Republic of Iraq

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

University of Babylon
College of Materials Engineering
Department Ceramic and
Building materials

Numerical and experimental to improvement of

compressive strength of geopolymer concrete

A Thesis
Submitted to the Council of the College of Materials
Engineering/University of Babylon in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the high diploma Degree in Materials
Engineering/Ceramic

Mohammed Hamed Faris Ali

(B.Sc. In Non-metallic Materials Engineering, 2014)

Supervised by
Prof. Dr. Imad Ali Disher

2019 A.C 1440 A.H

 ‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

‫ض ِمن َش َج َرٍة أَقْ ََل ٌم َوالْبَ ْح ُر‬ ‫﴿ َولَ ْو أَنَّ َما فِي ْاْلَ ْر ِ‬
‫م‬ ‫ِ‬
‫ل‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ت‬ ‫د‬ ‫ف‬‫ِ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫م‬‫َّ‬ ‫ٍ‬
‫يَ ُم ُّدهُ َ ْ َ ْ َ ُ ْ ُ َ َ ْ َ َ ُ‬
‫ات‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ح‬‫َب‬
‫أ‬ ‫ة‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ب‬ ‫س‬ ‫ِ‬
‫ه‬ ‫ِ‬
‫د‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ب‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ِ‬
‫م‬
‫يم ﴾‬ ‫اللَّ ِه ۗ إِ َّن اللَّهَ َع ِز ٌيز ح ِ‬
‫ك‬
‫َ ٌ‬

‫صدق هللا العظيم‬

‫)‪ (26‬آية ‪ -‬لقمان سورة‬
 Supervisor Certification

I certify that this thesis entitled (Numerical and experimental to

improvement of compressive strength of geopolymer concrete) had been
carried out under my supervision at the University of Babylon/College of
Materials Engineering/Department ceramic and building Materials in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of High Diploma in Material's
Engineering/Ceramic.

Signature:
Name: Prof. Dr.Imad A. Disher
(Supervisor)
Date:

In view of the available recommendations. I forward this thesis for debate by

the examination committee.

Head of Ceramics and Building Materials

Materials Engineering department
Signature :
Prof. Dr. Shaker J. Edrees
Date:
 Examination Committee Certification

We certify that we had read this thesis entitled (Numerical and

experimental to improvement of compressive strength of geopolymer
concrete) and as an Examination Committee, we examined the student
(Mohammed Hamed Faris) in its contents and that in our opinion it meets
the standard of a thesis and is adequate for the award of the Degree of High
Diploma in Materials Engineering/ Ceramic.

Signature:

Prof. Dr.

University of Babylon

Date: / /2019

(Chairman)

Signature: Signature:

Asst. Prof. Dr. Asst. Prof. Dr.

University of Babylon University of Babylon

Date: / / 2019 Date: / / 2019

(Member) (Member)

Signature:
.Prof. Dr. Imad A. Disher
University of Babylon
Date: Date:
(Supervisor)

Head of Ceramics and Building Dean of College of Materials

Materials Engineering Department Engineering
Signature : Signature:
Prof. Dr. Shaker J. Edrees Prof. Dr. Nazar
Date: Date:
 Dedication

To:
My Father and Mother.
My Sisters and My Brothers.
And everyone who believes that the head of wisdom
is the fear of God.

MOHAMMED 2019
 Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to my
supervisor Dr. Imad Ali Dishar for this advice, support, and encouragement
that gave me during the course of his work. His suggestions, guidance and
moral support in difficult times has been essential for completing this work.

My deep appreciation goes as well to the members of ceramic

materials laboratories especially Eng. Haitham, Eng.Ashwaq,
Eng.Mahmood, Eng.Khaidaa, Eng.Homam, Eng.Ibtisam, Eng.Rehab,
Eng.Khansaa, and Eng.Atheer.

I would also like to thank all my friends and colleagues during the
study in the college, for creating an unforgettable environment in which my
research was carried out, especially library staff in College of Materials
Engineering, University of Babylon.
Abstract

The Geopolymer is considered as a new binder material, which has

cementitious properties. It is widely used in various applications especially
construction, due to the high performance of this material. The high
performance is due to the good properties of this material over conventional
cement.

Up to this date, there is no standard mix design performed on

geopolymer concrete to determine the mix proportion of Geopolymer
concrete to attain the required strength.

In the current study geopolymer concrete was synthesized and

curried at ambient temperature. The geopolymer cement was prepared from
a micro sized metakaolin powder (MK 750 ˚C), as a source of alumina
Al2O3and silica SiO2, silica gel as free silica, sodium silicate Na2SiO3, and
sodium hydroxide NaOH as a source of alkaline solution and distilled water.
Three batches ( GP1,GP2, GP3) were prepared to determine the optimum
mix proportion of reactant material to synthesize geopolymer cement, the
Geopolymer concrete specimen prepared by using the best batch GP3 which
giave the high compressive strength with the addition of fine and coarse
aggregate to make geopolymer concrete. Also, the effect of mixing time, the
age of specimen and batch proportion on compressive strength of
geopolymer cement paste and concrete.

PVC cylinder was used as a mold to casting geopolymer cement

paste and concrete in the dimension of 25 mm *50 mm and 50 mm * 100
mm for geopolymer cement and concrete specimen respectively. Density,
water absorption, porosity, XRD, Vickers hardness and compressive strength
have been used to characterize the specimens. It was found that the batch
GP3 gave the highest compressive strength so that this batch was used to

I
synthesis concrete specimen. XRD analysis emphasized the amorphous
phase of geopolymer cement.

