• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.319-332
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• 2021

The performance of gene expression programming (GEP) in predicting the compressive strength of bacteria-incorporated geopolymer concrete (GPC) was examined in this study. Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), new bacterial strains, fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), metakaolin (MK), and manufactured sand were used as ingredients in the concrete mixture. For the geopolymer preparation, an 8 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution was used, and the ambient curing temperature (28℃) was maintained for all mixtures. The ratio of sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) to NaOH was 2.33, and the ratio of alkaline liquid to binder was 0.35. Based on experimental data collected from the literature, an evolutionary-based algorithm (GEP) was proposed to develop new predictive models for estimating the compressive strength of GPC containing bacteria. Data were classified into training and testing sets to obtain a closed-form solution using GEP. Independent variables for the model were the constituent materials of GPC, such as FA, MK, SF, and Bacillus bacteria. A total of six GEP formulations were developed for predicting the compressive strength of bacteria-incorporated GPC obtained at 1, 3, 7, 28, 56, and 90 days of curing. 80% and 20% of the data were used for training and testing the models, respectively. R2 values in the range of 0.9747 and 0.9950 (including train and test dataset) were obtained for the concrete samples, which showed that GEP can be used to predict the compressive strength of GPC containing bacteria with minimal error. Moreover, the GEP models were in good agreement with the experimental datasets and were robust and reliable. The models developed could serve as a tool for concrete constructors using geopolymers within the framework of this research.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2013

The present study tested 5 concrete mixes to develop reliable mixing proportions for the sustainable alkali-activated(AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for the floor heating system of buildings. The AA binder used was composed of 73.5% ground granulated blast-furnace slag, 15% fly ash, 5% calcium hydroxide, and 6.5% sodium silicate. As a main variable, the unit binder content varied from $325kg/m^3$ to $425kg/m^3$ at a space of $25kg/m^3$. The test results revealed that AA foamed concrete has considerable potential for practical applications when the unit binder content is close to $375kg/m^3$, which achieves the minimum quality requirements specified in KS F 4039 and ensures economic efficiency. In addition, lifecycle assessment demonstrated the reduction in the environmental impact profiles of all specimens relative to typical ordinary portland cement foamed concrete as follows: 99% for photochemical oxidation potential, 87~89% for global warming potential, 78~82% for abiotic depletion, and 70~75% for both acidification potential and human toxicity.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.487-494
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• 2011

In this research, the possibility of using bottom ash as a binder for the alkali-activated cement mortar is studied. Several experiments were performed to investigate the variation of the material properties according to the mix proportion. In the experimental program, the flowability and compressive strength were evaluated for various values of water/ash ratio, activator/ash ratio, sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio, curing temperature, and the fineness of bottom ash as the main variables. The experimental results showed that high strength of 40 MPa or greater could be achieved in $60^{\circ}C$ high temperature curing condition with proper flowability. For $20^{\circ}C$ ambient temperature curing, the 28 days compressive strength of approximately 30MPa could be obtained although the early-age strength development was very slow. Based on the results, the range of optimized mix design of bottom-ash based alkali-activated cement mortar was suggested. In addition, using the artificial neural network analysis, the flowability and compressive strength were predicted with the difference in the mix proportion of the bottom-ash based alkali-activated cement mortar.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.75-84
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• 2016

This paper presents an investigation of the mechanical properties on non-sintered cement pastes immersed in sea waters at three different temperatures. The non-sintered cement pastes were synthesized using blended binder(Class F fly ash; FA and ground granulated blast furnace slag; GGBFS) and alkali activator(sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate). Binders were prepared by mixing the FA and GGBFS in different blend weight ratios of 6:4, 7:3 and 8:2. The alkali activators were used 5wt% of blended binder, respectively. Calcium carbonate was used as an chemical additive. The compressive strength, bulk density and absorption of alkali-activated FA-GGBFS blends pastes were measured at 3 and 28 days after immersed in sea waters at three different temperatures($5^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$). The XRD and SEM tests of the pastes were conducted at 28 days. Water-soluble chloride(free chloride) and acid-soluble chloride(total chloride) contents in the pastes were also measured after 28 days immersion in sea water. The experimental results showed that increasing the content of FA in alkali-activated FA-GGBFS blends pastes immersed in sea water increases the absorption, water-soluble chloride content and acid-soluble chloride content, and reduces the compressive strength and bulk density. And it was found that there was a variation of strength change for the alkali-activated FA-GGBFS blends pastes immersed in sea waters at three different temperatures that depends on the blending ratio of FA and GGBFS.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to identify the possibility of developing the 100% Recycled-resources Absorbent-Pervious Alkali-activated Blocks using both the alkalli-binder and the recycled aggregate. In addition, It established a test method such as Void ratio, compressive strength, coefficient permeability, absorption, and evaporation. As a result, an alkali-activated using recycled aggregate block was able to manufacture an 24 MPa class absorbent-pervious blocks with a liquid type sodium silicate and early high temperature curing. In this case, water-holding capacity, absorption and relative absorption were more effective than the natural aggregates. In conclusion, Absorbent-pervious alkali-activated Block Using recycled aggregate has a surface temperature reducing effect of approximately 10 % compared to ordinary concrete block.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2008

