Beach Sand: Alternative Filler in Metakaolin-Based Geopolymers
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33, Issue 4
Abstract
The efforts toward sustainability of natural resources promote the use unexploited natural resources and raw materials. Beach sand, unsuitable as filler in concrete due to its salinity and generally uniform grain size, was tested as an alternative filler in geopolymer composites. The processability of the mixture determined the minimum and maximum amounts of beach sand (70 and 75 wt%, respectively). Geopolymer solids with the limit of sand content were studied in terms of stability and mechanical properties. Laboratory results corroborated the tendency of flexural and compressive strength to increase over time, with the maxima being 9.95 MPa for flexural and 64.1 MPa for compressive. Infrared analysis showed formation of geopolymer bonds even after the addition of beach sand. These findings offer a new potential for the use of beach sand in coastal areas as a local source of material for less demanding construction, such as seawalls.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work was carried out thanks to the support of the long-term project for the conceptual development of the research organization No. 67985891 (Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics, The Czech Academy of Sciences).
References
Abreu, R., C. Figueira, D. Romão, J. Brandão, M. C. Freitas, C. Andrade, G. Calado, C. Ferreira, A. Campos, and S. Prada. 2016. “Sediment characteristics and microbiological contamination of beach sand—A case-study in the archipelago of Madeira.” Sci. Total Environ. 573 (Dec): 627–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.160.
Alexander, M., and S. Mindess. 2010. Aggregates in concrete. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Alomayri, T., H. Assaedi, F. U. A. Shaikh, and I. M. Low. 2014. “Effect of water absorption on the mechanical properties of cotton fabric-reinforced geopolymer composites.” J. Asian Ceram. Soc. 2 (3): 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jascer.2014.05.005.
Chen, L., Z. Wang, Y. Wang, and J. Feng. 2016. “Preparation and properties of alkali activated metakaolin-based geopolymer.” Materials 9 (9): 767. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9090767.
Chen, X., S. Wu, and J. Zhou. 2013. “Influence of porosity on compressive and tensile strength of cement mortar.” Constr. Build. Mater. 40 (Mar): 869–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.11.072.
Haifeng, L., M. Jurong, W. Yiying, and N. Jianguo. 2017. “Influence of desert sand on the mechanical properties of concrete subjected to impact loading.” Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 30 (6): 583–595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.camss.2017.10.007.
Jau, C., J. C. Tan, and C. T. Yang. 2006. “Effect of sea sand on concrete durability and its management.” [In Chinese.] Supplement, J. Southeast Univ. 36 (S2): 160–166.
Ma, C. K., A. Z. Awang, and W. Omar. 2018. “Structural and material performance of geopolymer concrete: A review.” Constr. Build. Mater. 186 (Oct): 90–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.07.111.
Novotná, M., I. Perná, and T. Hanzlíček. 2020. “Review of possible fillers and additives for geopolymer materials.” Wasteforum 2: 78–89.
Perná, I., and T. Hanzlíček. 2016. “The setting time of a clay-slag geopolymer matrix: The influence of blast-furnace-slag addition and the mixing method.” J. Cleaner Prod. 112 (Part 1): 1150–1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.069.
Perná, I., T. Hanzlíček, P. Boura, and A. Lučaník. 2016. “The manufacture of the grinding wheels based on the Ca–K geopolymer matrix.” Mater. Manuf. Processes 31 (5): 667–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2015.1004709.
Perná, I., T. Hanzlíček, P. Boura, and A. Lučaník. 2017. “Application of a clay-slag geopolymer matrix for repairing damaged concrete: Laboratory and industrial-scale experiments.” Mater. Test. 59 (10): 929–937. https://doi.org/10.3139/120.111090.
Perná, I., M. Steinerová, T. Hanzlíček, and P. Straka. 2006. “Bonding agent on geopolymer basis.” In Proc., 1st Euromediterranean Symp. on Advances in Geomaterials and Structures, 773–777. Hammamet, Tunisia: Commission Universitaire pour le Developpement.
Perná, I., M. Šupová, T. Hanzlíček, and A. Špaldoňová. 2019. “The synthesis and characterization of geopolymers based on metakaolin and high LOI straw ash.” Constr. Build. Mater. 228 (Dec): 116765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116765.
Rees, C. A., J. L. Provis, G. C. Lukey, and J. S. van Deventer. 2007. “Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared analysis of fly ash geopolymer gel aging.” Langmuir 23 (15): 8170–8179. https://doi.org/10.1021/la700713g.
Singh, B., G. Ishwarya, M. Gupta, and S. K. Bhattacharyya. 2015. “Geopolymer concrete: A review of some recent developments.” Constr. Build. Mater. 85 (Jun): 78–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.03.036.
Siyal, A. A., M. R. Shamsuddin, M. I. Khan, N. E. Rabat, M. Zulfiqar, Z. Man, J. Siame, and K. A. Azizli. 2018. “A review on geopolymers as emerging materials for the adsorption of heavy metals and dyes.” J. Environ. Manage. 224 (Oct): 327–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.07.046.
Wu, Y., B. Lu, T. Bai, H. Wang, F. Du, Y. Zhang, L. Cai, C. Jiang, and W. Wang. 2019. “Geopolymer, green alkali activated cementitious material: Synthesis, applications and challenges.” Constr. Build. Mater. 224 (Nov): 930–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.112.
Xiao, J., C. Qiang, A. Nanni, and K. Zhang. 2017. “Use of sea-sand and seawater in concrete construction: Current status and future opportunities.” Constr. Build. Mater. 155 (Nov): 1101–1111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.08.130.
Zhang, P., Y. Zheng, K. Wang, and J. Zhang. 2018. “A review on properties of fresh and hardened geopolymer mortar.” Composites, Part B 152 (Nov): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.06.031.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 4 • April 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 29, 2020
Accepted: Aug 31, 2020
Published online: Jan 21, 2021
Published in print: Apr 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jun 21, 2021
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.