Effect of Sodium Silicate and Curing Regime on Properties of Load Bearing Geopolymer Mortar Block
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 3
Abstract
The high embodied energy of conventional geopolymer production, which resulted from the necessity of high alkaline activator content and heat curing, hinders the transition of geopolymer technology toward industrial applications. This paper introduces a novel geopolymer system based on hybridization between high calcium wood ash (HCWA) and pulverized fuel ash (PFA), which use a low percentage of alkaline activator (5% of binder weight), ambient temperature curing, and a pressurized forming method for the fabrication of load bearing masonry unit. The elimination of alkali hydroxide was made possible by the Arcanite mineral (approximately 12%), which is inherently present in HCWA. The HCWA-PFA geopolymer mortar blocks with various sodium silicate content (0–5%) and curing regime (water and moist curing) were assessed in terms of mechanical (compressive, flexural, and UPV) and durability performance (water absorption, total porosity, and intrinsic air permeability) over a curing period of up to 90 days. The addition of was found to enhance the early strength development of HCWA-PFA mortar blocks. Moreover, the mortar blocks exhibited continuous strength growth over a prolonged curing period. Moist-cured samples consistently outperformed their water-cured counterpart in every aspect. All of the fabricated HCWA-PFA geopolymer mortar blocks are classified as normal-weight, solid, load-bearing masonry unit.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and University Sains Malaysia for funding the study under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (203/PPBGN/6711347), Research University Grant (1001/PPBGN/814211), and Short-Term Grant (304/PPBGN/6312106).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 3 • March 2017
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 10, 2016
Accepted: Aug 9, 2016
Published online: Oct 24, 2016
Published in print: Mar 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Mar 24, 2017
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