Fly Ash Slag Geopolymer Concrete: Resistance to Sodium and Magnesium Sulfate Attack
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 12
Abstract
This study evaluated the performance of geopolymer concretes based on a binary mixture of fly ash (FA) with blast furnace slag (GBFS) in an ratio and activated with a mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide. FA/GBFS and portland cement (OPC) concretes were immersed in 5% by weight sodium sulfate and magnesium sulfate solutions. Volumetric expansion and mechanical resistance loss were measured, and the reaction products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The highest levels of deterioration were found in the probes exposed to , indicating the higher aggressiveness of this solution. After aging for 360 days in , the FA/GBFS concrete expanded by 0.04% and decreased its mechanical resistance by 33%, compared to 0.08 and 48%, respectively, for similarly treated OPC concretes. However, the same exposure to increased the observed FA/GBFS resistance while reducing the mechanical resistance of OPC by 30%. This relates to their respective expansion percentages of 0.0068 and 0.412% and the presence of expansive ettringite in the OPC concretes.
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Acknowledgments
The authors, members of the Group of Composite Materials (GMC) from the Excellence Centre for Novel Materials (CENM), thank the Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia) and the Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Colciencias) for the support received through the “HYBRICEMENT” project, contract No. 0638–2013.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 31, 2015
Accepted: Feb 17, 2016
Published online: Jul 1, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 1, 2016
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