Feasibility study of the properties of geopolymer concrete with ferrochrome slag and silica fume

Abstract

The special attention of this paper relates to the usage of ferrochrome slag (FS) or charge chrome as coarse aggregate and silica fume (SF) as a binder in the fly ash geopolymer concrete (GPC) mixes. In this, a varying percentage of charge chrome and SF has been used. The replacement of natural coarse aggregates produced twenty GPC mixtures with 0 to 40% FS and fly ash with 0 to 15% SF. This investigation comprises of the determination of workability, compressive strength (CS) after 7, 14 and 28 days of curing. Ultrasonic pulse velocity (USPV), rebound number, water absorption, and density have been investigated to evaluate the combined impact of FS and SF on the properties of GPC. The results of this research revealed that the slump values were decreased with the addition of SF in FS based GPC. The USPV and rebound number are the non-destructive tests of GPC followed similar trends as that of compressive strength. At the higher percentage of Silica fume in GPC mixes, water absorption was also increased. The F30S10 sample i. e 30% charge chrome and 10% silica fume showed optimum performance.