An Experimental Investigation into the Factors Affecting Strength and Flowability of Geopolymer Binder

Abstract

The significant contribution of Portland cement in the global climate change, and the common durability issues of Portland cement concrete have led to develop geopolymer cement as an alternative to traditional Portland cement for creating a concrete that’s more sustainable and durable. The factors that significantly affect the strength and flowability of Geopolymer binder material are presented in this investigation. The factors considered are fly ash content of (400-600) kg/m3, alkali to fly ash ratio from 0.4 to 0.6 in increment of 0.5, sodium hydroxide concentration of 8 M to 16 M in increment of 2 M, and sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solution ratio of 1 to 3 in increment of 0.5. The results obtained show that increasing NaOH concentration would increase the flowability and strength of geopolymer binder while increasing alkali to fly ash ratio decreased the compressive strength of the geopolymer binder. Increasing fly ash content and sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solutions ratio increased the flowability but decreased the compressive strength.

Keywords

• Alkali activated solution
• compressive strength
• flow
• fly ash
• geopolymer binder.