 kg/m3
Take the ratio of sodium silicate solution-to-sodium hydroxide solution by mass as 2;
The mass of sodium hydroxide solution = 100kg/m3;
The mass of sodium silicate solution = 200 kg/m3;

The mass of super-plasticizer = 0.75X450

=3.375 kg/m3;
 Name Fly ash Quarry Coarse Sodium Super-
Sodium
of the (kg/m3) dust Aggregate silicate Plasticizer
hydroxide
Mixture (kg/m3) (kg/m3) solution (kg/m3)
20 12 (kg/m3) solution
mm mm (kg/m3)
GP1 450 700 400 650 200 100(8M) 3.375
GP2 450 700 400 650 200 100(10M) 3.375
GP3 450 700 400 650 200 100(12M) 3.375

Mixing proportions of the geo-polymer concrete

PREPERATION OF ALKALINE LIQUIDS

NOTE: Molarity = moles of solute/litre of solution In this project the compressive strength of geo-
polymer concrete is examined for the mixes of varying molarities of Sodium hydroxide ( 8M,
10M, and 12M). The molecular weight of sodium hydroxide is 40. To prepare 8M i.e. 8 molar
sodium hydroxide solution, 320g of sodium hydroxide flakes are weighed and they can be
dissolved in distilled water to form 1 liter solution
For this, volumetric flask of 1 liter capacity is taken, sodium hydroxide flakes are added slowly to
distilled water to prepare 1liter solution. The weights to be added to get required molarity.

Required Weight in g. of
Molarity Sodium hydroxide
flakes
8M 320
10M 400
12M 480
Weights of NaOH flakes
MANUFACTURING AND CASTING OF GEO-POLYMER CONCRETE:
The conventional method used in the making of normal concrete is adopted to prepare geo-
polymer concrete. First, the quarry dust, coarse aggregate and Flyash are mixed in dry condition
for 3-4 minutes and then the alkaline solution which is a combination of Sodium hydroxide
solution and Sodium silicate solution with superplasticizer is added to the dry mix. The mixing is
done about 6-8 minutes for proper bonding of all the materials. After the mixing, the cubes are
casted with the mixes
GP1 toGP3 by giving proper compaction. The sizes of the cubes used are of size
150mmX150mmX150mm.

Adding sodium silicate to dry mix Adding sodium silicate to dry mix
 Casting of geo polymer concrete cube

CURING OF GEO-POLYMER CONCRETE:

For the curing of geo-polymer concrete cubes, the cubes are placed in direct sunlight. For the sun
light curing, the cubes are demoulded after 1 day of casting and they are placed in the direct sun
light for 7 days.

TESTS ON FRESH CONCRETE

[Link] cone test
[Link] factor test
[Link]-Bee consistometer test
[Link] table test
TESTS ON HARDENED CONCRETE:
1. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH:
Compressive strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand axially directed
pushing forces. Cubes of 150mm×150mm×150mm were casted and compressive strength test
was conducted on specimens at 7 days. To conduct the test the specimens are placed in a
compression testing machine and the load is applied to the cube and the load at failure is noted
as failure load. The compressive strength is calculated by using the formula.
Fck=Pc/A
Where, Pc=load at failure in N
A=loaded area of cube in mm2

Polymer concrete cubes after compression test

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

RESULTS OF STRENGTH TESTS

[Link] strength
Name Compressive strength in
of the N/mm2 of specimens
mix Cured by
7days 14days 28days
CC 18.6 23.4 27
GP1 19.23 23.6 27.5
GP2 20.26 24.2 28.2
GP3 21 25.2 29.4
40 30

35 29.5

30 29

25 28.5

20 cc 28 cc
mix ratio mix ratio
15 27.5

10 27

5 26.5

0 26
Gp1 Gp2 Gp3 Gp1 Gp2 Gp3

Fig 1:Compressive strength of specimens at the age Fig 2: Compressive strength of specimens at the
of 14 days age of 14 days
 30

29.5

29

28.5

28 cc
mix ratio
27.5

27

26.5

26
Gp1 Gp2 Gp3

Fig 3: Compressive strength of specimens at the

age of 28 days

By showing the above graph the compressive strength increase the strength by 40% in [Link]
other one shows the increase of the strength by 60% it reflects that by increase the days limit the
strength of the mixture can be increased .The last one shows the increase of the strength by 75%.
Split Tensile Test:

Name Split Tensile Test in N/mm2 of

of the specimens Cured by
mix
7 days 14days 28days
CC 1.7 2.25 2.57
GP1 1.9 2.34 2.78
GP2 2.2 2.47 2.85
GP3 2.3 2.52 2.96
 3
2.5