Twelve mortars were mixed and tested to explore the effect of gypsum on the compressive strength development and shrinkage strain of alkali-activated mortars. Powder typed sodium silicate and ground granulated blast-furnace slag were employed as alkaline activator and source material, respectively, to produce cementless mortar. The main variables investigated were alkali quality coefficient combining the concentration of activator and main compositions in source material, and the adding amount of gypsum ranged between 1 and 5% with respect to the weight of binder. Initial flow, compressive strength development, modulus of rupture, and shrinkage strain behavior of mortar specimens were measured. In addition, the hydration production of alkali-activated pastes with gypsum was traced using X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis combined with scanning electron microscope image. Test results showed that the initial flow of slag-based alkali-activated mortar was little influenced by the adding amount of gypsum. On the other hand, the effect of gypsum on the compressive strength of mortar specimens was dependent on the alkali quality coefficient, indicating that the compressive strength increased with the increase of the adding amount of gypsum until a certain limit, beyond which the strength decreased slowly. Shrinkage strain of mortar tested was little influenced by the adding amount of gypsum because no ettringite as hydration product was generated. However, the adding of gypsum had a beneficial effect on reducing the microcrack in the alkali-activated mortar.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

The present study proposes the modified-stoichiometric model for describing hydration of sodium silicate-based alkaliactivated slag(AAS), and compares the results with the thermodynamic modelling-based calculations. The proposed model is based on Chen and Brouwers(2007a) model with updated database as reported in recent studies. In addition, the calculated results for AAS are compared to those for hydrated portland cement. The maximum difference between the proposed model and the thermodynamic calculation for AAS was at most 20%, and the effects of water-to-binder ratio and activator dosages were identically described by both approaches. In particular, the amount of non-evaporable water was within 10% difference, and was in excellent agreement with the experimental results. Nevertheless, notable deviation was observed for the chemical shrinkage, which is largely dependent on the volume of hydrates and pores.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.119-126
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• 2012

Portland cement production-1.5billion tonnes yearly worldwide-contributes substantially to global atmospheric pollution(7% of total of $CO_2$ emissions). Attempts to increase the utilization of fly ash, by-products from thermal power plant to partially replace the cement in concrete are gathering momentum. But most of fly ash is currently dumped in landfills, thus creating a threat to the environment. Many researches on alkali-activated concrete that does not need the presence of cement as a binder have been carried out recently. Instead, the sources of material such as fly ash, that are rich in Silicon(Si) and Aluminium(Al), are activated by alkaline liquids to produce the binder. Hence concrete with no cement is effect reduction of $CO_2$ gas. In this study, we investigated the influence of the compressive strength of mortar on alkaline activator and curing condition in oder to develop cementless fly ash based alkali-activated concrete. In view of the results, we found out that it was possible for us to make alkali-activated mortar with 70MPa at the age of 28days by using alkaline activator manufactured as 1:1 the mass ratio of 9M NaOH and sodium silicate and applying the atmospheric curing after high temperature at $60^{\circ}C$ for 48hours.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.74-82
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• 2017

This research presents the results of the strength and drying shrinkage properties to study the effect of ground granulated blast furnace slag(GGBFS), fly ash(FA) and calcium sulfoaluminate(CSA) for activated ternary blended slag cement. The activated ternary blended cement(ATBC) mortar were prepared having a constant water-cementitious materials ratios of 0.4. The GGBFS contents ratios of 100%, 80%, 70% and 60%, FA replacement ratios of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%, CSA ratios of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% were designed. The superplasticizer of polycarboxylate type were used. The activator was used of 10% sodium hydroxide(NaOH) + 10% sodium silicate($Na_2SiO_3$) by weight of binder. Test were conducted for mini slump, setting time, V-funnel, water absorption, compressive strength and drying shrinkage. According to the experimental results, the contents of superplasticizer, V-funnel and compressive strength increases with an increase in CSA contents for all mixtures. Moreover, the setting time, water absorption ratios and drying shrinkage ratio decrease with and increase in CSA. One of the major reason for the increase of strength and decrease of drying shrinkage is the accelerated reactivity of GGBFS with alkali activator and CSA. The CSA contents is the main parameter to explain the strength development and decreased drying shrinkage in the ATBC.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.114-121
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• 2010

Portland cement production is under critical review due to high amount of CO2 gas released to the atmosphere. Attempts to increase the utilization of a by-products such as fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag to partially replace the cement in concrete are gathering momentum. But most of by-products is currently dumped in landfills, thus creating a threat to the environment. Many researches on alkali-activated concrete that does not need the presence of cement as a binder have been carried out recently. However, most study deal only with alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag or fly ash, as for the combined use of the both, little information is reported. In this study, we investigated the influence of mixture ratio of fly ash/ blast furnace slag tand curing condition on the flowability and compressive strength of mortar in oder to develop cementless alkali-activated concrete. In view of the results, we found out that the mixture ratio of fly ash/blast furnace slag always results to be significant factors. But the influence of curing temperature in the strength development of mortar is lower than the contribution due to other factors. At the age of 28days, the mixture 50% fly ash and 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag activated with 1:1 the mass ratio of 9M NaOH and sodium silicate, develop compressive strength of about 65 MPa under $20^{\circ}C$ curing.