MATERIALS

GENERAL

As efforts are undertaken all over the world to bring up a green and eco-friendly earth,
construction sector which is a prime contributor to any nation's GDP should also do their part
towards such a cause. It will never be possible unless the materials put into use are produced
in the most efficient ecofriendly manner. Cement is one major material made use in the
construction sector. For conventionally used cement, the principle raw material used is
limestone. The mining of limestone has a huge impact on land use pattern, ambient air quality
etc, and stays as a hindrance to the construction industry. Another main issue is the dust
emissions produced during cement manufacture because the industry holds the usage of many
dry materials. Even though only small amount of theses dust particles is lost to atmosphere
this produces huge havoc to the environment, also the emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2) in
higher amount which contributes to about 8% of total carbon dioxide emission is another
drawback of cement industries. Even though the cement industry has been working hard to
reduce the carbon dioxide emission, the improvement is limited because of its basic process
of calcination which is unavoidable. The cement industry cannot be considered sustainable
because it uses raw material and energy that are non-renewable and the materials extracted by
mining cannot be recycled. So, for a sustainable and eco-friendly environment there is a need
to introduce more green materials instead of cement to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide
and to protect the limited natural resources available on the earth. On the other hand,
abundance of industrial solid waste like as fly ash, slag and rice husk ash are available on the
earth. From the industrial production, around 200 million tons of fly ash is produced annually
in the thermal power plant and 20 million tons of slag is produced annually in steel
manufacturing plants in India: Fly ash and slag are industrial by-products which are dumped
into the cultivated lands before proper treatment and in turn contributes to environment
pollution. Through proper waste management by utilizing the by-products from these
industries the energy production can be considerably reduced and thereby reduces the
greenhouse emissions, cost of materials etc. Geopolymer concrete (GPC) which is made by
incorporating industrial by-products rich in alumina and silica along with an alkali activator
which are sodium hydroxide-sodium silicate solution and potassium hydroxide-potassium
silicates serves as a better option to Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and makes way to
greener environment.
MATERIALS

Fly ash

Fly ash or flue ash, or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), is a coal combustion product that is
composed of the particulates (fine particles of burned fuel) that are driven out of coal-fired
boilers together with the flue gases. In modern coal-fired power plants, fly ash is generally
captured by electrostatic precipitators or other particle filtration equipment before the flue
gases reach the chimneys. Together with bottom ash removed from the bottom of the boiler, it
is known as coal ash. Depending upon the source and composition of the coal being burned,
the components of fly ash vary considerably, but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of
silicon dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous and crystalline), aluminium oxide (Al 2O3) and
calcium oxide (CaO), the main mineral compounds in coal-bearing rock strata. In the case
that fly (or bottom) ash is not produced from coal, for example when solid waste is
incinerated in a waste-to-energy facility to produce electricity, the ash may contain higher
levels of contaminants than coal ash. In that case the ash produced is often classified as
hazardous waste.

In the past, fly ash was generally released into the atmosphere, but air pollution control
standards now require that it be captured prior to release by fitting pollution control
equipment. About 43% is recycled, often used as a pozzolan to produce hydraulic cement or
hydraulic plaster and a replacement or partial replacement for Portland cement in concrete
production. Pozzolans ensure the setting of concrete and plaster and provide concrete with
more protection from wet conditions and chemical attack.

Two classes of fly ash are defined by ASTM C618: Class F fly ash and Class C fly ash. The
chief difference between these classes is the amount of calcium, silica, alumina, and iron
content in the ash. The chemical properties of the fly ash are largely influenced by the
chemical content of the coal burned (i.e., anthracite, bituminous, and lignite)

Class F fly ash: The burning of harder, older anthracite and bituminous coal typically
produces Class F fly ash. This fly ash is pozzolanic in nature, and contains less than 7% lime
(CaO). Possessing pozzolanic properties, Class F fly ash requires a cementing agent,
such as Portland cement, quicklime, or hydrated lime, mixed with water to react and produce
cementitious compounds.
Class C fly ash: Fly ash produced from the burning of younger lignite or sub-bituminous coal,
in addition to having pozzolanic properties, also has some self-cementing properties. In the
presence of water. Class C fly ash hardens and gets stronger over time. Class C fly ash
generally contains more than 20% lime (CaO). Unlike Class F, self-cementing Class C fly ash
does not require an activator. While producing geopolymer, fly ash is the most commonly
used alumina-silicate rich source material and this enables an efficient reuse of a major
pollution causing industrial byproduct

Fly ash, especially class F fly ash, is effective in mainly three ways for reducing alkali-silica
expansion i.e.,

 It produces a denser, less permeable concrete

 When used as a cement replacement it reduces total alkali content by reducing the
Portland cement.
 Alkalis react with fly ash instead of reactive silica aggregates.

Class F fly ashes are probably more effective than Class C fly ashes because of their higher
silica content, which can react with alkalis more efficiently. To get a better understanding of
the physical nature of class f fly ash (Fig X1) and for formulation of mix design its specific
gravity will be checked using Le-Chatlier's flask (Fig X 2). The dataset used for this study are
from various journals which all made use of class f fly ash obtained from various source
whose standards conform to ASTM C618-33512.

Fig X1: Fly ash

 Fig X2: Le Chatelier Flask

Fine Aggregate

Fine aggregate is one of the major constituents of concrete which can influence concrete mix
design substantially. Various factors such as fine aggregate fineness modulus, moisture
content, specific gravity, and silt content affect the mix proportions of concrete. Fineness
modulus specifies how much fine aggregate is required in a given mix design.

