• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.345-358
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• 2017

This paper describes the experimental investigation carried out to develop geopolymer concrete using rice husk ash (RHA) along with alccofine. The study reports the fresh and hardened properties of the geopolymer concrete (GPC) activated using alkaline solution. GPC were prepared using different RHA content (350, 375 and $400kg/m^3$), the molarity of the NaOH (8, 12 and 16M). The specimens were cured at $27^{\circ}C$ and $90^{\circ}C$. GPC was activated using NaOH, $Na_2SiO_3$, and alccofine. Prepared GPC samples were tested for compressive and splitting tensile strengths after 3, 7 and 28 days. RHA was suitable to produce geopolymer concrete. Results indicate that behavior of GPC prepared with RHA is similar to fly ash based GPC. Workability and strength can be improved by incorporating the alccofine. Further, alccofine and heat curing improve the early age properties of the GPC. Heat curing is responsible for the initial polymerization of GPC which leads to high workability and improved mechanical properties of the GPC. High strength can be achieved by using the high concentration alkaline solution in terms of molarity and at elevated heat curing. Further, RHA based geopolymer concrete has tremendous potential as a substitute for ordinary concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2017

Geopolymer concrete is environmentally friendly and could be considered as a construction material to promote the sustainable development. In this paper fly ash based geopolymer concretes with different percentages of alccofine were made by mixing sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate as an alkaline activator and cured at ambient as well as heat environment in an electric oven at $90^{\circ}C$. Effects of various parameters such as the percentage of alccofine, curing temperature, a period of curing, fly ash content, was studied on compressive strength as well as workability of geopolymer concrete. The study concludes that the presence of alccofine improves the properties of geopolymer concrete during a fresh and hardened state of concrete. Geopolymer concrete in the presence of alccofine can be used for the general purpose of concrete as required compressive strength can be achieved even at ambient temperature. The 28 days compressive strength of 73 MPa, when cured at 90-degree Celsius, confirmed that it is also very suitable for precast concrete components.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.683-688
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• 2017

This paper presents the experimental investigations on the compressive strength and permeation properties of geopolymer concrete prepared with low calcium fly ash as the primary binder activated with different percentage of Alccofine. The durability aspect was investigated by performing permeable voids and water absorption tests since permeability directly influences the durability properties. The test results show that Alccofine significantly improves the compressive strength and reduces the water permeability thus enhances the durability of geopolymer concrete at ambient curing regime which encourages the use of geopolymer concrete at ambient curing condition thus promising its use in general construction also.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.345-354
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• 2020

Cement is the most significant component in concrete. Large scale manufacturing of cement consumes more energy and release harmful products (Carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere that adversely affect the environment and depletes the natural resources. A lot of research is going on in globally concentrating on the recycling and reuse of waste materials from many industries. A major share of research is focused on finding cementitious materials alternatives to ordinary Portland cement. Many industrial waste by-products such as quartz powder, metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and fly ash etc. are under investigations for replacement of cement in concrete to minimize greenhouse gases and improve the sustainable construction. In current research, the effects of a new generation, ultra-fine material i.e., alccofine which is obtained from ground granulated blast furnace slag are studied as partial replacement by 25% and with varying amounts of sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde (i.e., 0.3%, 0.35% and 0.40%) on mechanical, water absorption, thermal and microstructural properties of concrete. The results showed moderate improvement in all concrete properties. Addition of SNF with combination of alccofine showed a significant enhancement in fresh, hardened properties and water absorption test as well as thermal and microstructural properties of concrete.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.345-353
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• 2018

This paper approaches to improve the mechanical and durability properties of low calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete with the addition of Alccofine as a mineral admixture. The mechanical and durability performance of GPC was assessed by means of compressive strength, flexural strength, permeability, water absorption and permeable voids tests. The correlation between compressive strength and flexural strength, depth of water penetration and percentage permeable voids are also reported. Test results show that addition of Alccofine significantly improves the mechanical as well as permeation properties of low calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete. Very good correlations were noted between the depth of water penetration and compressive strength, percentage permeable voids and compressive strength as well as between compressive strength and flexural strength.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.377-390
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• 2017

This study proposes a mix design method for geopolymer concrete (GPC) using low calcium fly ash and alccofine, with the focus on achieving the required compressive strength and workability at heat and ambient curing. Key factors identified and nine mixes with varied fly ash content (350, 375 and $400kg/m^3$) and different molarity (8, 12 and 16M) of NaOH solutions were prepared. The cubes prepared were cured at different temperatures ($27^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$ and $90^{\circ}C$) and tested for its compressive strength after 3, 7 and 28 days of curing. Fly ash content has been considered as the direct measure of workability and strength. The suggested mix design approach has been verified with the help of the example and targets well the requirements of fresh and hardened concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2019

The possibility of using a combination of mineral admixtures as a replacement for cement may reduce the $CO_2$ emission which causes global warming and climatic changes on the environment. By using the combination of different byproducts from various industries, for replacing cement in concrete leads to saving in energy and natural resources. In this article, an attempt has been made to study the mechanical and water absorption properties of concrete incorporated with combination of Fly ash (FA), Alccofine (ALC) and Collodial Nano Silica (CNS) at 7, 28 and 56 days curing period. Cement has been partially replaced by combination of FA at 25%, ALC at 10% and CNS at 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3% with water cement ratio of 0.43. The result indicates that the incorporation of combination of FA, ALC and CNS can be very effective in improvement of mechanical and water absorption properties of concrete. The Mix with a combination of 25% FA, 10% ALC and 1% CNS is most effective in improvement of mechanical and water absorption properties as compared with all other mixes.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.231-239
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• 2019

The present study deals with the development of metakaolin-based geopolymer concrete (GPC) and thereafter studying the effects of adding ultra-fine slag on its mechanical and permeability characteristics. The mechanical characteristics including compressive, split tensile, flexural strengths and elastic modulus were studied. In addition, permeability characteristics including water absorption, porosity, sorptivity and chloride permeability were studied up to 90 days. The results showed the effective utilization of metakaolin for the development of elevated temperature cured geopolymer concrete having high 3-day compressive strength of 42.6 MPa. The addition of ultra-fine slag up to 15%, as partial replacement of metakaolin resulted in an increase in strength characteristics. Similar improvement in durability properties was also observed with the inclusion of ultra-fine slag up to 15%. Beyond this optimum content of 15%, further increase in ultra-fine slag content affected the mechanical as well as permeability parameters in a negative way. In addition, the relationship between various properties of GPC was also derived.