A STUDY ON STRENGTH BEHAVIOR OF

SLAG (GGBS) BASED GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE

S.Sarker1*, M.A.Hossain1, O.C.Debnath2 , M.S.Islam3, M.M.Islam3

1
Undergraduate Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, CUET, Chittagong-
4349, Bangladesh 2Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, CUET,
Chittagong-4349, Bangladesh
3
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, CUET, Chittagong-4349,
Bangladesh Email : sarkercuet11@gmail.com,
2
debnathopu60@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Concrete is the most abundantly used manmade material in the world .The main component of
concrete is the Ordinary Portland Cement(OPC) which is the second most utilized material after water
.After automobile ,Ordinary Portland Cement production is the second major generator of carbon-di-
oxide ,which pollutes the atmosphere .Geopolymer has been widely used as a cement replacement
material which has been introduced to reduce the carbon-di-oxide emission by using the industrial by
product as base material .Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag(GGBS) is a latent hydraulic material
which can directly react with water in presence of an alkali activator .After activating ,GGBS in alkali
activator solution ,is termed as alkali activated slag(AAS) which is the main constituent of
geopolymer .This paper discusses the experimental results of a study conducted to assess the strength
of AAS concrete over 7,14,28 & 60 days exposure in normal & sodium chloride environment. This
programme covers the immersion of cube specimen in NaCl solution of different concentration. The
performance of the specimen were evaluated in terms of visual appearance, change in weight &
volume ,compressive & tensile strength over the stated exposure periods. From this study it is
observed that the strength of geopolymer concrete specimens are is increased with the increase of
dosages & ages in normal environment while in chloride environment, the corresponding gain in
strength is observed to be lower, as compared to normal environment.

Keywords: Geopolymer; GGBS; Alkali Activators; Strength; Curing

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the most widely used construction material due to its versatility and energy efficiency next to
steel and aluminium (Hardjito et al., 2004). . The main component of concrete is the ordinary Portland
cement (OPC) is conveniently used as binder in concrete still now. But production of OPC is a concerning
issue for environment now a days.In production of OPC, carbon dioxide gas is produced which is the main
source of greenhouse gas and global warming. Statistics shows that the amount of carbon dioxide
production is almost one ton for every ton of OPC produced. Alarming issue is that, this carbon dioxide
contributes in greenhouse gas emission approx. 7% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission to the
earths atmosphere. Among the GHGs CO 2 contributes 65% of total global warming. It can be seen that
even a small reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per ton of manufactured concrete can make a
significant impact (Flower and Sanjayan, 2007)..Each year the concrete industry produced almost 12
billion tons of concrete (Attwir and Kabir, 2010) globally and utilized 1.65 billion tons of cement for that
purpose. Production of 1 ton of cement requires 2.8 and 1.5
tons of raw materials including fuel reported on four different occasions (Bjrk, 1999 ; Reddy et
al., 2010 ; Anuar et al., 2011 ; Guo et al., 2010). The increase of cement production is almost 3%
per year. Geopolymers are inorganic polymeric binding materials, firstly developed by Joseph
Davidovits in1970s. Geopolymerisation involves a chemical reaction between an alumino-silicate
(Al-Si) material and a strong alkaline solution yielding amorphous to semi crystalline three-
dimensional polymeric structures, which consist of Si-O-Al bonds. In 1978 Davidovits proposed
that an Al-Si compound could polymerise with an alkaline solution. Davidovits (1988) discovered that
the concrete used in ancient structures is alkali -activated alumino-silicate binders and named it as
geopolymer concrete because of polymerization reaction ;This led to the idea of cement replacement
and the subsequent creation of Geopolymer Concrete. Geopolymer is a type of amorphous alumino-
Hydroxide product that exhibits the ideal properties of rock-forming elements,
i.e., hardness, chemical stability and longevity. Geopolymer binders are used together with
aggregates to produce geopolymer concretes which are ideal for building and repairing
infrastructures and for precasting units, because they have very high early strength. The
polymerisation process involves a substantially fast chemical reaction under alkaline condition on Si-
Al minerals, that results in a threedimensional polymeric chain and ring structure consisting of Si-O-
Al-O bonds, as follows (Davidovits 1999):
Mn [-(SiO2) zAlO2] n . wH2O (1)

Where:
M = the alkaline element or cation such as potassium, sodium or calcium; the symbol indicates the
presence of a bond, n is the degree of polycondensation or polymerisation; z is1, 2, 3, or higher, up to
32.
The schematic formation of geopolymer material can be shown as described by Equations (2) and (3)
(van Jaarsveld et al. 1997; Davidovits 1999):
n(Si2O5,Al2O2)+2nSiO2+4nH2O+NaOH or KOH Na+,K+ + n(OH)3-Si-O-Al--O-Si-(OH)3
(Si-Al materials) (2)
(OH) 2
(Geopolymer precursor)

-
n(OH)3-Si-O-Al -O-Si-(OH)3 + NaOH or KOH (Na+,K+)-(- Si-O-Al--O-Si-O-) + 4nH2O

(OH)2 O OO (3)

(Geopolymer backbone)

The chemical reaction may comprise the following steps (Davidovits 1999; Xu and van Deventer 2000):

Dissolution of Si and Al atoms from the source material through the action of hydroxide ions.