The roles of fine aggregates are:

 This provides dimensional stability to the mixture.

 Influences the elastic modulus and abrasion resistance of concrete.
 The quality of fine aggregates also influences the mix proportioning and hardening
properties.
 Has significant impact on shrinkage of concrete.

Hence it is important that fine aggregate properties are well studied prior to mix design
formulations and further analysis.

Fine aggregate moisture content influences the mix proportion substantially. It specifies the
amount of water that may be added to subtracted to the mixture. Mix design of concrete
cannot be carried out without specific gravity of fine aggregate, and higher specific gravity
produced stronger concrete. Finally, the presence of silt in sand would increase water demand
in concrete mixture and may reduce concrete strength.
Particle size distribution can be found out by sieve analysis as shown in Fig X 3 and this
results in production of a gradation curve. For analysing further physical properties like
specific gravity and water absorption we make use of a pycnometer as in Fig X4. For the
works considered in this study M-sand confirming to ASTM standards were
used by the authors.

Fig X3: Sieve analysis Fig X4: Pycnometer

Coarse Aggregate

Coarse aggregate is one of the essential components of concrete and occupies the largest
volume in the mix. That is why it greatly affects the concrete mix design. Its properties such
as strength, maximum size, shape, and water absorption influence water demand, the quantity
of cement and fine aggregate in concrete mixture.

It is reported that, high maximum coarse aggregate size leads to lower water demand in the
mixture since such aggregate has lower surface area compare with small coarse aggregate
size. As far as shape is concerned, rounded shape aggregate provides economical mix design
for normal strength concrete. However, angular coarse aggregate is desired in the case of high
strength concrete. This possibility of segregation is minimized if coarser aggregate is properly
graded. This explains how important is good grading for concrete mix design. As far as
strength is concerned, higher aggregate strength would produce higher concrete strength
provided that other controlling factors have been dealt with properly.

The roles of coarse aggregates are:

 It makes a solid and hard mass of concrete with cement and sand.
  Provides bulk to the concrete.
 Increases the crushing strength of concrete.
 Reduces the cost of concrete by using cheaper material

For understanding coarse aggregate gradation sieve analysis maybe carried out according to
the respective standards using sieves as shown in Fig X 5. Also the specific gravity is found
using the setup as shown in Fig X6. The literatures used for the dataset of this work used
locally crushed 10mm-20mm size aggregates conforming to the standards
mentioned in ASTM.

Fig X 5: Sieve analysis Fig X 6: Specific gravity of coarse

aggregate

Alkaline Reagent

Sodium Hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide is an alkali which is also known as caustic soda having chemical formula
NaOH. Caustic means burning and caustic soda have its name because of the way it can burn
the skin. As a solid, the alkali is deliquescent and readily absorb moisture and carbon dioxide
from the air. It easily dissolves easily in water, and makes the water warm when this happens.
Sodium hydroxide. which is the by-product of chlorine production and stands third in tonnage
production and also used in various industries.

The main alkali activators used in the synthesis of geopolymer concrete are potassium
hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. It is the most commonly used alkali activator for GPC
manufacture as it has higher capacity to liberate silicate and aluminate monomers. The
difference between potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is due to the
ionic size where Na+ is having smaller ionic size as compared to K +, Due to this, Na+ will be
more reactive than K+ and thus will enhance the dissolution process of aluminosilicate
minerals. These are available as pellets (Fig X 7) which will be diluted in water as per
requirement to produce an NaOH solution of required molarity. This paper considers a
number of molarities…………

Fig X7: Sodium Hydroxide Pellets Fig X8: Sodium Hydroxide bottle

Sodium silicate

Sodium silicates are colourless glassy or crystalline solids, or white powders which are stable
in neutral and alkaline solutions and has the chemical formula Na 2SiO3. In acidic solutions,
the silicate ions react with hydrogen ions to form silicic acids which tend to decompose into
hydrated silicon dioxide gel. Sodium silicate in liquid form under acidic conditions reacts to
form a hard glassy gel and because of this property this act as a bonding agent in cemented
and non-cemented products like concrete and abrasive wheels. It is also an excellent adhesive
for glass or porcelain. Sodium or potassium hydroxide along with corresponding silicate
solution forms the alkali activator solution. The sodium silicate may be available as gel (Fig
X9) or in liquid form.

One important factor that determines the quality of sodium silicate to be purchased is the
alkaline modulus also called Silica Modulus. It is the ratio of Na 2O:SiO2; and is a pointer to
the chemical composition of the silicate solution used. This normally varies from 1.3 to 2.
Generally, for geopolymer concrete manufacture Na 2SiO3 in liquid form is purchased
and combined with sodium hydroxide solution in required ratio by mass.

Fig X9: Sodium silicate gel

Bauxite

Bauxite is a sedimentary rock that is the primary source of aluminium. It is composed of a

mixture of aluminium oxides and hydroxides, with varying amounts of iron oxides, titanium
oxides, and silica. Bauxite is a valuable mineral resource that is used in a variety of
applications, including the production of aluminium, alumina, and cement.

Bauxite can be used in geopolymer concrete as a source of aluminosilicate material. Bauxite

is a highly reactive material that can form strong bonds with the alkaline activator solution,
resulting in a geopolymer concrete with high strength and durability. Additionally, bauxite
can help to improve the workability and flowability of geopolymer concrete.