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Experimental investigation on physical and mechanical properties of alkali

activated concrete using industrial and agro waste

Article  in  Materials Today: Proceedings · September 2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.634

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 Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Experimental investigation on physical and mechanical properties of

alkali activated concrete using industrial and agro waste
Ganta Mounika a,b,⇑, Baskar Ramesh a, J.S. Kalyana Rama b
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Vignana Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Increasing infrastructure demands the need for using huge quantities of concrete. Concrete manufacture
Received 19 July 2020 requires large amounts of cement whose production of one-ton results nearly one ton of CO2 emission
Accepted 24 July 2020 into the atmosphere attributing to global warming. As a step towards sustainability, the use of supple-
Available online xxxx
mentary cementitious materials (SCMs) for cement has been adopted globally. Alkali Activated
Concrete (AAC) and Geo polymer Concrete (GPC) are great alternatives for regular conventional concrete
Keywords: because they make use of industrial and agro wastes as binders without cement. AAC is composed of two
Alkali Activated Concrete
components-paste and aggregates. The paste is essentially a mixture of rich Calcium silicate or Alumino
Activator
Sodium hydroxide
silicate materials as solid precursor and alkaline activator. Activators like alkali silicates, alkali hydrox-
Sodium silicate ides, alkali sulphates, alkali carbonates can be used to increase the value of pH of the mixture and quicken
Compressive strength the splitting of the solid precursor. The present study proposed the novel mix proportioning of alkali acti-
NDT vated concrete with possible industrial and agro wastes as precursors and homogeneous mixture of
sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as alkaline solution activator followed by exper-
imental investigations. Series of experimental investigations are conducted to evaluate the fresh and
hardened properties of AAC with constant NaOH molarity of 10 M and alkaline solution to binder ratio
of 0.5. Several combinations involving fly ash, fly ash and slag, slag, fly ash and rice husk ash, slag and
rice husk ash, etc will be adopted for the experimental investigations. Fresh concrete properties like
workability and mechanical properties like compressive strength will be evaluated based on the work
carried out using different combinations. Curing of AAC specimens is carried out in ambient temperature
and the expected outcome will be a benchmark in making small scale concrete products like balusters,
concrete benches at parks, paver blocks, and any other non-load bearing components using AAC mixes.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Nanotechnology: Ideas, Innovation and Industries.

1. Introduction its advantages like substantial curbing of carbon dioxide, use of

Concrete is the second most widely used product around the
world next to water [1]. Cement being the primary constituent
and its demand is expanding over decades to satisfy the infra struc-
tural desires of the billions of mankind. The manufacture of cement
alone contributes to nearly 5–8% of carbon dioxide releases world-
wide [2]. Hence the need for alternative materials to be replaced as
binders is to be given importance for environmental sustainability
[3]. Alkali Activated Concrete (AAC) often called as ‘‘cementless
concrete” or ‘‘green concrete” has gained importance because of
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mounikareddy92@gmail.com (G. Mounika).
industrial and agro wastes, producing a more durable infrastruc-
ture etc. AAC essentially consists of a solid precursor (binder)
which is a Calcium silicate or Alumino silicate material, a catalytic
liquid system (activator) which is a combination of a metal hydrox-
ide and silicate and aggregates. Hans Kuhl, a cement chemist from
Germany has first patented this compact and hardened substance
formed by activating a binder consisting of alumina and silica as
a precursor with an alkaline solution, which resembled the Ordi-
nary Portland Cement (OPC) in 1908 [4]. Later A. O Purdon carried
extensive studies on manufacturing concrete by activating variety
of blast furnace slags with sodium salts and hydroxides [5].
Since 1990, a drastical improvement in research on alkali
activation has taken place. The most commonly used precursors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.634
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Nanotechnology: Ideas, Innovation and Industries.

Please cite this article as: G. Mounika, B. Ramesh and J. S. Kalyana Rama, Experimental investigation on physical and mechanical properties of alkali acti-
vated concrete using industrial and agro waste, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.634
G. Mounika et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