Transportation or orientation or condensation of precursor ions into monomers.

Setting or polycondensation/polymerisation of monomers into polymeric structures.
However, these three steps can overlap with each other and occur almost simultaneously, thus
making it difficult to isolate and examine each of them separately (Palomo et al. 1999).

Objectives of the study :

The main objective of this research is to evaluate the strength, durability and suitability of
Slag(GGBS) based geopolymer concrete as an alternative of ordinary Portland cement(OPC).
However the specific objectives are listed as follows:

To optimize of the mix design for AAS (alkali activated slag) concrete.

To evaluate the compressive and tensile strength of AAS concrete at different age.

To evaluate the performance of AAS concrete in Sodium Chloride environment with respect to the strength
and durability.

To study the short-term engineering properties of Geopolymer concrete.
METHODOLOGY
A.MATERIALS AND SAMPLE PREPARATION
Slag sample collected from Royal Cement Company located in Chittagong ,(Bangladesh) was
used for study. The chemical properties of slag used for the experiment is shown in Table 1
Table 1:Chemical Composition of GGBS (% mass)

LOI- loss of ignition

B.SYNTHESIS OF GEOPOLYMERS CONCRETE
Geopolymer can be synthesized by polycondensation reaction of geopolymeric precursor (Slag), and
alkali polysilicates. The process of alkali activation of slag produces a material with similar cementing
features than those characterizing ordinary Portland cement. Slag mixed with alkali activators and
sand and then the mixture is cured under certain temperature to carry out polymerization and
condensation reactions which transformed the glassy constituent of the slag into well compacted
cementitious material. The production of geopolymers has a relative higher strength, excellent volume
stability, better durability.
C.EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME:
I.Mix Design:
The combination of sodium silicate (Na 2SiO3) and NaOH solution was used as alkaline activators.
Two dosage of Na2O (%Na2O ) was selected for experiment those are 5% & 7% respectively which is
the ratio of Na2O content of alkaline solution to GGBS. Two activator modulus having 1.0 and 1.5
respectively was selected for this experiment which is the mass ratio of SiO 2 to Na2O. The alkaline
activator was prepared by mixing a sodium silicate and NaOH solution with a concentration of 15 M.

Specimen notation used for alkali activated slag mortar is given in Fig.1

Fig. 1 Specification notation for AAS concrete specimen

II.Mix Details:
The mass ratio of combined aggregate to slag was fixed at 3 for all batches.A water binder ratio of
0.45 was used & kept constant for all batches.A total 144 nos. of 100mmX100mmX100mm cubical
specimens were prepared for compressive & tensile strength test respectively using four mix
combination.The variables of AAS concrete are shoen in Table 2.
The proportions of ingredients (binding materials, activator solution, fine sand,coarse
aggregate and water ) was conducted based on the absolute volume method (Neville, 1996)
which assumed that the volume of compacted concretw is equal to the sum of the absolute
volume of all the ingredients. The mix proportion for the concrete are given in Table 3
III.Mixing,moulding and curing:
1.The sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions are mixed 24 hours before casting in a plastic
container.
2.The other ingredients like sand,coarse aggregate, extra water, and binder(GGBS) were measured in
required amount.
3.The binder, coarse aggregate and sand were mixed for 5 minutes. Then the alkaline activator was
mixed gradually.
Then the mixture were poured into100mm cubic moulds and compacted by rammer. The curing
regime for AAS concrete was 24 hours at temperature for prior to being demoulded following by heat
curing continuously at 400C for 72 hours in temperature controlled room. After completion of heat
curing the specimens rest in room temperature up to the corresponding testing is completed.

Table 2:AAS concrete mixes and variables Table 3:Mass ratio of materials(kg)
Mix Variables Mix GGBS Combined Added Na2SiO3 NaOH
aggregate
Na20 Activator water
Dosage(%) Modulus(Ms)
AAS 5- 5 1.0 AAS 1 3 0.2013 0.192 0.156
1.0 5-1.0
AAS 5- 5 1.5 AAS 1 3 0.1649 0.288 0.122
1.5 5-1.5
AAS 7- 7 1.0 AAS 1 3 0.1018 0.269 0.219
1.0 7-1.0
AAS 7- 7 1.5 AAS 1 3 0.0508 0.404 0.17
1.5 7-1.5

Fig.2 Sodium hydroxide solid and

Fig. 3 Mixing Fig.4 Moulding
sodium silicate solution

Fig 5:Demoulding
Fig.6 Heat Curing

Fig. 8 After curing at

NaCl
Fig.7 Curing at NaCl
solution
solution
D.DURABILITY STUDY:
The Geopolymer cube were subjected to durability study in chloride environment. The cubes are
submerged different concentration of NaCl solution(2 T & 3T of sea water) with a view to taking
compressive strength, tensile strength and % weight loss data after 7,14,28 & 60 day exposure
respectively (Fig.7 & Fig.8).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A.Compressive strength of concrete
The compressive strength gain of AAS concrete rest in room temperature and its variation with
different combination is listed in Table 4 and shown graphically in figure 9 and 10.The AAS concrete
showed significant higher strength for the 7% Na 2O compared to the 5% Na2O.Increasing the Na2O
dosage will increase the alkanity of the dosage thus the strength will increase in normal environment
while it is lower in chloride environment compared to the normal environment.

