Ambient Curing Of Geopolymer Concrete Using Combination Of Fly Ash And GGBFS

Abstract

Concrete is the most abundant used man made material in the world. One of the main ingredients of concrete mixture is Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) which is the second most utilized material after water. The amount of the CO2 released during the manufacturing of OPC is in the order of one ton for every ton of OPC produced. The production of cement is responsible for approximately 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. In order to create a more sustainable world, engineers and scientists are developing and putting into use a greener building material, one of them is Geopolymer Concrete. This paper will discuss the various combination of fly ash and GGBFS, as source material, to produce geopolymer concrete. It has further been generally accepted that heat treatment is necessary for producing geopolymer concrete. This is considered a drawback affecting its manufacture and feasibility. The work presented in this paper is conducted in the aim of improving strength of ambient-cured geopolymer concrete. Three combinations of fly ash and GGBFS in proportion of 90:10, 70:30 and 50:50 have been taken for study. The effect of curing on compressive strength of geopolymer concrete is studied at 3 and 7 days. The paper describes that at 50:50 percent combination of fly ash and GGBFS, the ambient-cured geopolymer concrete achieves strength level of M 25 grade at 7 days.