Behavior of RPC based Alkali Activated Material Compared with Conventional RPC

Abstract

Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) is a type of high strength concrete that is characterized by its excellent engineering properties. Inclusion of high silica fume contents and high cement demand are the most essential parameters in the development of RPC. Silica fume is a highly cost and unavailable material in many countries. Cement industry is not a sustainable eco-friendly process. High heat of hydration and many shrinkage cracks are also the most shortcomings obtained from cement utilization. Therefore, it’s urgently required to replace the utilization of silica fume and cement with partially or totally environmental friendly materials in the production of RPC. Metakaoline (MK) is a low cost, available and high pozzolanic material that can substitute silica fume in concrete. Alkali Activated Materials (AAM) binders are new technology that can totally replace the cement in concrete. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of RPC based cement developed by MK and the performance of RPC based AAM under different curing conditions. Slag and MK are the used AAM in this research which are eco-friendly, sustainable and quite available materials in Egypt. The engineering properties like compressive strength and sorptivity are studied to investigate the behavior of RPC. It was concluded that thermal curing has shown a good impact in the performance of all RPC mixes. MK has shown satisfied results in the behavior of RPC based AAM under thermal curing. Slag shows better mechanical and durability properties that resemble the behavior of the conventional RPC based cement.