Abstract
Alkali-activated polymer concrete (APC) can potentially reduce CO 2 emissions associated to concrete production by 84%. The binder in APC herein was synthesized using a combined sodium silicate-sodium hydroxide solution (i.e., alkali activator), alumino-silicate rich precursor (fly ash) and slag. Light weight expanded clay and desert dune sand were used as aggregates. An overview of an experimental program was presented, which involved evaluation of fresh and mechanical properties of the produced APC and counterpart mortar (APM). Variables investigated were the fly ash to slag ratio and curing conditions. The curing regimes adopted herein included 24 hours of curing at ambient conditions, 30°C, and 60°C. The experimental program was undertaken in two stages, of these the first stage involved physical and chemical testing of constituent materials and the second stage involved testing or produced APM/APC. Reported were the setting times, workability, compression strength, strength development, flexural strength, tensile splitting strength, and plastic shrinkage strains. Relationship between strength results were investigated and effectiveness of codified predictive equations was evaluated.
Highlights
Global demand for cement and concrete has risen noticeably over the past few decades, driven by increasing urbanisation that reflects continuing growth in construction activity across the globe
Sieve analysis was performed on dune sand (DS), river sand, and expanded clay aggregate (ECA) in accordance with ASTM C136 [5]
Preliminary tests showed that slag addition increased water demand due to water consumed in the hydration of free lime and the activated polymer concrete (APC) mixtures became dry
Summary
Global demand for cement and concrete has risen noticeably over the past few decades, driven by increasing urbanisation that reflects continuing growth in construction activity across the globe. APC is synthesised from a source material in the presence of a strong alkali activator solution. Industrial grade alkali Low NaOH/Na2SiO3 ratio More aggregates Local materials Ambient curing. The alkali-activator solution used to synthesise APM/APC in the current study was prepared by mixing industrial grade Na2SiO3 solution and 18M concentration NaOH solution. The two solutions were combined with a fixed mass ratio of 1:1.5 (NaOH:Na2SiO3) to yield an alkali-activator solution with a solution modulus (Ms, molar SiO2/Na2O ratio) of 1. Where: ECA = expanded clay aggregate; SM = total mass of source material (1+2); and W = total water (water in alkali solution+3). Three different mixture designs were used, with each of these mixtures varying in fly ash-toslag (F/S) ratio with a fixed alkali-to-source material mass ratio of 0.4. Test specimens were left for one day to UHVW DW ୲& LQVLGH WKH ODERUDWRU\ DQG ZHUH WKHQ FXUHG LQ DPELHQW FRQGLWLRQV ୲& DQG ୲&
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