The highest compressive strength achieved was (101.2 MPa at 28

days age) which was considered higher than that reported for Portland
cement.

The mix proportion of geopolymer concrete was in the range

1:0.75:1 to 1:1.75:2.5 in weight to represent geopolymer cement: fine
aggregate: coarse aggregate respectively.

II
Table of Content

Abstract I
Table of content III
List of Symbol VI
List of Abbreviations VI
Chapter One: Introduction 1
1.1 Overview 1
1.2 Scope of The Current Study 2
1.3 The Objective Of The Current Study 3
1.4 The Structure of The Thesis 3
Chapter two : Theoretical Aspects &Literature Review 4
2.1.1 Overview 4
2.1.2 Materials for Making Geopolymer 6
2.1.2.1 Aluminosilicate Precursor Materials 6
2.1.2.2.1 Precursor Treatment 8
2.1.2.3 Alkalis Reactant 9
2.1.2.3.1 K OR Na Alkali Solution 9
2.1.2.3.2 Alkali Silicate and Hydroxide Mixture 11
2.1.3 Mechanism Reaction of Geopolymer 11
2.1.4 Properties of Geopolymer 14
2.1.4.1 Sulfate Resistance 14
2.1.4.2 Drying Shrinkage and Creep 15
2.1.4.3 Strength 17
2.1.4.4 Fire Resistance 18
2.1.4.5 Bond Strength 18
2.1.4.6 Toxic Waste Lock 19
2. 1.5 Geopolymer Cement Classifications 19
2.1.5.1 Ferro Silate Based Geopolymer Cement 20
2.1.5.2 Slag Based Geopolymer Cemecnt 20
2.1.5.3 Rock Based Geopolymer Cement 20
2.1.5.4 Fly Ash Based Geoplymer 21
2.1.5.4.1 Fly Ash-Slag Based Geopolymer 21
2.1.5.4.2 Alkali Activated Fly Ash Based gGeopolymer 21
2.1.6 Advantage and Disadvantage of Geopolymer 22
2.1.6.1 Advantage of Geopolymer 22
2.1.6.1.1 Chemical Resistance 22
III
 2.1.6.1.2 Very Small Drying Shrinkage and Creep 22
2.1.6.1.3 Environmental Benefits 22
2.1.6.1.4 Resistance to Freezing and Thawing 23
2.1.6.1.5 High Strength 23
2.1.6.2 Disadvantage of Geopolymer 24
2.1.6.2.1 Difficult of Manufacture 24
2.1.7 Limitations of Geopolymer Concrete 24
2.1.8 Geopolymer Cement Energy Need and CO2 Emission 24
2.1.8.1 Energy Need 24
2.1.8.2 CO2 Emission During Synthesizes 26
2.1.9 Application of Geopolymer 28
2.1.9Genetic Algorithm(GA) 82
2.1.9-1 Introduction: 82
2.1.9-2 Initialization: 03
2.1.9.3 Fitness Function: 03
2.1.9.4 Encoding: 03
2.1.9.5 Selection: 03
2.1.9.6 Crossover: 08
A- One point crossover 08
B-Two point crossover 00
C-Uniform crossover 33
2.1.10.7 Mutation: 04
2.2 Literature Review 03
Chapter Three: Experimental Work 48
3.1 Introduction 48
3.2 Materials and Properties 48
3.2.1 Metakaoline 48
3.3.2 Alkaline Solution 40
3.3 Geoplymer Cement Paste 40
3.4 Geopolymer Concrete 44
3.5 Material Test 44
3.5.1 Aggregate Test 44
3.5.1.1 Sieve Analysis Test 44
3.5.1.2 SO3 content of the Aggregate 44
3.5.2 Geopolymer Cement and Concrete Test 44
3.5.2.1 Compressive Strength Test 44

IV
 3.5.2.2 X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) 42
3.5.2.3 Microhardness Test 33
3.5.2.4 Density Measurements 33
4.3 INTRODUCTION 52
4.2 Result of XRD Analysis Kaolin 52
4.3 Result of Metakolin 52
4.3.1 XRD Analysis 52
4.3.1 Particle Size Analysis. 53
4.4 Result of Grading and SO3 Content of Aggregate 54
4.5 Result of Geopolymer Cement Paste 54
4.5.1 XRD Analysis 54
4.5.2 XRD Compressive Strength of Geopolymer Cement 55
Paste
4.5.3 Affect of mixing time on compressive strength of 56
Geopolymer cement paste
4.5.4 Vickers Hardness of Geopolymer Cement Paste 58
4.6 Result of Geopolymer Concrete 59
4.6.1 Compressive Strength of Geopolymer Concrete 59
4.6.2 Vickers Hardness of Geopolymer Concrete 60
4.7 Geopolymer Cement Paste and Concrete Density Result 60
4.8 Numerical Result 61
5.1 Conclusions 63
5.2 Recommendations 64
Reference 65
Appendix V
Appendix A V

V
 List of Symbols

No. Greek Name Greek Letter

1 Alpha α

2 Beta β

3 Theta θ

4 Rho ρ

List of Abbreviations

Abbreviation meaning
GGFS Ground granulated furnace slag
GP geopolymer
GPC Geopolymer concrete
ICDD International Center of Diffraction Data
MK 750 ˚C Metakaoline calcined at 750 ˚C
OPC Ordinary Portland cement
PS Poly silate
PSS Poly silaxo silate
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
XRD X-Ray Diffraction
rpm revolutions per minute
SEM Scanning electron microscope
EDS Energy dispersive spectroscopy
M molarity
UPV ultrasonic pulse velocity
HV Vickers hardness
GA Genetic Algorithm

VI