Table 4:Compressive strength(MPa)

Mix Days
7 14 28 60
AAS 36.4 39.4 43.7
5-1.0
AAS 38.6 41.8 45.5
5-1.5
AAS 44.4 47.6 49.2
7-1.0
Fig.9 Compressive Fig.10 Compressive
AAS 50.7 55.3 60.8 Strength Of AAS Strength Of AAS concrete
7-1.5 concrete at normal at different age
environment

Table 5:Compressive
strength(MPa) in Chloride
Environment(2T)
Mix Days
7 14 28 60
AAS 33.5 35.7 39.6
5-1.0
AAS 35.4 38.4 42.3
5-1.5
AAS 40.4 44.3 47.3 Fig.11 Compressive Fig.12 Compressive Strength
7-1.0 Strength Of AAS concrete Of AAS concrete at different
AAS 48.7 53.2 57.5 at chloride age(chloride
7-1.5 T T
environment(2 ) environment,2 )

Table 5:Compressive strength(MPa)

in Chloride Environment(3T)
Mix Days
7 14 28 60
AAS 31.4 32.2 36.7
5-1.0
AAS 33.2 36.6 40.4
5-1.5
AAS 38.6 41.2 45.4
7-1.0 Fig.13 Compressive Fig.14 Compressive Strength
AAS 46.7 51.5 55.4 Strength Of AAS concrete Of AAS concrete at different
at chloride age(chloride environment,
7-1.5 T T
environment(3 ) 3 )
B.Average weight change of concrete in chloride environment:

Table
6:Weight
Change(%)
in Chloride
Environmen
t(2T)
Mix Days
14 28
AAS -1.37 -.75
5-1.0
AAS -.72 -.45 Fig.15 % Fig.16 %
5-1.5 Weight Weight
AAS -.84 -.57 Change Change Of
AAS concrete
7-1.0 Of AAS
concrete at different
AAS -.95 -.65 age(chloride
7-1.5 at
chloride environment,
T
environm 2 )
T
ent(2 )
Table
6:Weight
Change(%)
in Chloride
Environmen
t(3T)
Mix Days
14 28
AAS -2.12 -1.02
5-1.0
AAS -1.02 -.77
5-1.5 Fig.16 %
AAS -1.07 -.72 Weight
Fig.15 %
7-1.0 Change Of
Weight
AAS -1.57 -.83 Change AAS concrete
7-1.5 Of AAS at different
concrete age(chloride
at environment,
REFFERENCES T
chloride 3 )
environm
T
ent(3 )
[1]ASTM International. C 109. Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement
Mortars (Using 2-in. or [50-mm] Cube Specimens). ASTM International, West Conshohocken, USA
[2] A. A. Adam (2009). Strength and Durability properties of Alkali Activated Slag and Fly Ash
Based Geopolymer Concrete. School of civil, Environmental and chemical Engineering, RMIT
University, Melbourne, Australia.
[3] C. Shi, & Y. Li, (1989). Investigation on Some Factors Affecting the Characteristics of Alkali-
Phosphorus Slag Cement Cement and Concrete Research, 19(4), 527-533.
[4] D. Hardjito, B. V. Rangan (2005). Development And Properties Of Low-Calcium Fly Ash-Base
Geopolymer Concrete. Research report GC 1, Faculty of Engineering, Curtin University of
technology, Perth, Australia.
[5] F. Collins, & J. G. Sanjayan, (1998). Early Age Strength and Workability of Slag Pastes Activated
by NaOH and Na2CO3. Cement and Concrete Research, 28(5), 655-664 .
[6] G. Lodeiro, A. Palomo, F. Jimnez (2007). Alkali aggregate reaction in activated fly ash system.
Cement Concrete Res., 37: 175-183.
[7] J. Davidovits, (1999). Chemistry of Geopolymeric system, Terminology. Geopolymer. 99
International Conference, France.
[8] L.Yongde, & S. Yao (2000). Preliminary Study on Combined-Alkali-Slag Paste Materials.
Cement and Concrete Research, 30(6), 963-966.
[9] M. Regourd, (1986). Slag and slag cements. In R. N. Swamy (Ed.). Cement replacement
material (pp. 259p.) Glasgow: Surrey University Press.
[10] S.-D. Wang, K. L. Scrivener, & P. L. Pratt (1994). Factors affecting the strength of
alkali-activated slag. Cement and Concrete Research, 24(6),1033-1043