for manufacture of AAC are Fly ash, GGBS, Metakaolin [6]. Rice
husk ash (RHA) which has proved its ability as a potential supple-
mentary cementitious material in conventional concrete can also
be used as a binder in AAC [7]. Widely used alkaline activator solu-
tions are a mergence of sodium hydroxide and sodium silica and
potassium hydroxide and potassium silicate. These alkaline solu-
tions pull out the silica and alumina ions from the binder materials
and contribute to the formation of silica-oxygen-alumina bonds
which is known as polymerization [8]. The present study deals
with manufacture of alkali activated concrete using an agro waste
like Rice Husk Ash (RHA), industrial wastes like Fly ash and GGBS
as solid precursors and a mixture of Sodium silicate and hydroxide
as the activator solution. Various combinations of these binders
have been tried and strength of the AAC specimens in compression
is determined along with Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).
2. Materials
2.1. Fly ash
Fly Ash is the industrial waste coming out from thermal power
plants and is used as a predominant admixture in concrete. The fly
ash used in this study was procured from Sri Bhavani RMC Plant,
Hyderabad. The values of various physical tests performed on Fly
ash are shown in Table 1.
2.2. Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS)
2.4. Fine aggregate
Locally available river sand confirming to Zone III was used as
fine aggregate in this study. To overcome the problem of bulking,
sand was oven dried beforehand.
2.5. Coarse aggregate
Natural crushed granite stone of sizes 10 mm and 20 mm were
used depending upon the workability. Tests on physical properties
of aggregates such as Fineness modulus, Bulk density, Specific
gravity and Water absorption were conducted on coarse aggregate
and the results are tabulated and shown in Table 3.
2.6. Activator solution
The alkali activator solution is a mixture of sodium silicate
(Na2SiO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. Sodium silicate
is also known as Water Glass (WG) and is available in the market
gel form whereas NaOH is available as pellets or flakes. NaOH solu-
tion of required molarity is obtained by dissolving NaOH pellets in
distilled water. In the present study, 10 M NaOH solution was used
and is prepared by dissolving 400 g of sodium (Na) pellets in 1 L of
regular tap water. This NaOH solution must be prepared 24 h
before casting the specimens and should be used within 36 h of
mixing pellets with water as shown in Fig. 1.

Ground-granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBFS) is waste coming 2.7. Chemical admixture

from steel and iron industries, used extensively as an admixture in
conventional and special concretes. The GGBS used in this study The chemical admixture used in this study is Master Glenium
was procured from IJM industry, Hyderabad. The values of various Sky 8233 based on polycarboxylic ether which is free of chloride
physical tests performed on GGBS are shown in Table 1. and is less alkaline in nature, with a specific gravity of 1.07.

2.3. Rice husk ash (RHA)

Rice husk ash (RHA) is obtained by combustion of rice husk Table 3

Physical property test results of Coarse aggregate.
which is the protective covering of a rice grain. RHA being a good
filler, rich in silica content and possessing good pozzolanic reactiv- Physical property Test result
ity its use as a potential supplementary cementitious material Fineness modulus 6.14
(SCM) is studied worldwide. The RHA used in this study is procured Specific gravity 2.51
from Sri Rajalaxmi rice mill, Hyderabad. The values of various Bulk density 1559.49 kg/m3
Water absorption 2%
physical tests performed on RHA are shown in Table 1. The oxide
composition of the binder materials is tabulated and shown in
Table 2.

Table 1
Physical property test results of Fly ash, GGBS and RHA.

Material Physical Property

Fineness Specific gravity
Fly ash 86% 2.18
GGBS 97% 2.80
RHA 91% 2.15

Table 2
Oxide composition of alkali activated binders.

Oxide Composition Fly ash GGBS RHA

CaO 1.8 41 2.3
SiO2 60.1 35.6 72.5
Al2O3 28.4 19.58 4.8
Fe2O3 5.1 0.52 1.2
SO3 0.1 1.9 1.1
K2O 2.2 0.39 1.3
Fig. 1. NaOH Solution.

2
G. Mounika et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

3. Mix proportions

The following mix proportions were designed for determining

the Mechanical properties of Alkali Activated Concrete (AAC) and
the designations are shown in Table 4.
Alkaline activator solution to binder ratio was maintained a
constant value of 0.5 for all the mixes. The various mixes of AAC
were proportioned for a volume of 1 m3 and summarised in
Table 5.

4. Tests on fresh and hardened concrete

4.1. Workability

Workability is the property of fresh concrete or mortar which

ascertains the ability with which it can be mixed, compacted and
placed. In the present study, workability was found by slump test
as shown in Fig. 2. The apparatus consists of slump cone, scale for
measurement and tamping rod made of steel. The slump values for
various mixes is determined and tabulated as follows shown in
Table 6.
The slump results concluded that the concrete is less workable. Fig. 2. Slump test.

4.2. Compressive strength

Table 6
Values of slump test for various mixes.
Cube mould of dimensions 150 mm X 150 mm X 150 mm is
well tightened and lubricated with oil properly. Concrete is filled S. No Mix Al/ binder ratio Slump value (in mm)
into the mould in layers, with each layer approximately 50 mm 1. I 0.5 20
deep. This layer of concrete is compacted properly by not less than 2. II 0.5 25
minimum 25 S by a tamping rod to remove air voids. After a day, 3. III 0.5 25
4. IV 0.5 20
the specimens are removed and allowed for air curing at tested
5. V 0.5 25
at desired ages. The compressive strength values of AAC at 3 days, 6. VI 0.5 25
7 days and 28 days for various mixes is shown in Fig. 3.