2.5
2

2
1.5
cc 1.5 cc
mix ratio mix ratio
1
1

0.5
0.5

0 0
Gp1 Gp2 Gp3
Gp1 GP2 Gp3

Fig 4: Split Tensile Test of specimens at the age of Fig 5: Split Tensile Test of specimens at the age of
7 days 14 days
3.5

2.5

2
cc
1.5 mix ratio

0.5

0
Gp1 Gp2 Gp3

Fig 6: Split Tensile Test of specimens at the age of 28

days
Workability test
[Link] Name of Workbility in
the Mix mm
1 CC 65
2 GP1 75
3 GP2 82
4 GP3 92
 90
80
70
60
50
40 cc

30 mix ratio

20
10
0
Gp1 Gp2 Gp3

Fig : workability test of specimen

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GPC

ADVANTAGES OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE:

[Link] Strength: It has a high compressive strength that showed higher compressive strength
than that of ordinary [Link] also has rapid strength gain and cures very quickly.
[Link] Low Creep and Shrinkage: Shrinkage can cause severe and even dangerous cracks in the
concrete from the drying and heating of the concrete or even the evaporation of water from the
concrete.
[Link] to Heat and Cold: It has the ability to stay stable even at temperature of more than
2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Excessive heat can reduce the stability of concrete causing it to spall or
have layers break off.
[Link] Resistance: It has a very strong chemical resistance. Acids, toxic waste and salt water
will not have an effect on geopolymer concrete. Corrosion is not likely to occur with this concrete
as it is with traditional Portland concrete.
[Link] Benefits: The use of geopolymer concrete reduces the need of OPC, that’s why
we have to reduce the environmental pollution that caused by the emission of CO2 during the
production of OPC.

DISADVANTAGE OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE:

[Link] to Create: Geopolymer concrete requires special handling needs and is extremely
difficult to create. It requires the use of chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide, that can be
harmful to humans.
[Link]-Mix Only: Geopolymer concrete is sold only as a pre-cast or pre mix material due to the
dangers associated with creating it.
[Link] Process Is Sensitive: This field of study has been proven inconclusive and
extremely volatile. Uniformity is lacking.
APPLICATIONS OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE:

[Link] of mines,
[Link] of low lying waste land and refuse dumps,
[Link] of cement mortar,
[Link] pollution control,
[Link] of ready mix fly ash concrete,
[Link] of roads and construction of embankments,
[Link] soil for road construction using lime- fly ash mixture,
CONCLUSION
Based on the experimental work reported in this study, the following conclusions are drawn.
[Link] concentration (in terms of molar) of sodium hydroxide solution results in higher
compressive strength of fly ash & quarry dust based geo-polymer concrete.
[Link] curing time, in the range of 4 to 96 hours (4 days), produces higher compressive
strength of fly ash &quarry dust based geo-polymer concrete. However, the increase in strength
beyond 24 hours is not significant.
[Link] fresh fly ash-based geo-polymer concrete is easily handled up to 120 minutes without any
sign of setting and without any degradation in the compressive strength. [Link] mix GP3 gives
higher compressive strength, as it has high molarity of NaOH
5. we Observe that the compressive strength is increased with the increase in the molarity of the
sodium hydroxide
[Link] three days of curing the increase the compressive strength is not sufficient
[Link] geo-polyemer concrete shall be effectively used for the beam column junction of the
reinforced concrete structure
[Link]-polymer concrete shall also be used in the Infrastructure works
 REFERENCES

1. Ram panth, Syed anwarul haque, Syed ashfaq hussain, Ziyad ahmed hussain,Syed tafazul
Hussain (2018): “Geopolymer concrete: a review in indian contex”GNDEC, Bidar ISSN (PRINT):
2393-8374, volume-5, Issue-3, 2018, pp 75-77.

2. Vishnu Ramesh, Annie joy (2017): "Review on the study of fly ash based geopolymer
concrete" IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396, Vol-3 Issue-2 2017, pp13111315.

3. Prof. Jamdade P.K, Prof. Kawade u.R, (2014), “Evaluate strength of geopolymer concrete by
using oven curing”, IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering.11, 63-66.

4. B. Singh, Ishwarya G., M. Gupta, S.K. Bhattacharyya: “Geopolymer concrete: A review of

some recent developments” Construction and Building Materials 85 (2015) 78–90.

5. J. Davidovits, “Geopolymer cement: a review” (2013)

THANK YOU