Performance assessment of geopolymer concrete using various industrial wastes

Abstract

Incessant cement manufacturing has raised the quantity of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere, exacerbating the problem of global heating, which has a detrimental impact on the climate. This upraised the awareness of the industry for the use of more environmentally friendly materials for building construction. A more sustainable solution and a comprehensive analysis of the current admixtures used to replace traditional concrete have therefore become highly imperative. Because of the beneficial use of by-product waste to replace cement and minimize greenhouse gas emissions during its processing, geopolymer concrete has begun to draw thought from research scholars and construction practitioners. In this paper, the performance of different industrial wastes like fly ash (FA), copper slag (CS) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) on the properties of geopolymer concrete has been discussed. The addition of GGBFS helps to get rid of heat curing which is one of the main limitations of geopolymer concrete with fly ash alone as the alumina silicate precursor. The inclusion of copper slag which is a waste from the copper industry to fly ash, eliminates the use of superplasticizer and increases the mixture's workability. Additionally, specimens show a strength increase with the addition of slag. A detailed cost analysis was also done.