5. Results and discussion

4.3. Non-destructive testing (NDT) of concrete
Based on the main findings of this study, the following conclu-
The most commonly used NDT tests on concrete are Rebound sions were drawn:
hammer (RH) test and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) test. Both
of these tests were performed on all the alkali activated concrete  20 mm slump was observed for the mixes of AAC with 100% Fly
specimens to assess the quality of concrete and the results are ash and combination of Fly ash with RHA.
shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
25 mm slump was observed for the mixes of AAC with GGBS,
Table 4 combination of Fly ash and GGBS, RHA and GGBS, Fly ash, GGBS
Mix proportions of Alkali Activated Concrete (AAC). and RHA.
S. No Designations Fly ash(%) GGBS (%) RHA (%)
 The compressive strength of AAC using 100% fly ash increased
1 Mix I 100 – –
with the age of concrete. The 3-day strength was noted as
2 Mix II – 100 –
3 Mix III 50 50 –
7.48 MPa, the 7-day strength was noted as 16.44 MPa and the
4 Mix IV 90 – 10 28-day strength was noted as 32.74 MPa. A strength gain of
5 Mix V – 90 10 nearly 54% was observed from 3 days to 7 days and a strength
6 Mix VI 45 45 10 gain of nearly 50% was observed from 7 days to 28 days for
Alkaline solution to binder ratio as 0.5.

Table 5
Various mix quantities of AAC.

Quantities in kg/m3
Mix Fly ash GGBS RHA Coarse aggregate Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate NaOH solution Na2SiO3 Super plasticizer
of size 20 mm of size 10 mm
I 437.5 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94
II 437.5 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94
III 218.75 218.75 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94
IV 371.875 65.625 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94
V 371.875 65.625 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94
VI 185.93 185.93 65.625 665.4 443.6 739 53 131 2.94

3
G. Mounika et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 3. Graphical representation of compressive strength of AAC at various ages.

Fig. 4. Graphical representation of UPV of AAC at various ages.

Fig. 5. Graphical representation of Rebound number of AAC at various ages

 The compressive strength of AAC using 100% GGBS showed
higher results when compared to other mixes for Alkaline solu-
tion to binder ratio of 0.5. The compressive strength increased
faintly of about 6% from 3 days to 7 days. Later the compressive
strength increased by nearly 40% at the age of 28 days.
 The compressive strength of AAC using Fly ash and GGBS
increased by 5.73% from 3 days to 7 days age of concrete
and later increased by 15% from 7 days to 28 days age of
concrete.
 The compressive strength of AAC using Fly ash and RHA
increased slowly with the age of concrete. A strength gain of
34% was observed from 3 days to 7 days age and a strength gain
of 66% was observed from 7 days to 28 days age for Alkaline
solution to binder ratio as 0.5.

4
G. Mounika et al.
 The compressive strength of AAC using GGBS and RHA
increased by 44% from 3 days to 7 days age of concrete and later
increased by 14% from 7 days to 28 days age of concrete.
 The compressive strength of AAC using Fly ash, GGBS and RHA
slightly decreased from 3 days to 7 days but later the strength
development improved by 56% from 7 days to 28 days of age.
 Even though the combination of Fly ash, GGBS and RHA showed
good compressive strength, it was less in comparison with the
compressive strength of AAC with GGBS at 28 days.
 The early strength of concrete (3 days and 7 days) was achieved
for AAC made with combination of GGBS and Fly ash.
6. Conclusions
Preliminary investigation was carried in the present study to
assess the role of industrial and agro wastes in making alkali acti-
vated concrete for a chosen molarity of 10 M. It was observed that
the workability of AAC mix was almost same for all the mixes
which is at par with the target slump. Compressive strength of
AAC mix with fly ash and rice husk ash was low due to the fact that
the mixes took more than 48 h to set in ambient curing. Despite
the strength values being less that would definitely be a sustain-
able mix especially considering the durability of the mix. All the
mixes with RHA resulted poor strength compared to mixes with
GGBS. Triple blended AAC mix with GGBS, fly ash and RHA can
be adopted for non-structural elements and for defence applica-
tions considering its higher strength gain. The quality of AAC mix
with FA and RHA is poor compared to other mixes where as AAC
mix with GGBS and GGBS and fly ash are in very good condition.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Acknowledgements
First and Third author would like to acknowledge the Computer
centre funded by DST-FIST at Vignana Bharathi Institute of
Technology.
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Further Reading
[1] J.L. Provis, K. Arbi, S.A. Bernal, D. Bondar, A. Buchwald, A. Castel, A. Dubey, RILEM
TC 247-DTA round robin test: mix design and reproducibility of compressive
strength of alkali-activated concretes, Mater. Struct. 52 (5) (2019) 99.
[2] E. Gartner, Industrially interesting approaches to low CO2 cements, Cem. Concr.
Res. 34 (2004) 1489–1498.
[3] D. Peter, J. Provis, Grant C Lukey, Jannie S J van Deventer the role of inorganic
polymer technology in the development of ‘green concrete’, Cem. Concr. Res. 37
(2007) 1590–1597.