Mechanical properties of metakaolin-based geopolymer with glass fiber reinforcement and vibration preparation

Abstract

This paper investigated mechanical properties of metakaolin-based geopolymer (MGP) reinforced with glass fiber using laboratory testing methods. The density, micro-porosity, and mechanical strength MGPs were tested for the specimens prepared by normal and vibration molding. The results showed that the vibration at the molding stage of MGP could greatly reduce the spatial porosity of MGP, which further increased its compactness, density, and mechanical properties. The optimum period of vibration operation was demonstrated to be 25 minutes. The optimized composition of fiber length and mass dosage were found to be 6 mm and 3‰, respectively. The test results showed that vibration increased mechanical strength and structure stiffness of MGP, while glass fiber improved flexibility of MGP. The combined application of vibration operation and fiber reinforcement increased fracture toughness of MGP with better crack resistance. The microstructure morphology showed that the MGP prepared with vibration had fewer cracks than the normal MGP.