No abstract

Performance of drying shrinkage, flow rate, mechanical properties, and microstructure of three materials -alkali-activated fly ash (FA); ground granulated blast-furnaced slag (GGBFS); and un-densified micro-silica (M) are investigated. Mixtures used herein are referred to as AAM -alkali activated materialsof four types according to composition: AAM-IV, AAM-V, AAM-VI and AAM-VII (note: types 1 through 3 were investigated in previous research) with corresponding mixture FA, GGBFS and M ratios of 47.5/47.5/5, 45/45/10, 42.5/42.5/15, 40/40/20 by weight percentage. The AAM samples were air-cured under a sealed condition for 6 days followed by unsealed curing up to the test at 18-20° C and a low relative humidity of 30-50%. The samples AAM-IV through VII were composed of a progressive decrease of fly ash and GGBFS and an increase in M content. Results show that flow rate and compressive strength increased from AAM-IV to AAM-VI; contrarily, it decreased in AAM-VII. Both flexural strength -a positive aspect -and drying shrinkage -negative as it leads to cracking -increased in all samples. Incorporation of both GGBFS and M in alkaliactivated fly ash mortar was found to improve performance compared to that incorporated solely of GGBFS in alkali-activated fly ash. The incorporation of M of certain values improves strength and flowability of AAM; conversely, it results in a higher drying shrinkage value, which leads to increased cracking. SEM and XRD results confirm these results. Unreacted particles of AAM-VI and AAM-VII appear to act as a 'microaggregate,' resulting in increased compressive and flexural strength.

This paper presents some factors affecting geopolymerization of low calcium fly ash for geopolymeric matrices. Low calcium fly ash samples were collected from two different coal-powered facilities: an Indonesian fertilizer plant and a Japanese power plant. Several series of tests were conducted using various ratios of fly ash to activator as well as ratios of activators to sodium hydroxide molarity. Each matrix consisted of a set molar ratio of three variations of Si/Al (1.5, 2, 2.5), Na2O/SiO2 (0.3-0.38), H2O/SiO2 (2.8 to 3.5), H2O/Na2O (9 to 10.6), and mass ratio of water/solid (0.31 to 0.45). The setting time of Japanese ash-matrices were longer than Indonesian ash. The compressive strength revealed that the Japanese and Indonesian matrices with activator ratios of 1.5 achieved 47.7 and 57.5 MPa respectively, while activator ratios of 2.5 reached 50.9 and 50.5 MPa. In addition, microstructural characterizations-XRF, XRD, SEM, EPMA-were performed. This study concludes that even ashes categorized as the same class, their mineral composition is different. Furthermore, coal combustion techniques modify ash particles, which in turn causes differences in setting time, while strength is not significantly affected.

This paper investigates the effect of incorporation of lightweight aggregate and foam in the preparation of lightweight aggregate geopolymer concrete (LWAGC) and lightweight aggregate foamed geopolymer concrete (LWAFGC). The geopolymer paste was formed by alkali activation of Class F fly ash in mixture of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solution. LWAGC was incorporated with expanded clay lightweight aggregate and river sand while hydrogen peroxide was added as foaming agent for LWAFGC. Results showed that LWAGC and LWAFGC achieved an excellent 28-day compressive strength of 60 MPa and 20 MPa, respectively. The bulk densities were 1815 kg/m3 for LWAGC and 1593 kg/m3 for LWAFGC. Even so, low thermal conductivity of 0.12 W/mK and 0.09 W/mK were reported. It was concluded that the joint effect of lightweight aggregate and foam produced geopolymer concrete with good mechanical strength while having excellent thermal insulating properties. The geopolymer concretes possessed high strength-to-density ratio to be regarded as lightweight high-performance structures.

This research is to find out the contribution of waste energy utilization in Indonesia as a binding agent of alkali-activated mortar. In a previous study, researchers investigated mortar made from class F fly ash/GGBFS/micro-silica in Japan. The inclusion of GGBFS is to shorten/normalize the setting time and microsilica is to improve mortar performance. This research is then continued by using abundant waste material in Indonesia, namely class C fly ash, by making cubic mortar specimens. Setting time of class C fly ash paste from Indonesia is very fast, in contrast to that of class F fly ash paste from Japan. Sandblasting as abundant waste material in Indonesia is substituted to class C fly ash to lengthen the setting time of paste and to improve standard deviation of a compressive test of mortar specimens. On the other hand, the addition of sandblasting waste has a negative effect, because it reduces a compressive strength of mortar specimens.