EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON STRENGTH, DURABILITY, SUSTAINABILITY & ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF GEO-POLYMER CONCRETE BLOCKS

Tejas Ostwal, Manojkumar V Chitawadagi

Abstract: With the growth in infrastructure development and boom in the housing sector, the demand for cement is bound to increase. Due to environmental concerns of cement industry, there arises a strong need to make use of alternate technology which is sustainable. Geopolymer, an inorganic alumina silicate polymer is synthesized predominantly from silicon and aluminum materials or from by- product materials like fly ash. In the present work, an attempt is made to develop geopolymer concrete blocks at ambient curing condition and to investigate strength and durability aspects. The geopolymer blocks prepared here in without the use of cement. The materials considered are Flyash (Class F), Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), Quarry dust and sand. Sodium hydroxide & sodium silicate were used as alkaline activators. The experimental program involves casting of geopolymer blocks and testing the same for compressive strength. The parameter considered in this study is alkaline solution to binder ratio at 8M molarity. The result revealed that geopolymer concrete block develops strength at ambient curing conditions. The study is further extended to understand the economic impact and sustainability of geopolymer concrete blocks.

Keywords: Geopolymer concrete blocks, Flyash, GGBS, Embodied energy.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0306021