Investigating the Possibility of Using Clay and Fly Ash in the Production of Geopolymer Mortar

Abstract

Abstract. The concept polymer concrete has numerous advantages over the convention concrete similarly in mortar also which uses reactive silica presented in the pozzolanic materials which is activated using alkaline materials. This paper focused on the Geopolymer mortar with fly ash and clay as raw materials and M-Sand for fine aggregate instead of river sand. Different combinations of mixtures were prepared and compared with ordinary cement mortar. The objective of this research is to identify the properties of different combinations of geopolymer mortars with conventional cement mortar, in which the fine aggregate sourced from riverbeds is replaced by Fine aggregate manufactured using Crushing stones and testing it for compressive strength, water absorption, residual alkalinity, and acid resistance. Fly ash- clay based geopolymer shows good acid resistance and shows less reduction in weight and compressive strength than ordinary cement mortar. Permeability of geopolymer mortar is less that of ordinary cement mortar. Alkalinity of geopolymer mortar is 4-20 % higher than that of ordinary cement mortar. Fly ash- clay based geopolymer has excellent compressive strength (75.7% for red clay and 52.6% for fire clay) than the conventional cement concrete and is suitable for structural applications.