• 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.494-498
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• 2012

Geopolymer cements and geopolymer resins are newly advanced mineral binders that are used in order to reduce the carbon dioxide generation that accompanies cement production. The effect of additives on the compressive strength of geopolymerized class-F fly ash was investigated. Blast furnace slag, calcium hydroxide($Ca(OH)_2$), and silica fume powders were added to fly ash. A geopolymeric reaction was initiated by adding a solution of water glass and sodium hydroxide(NaOH) to the powder mixtures. The compressive strength of pure fly ash cured at room temperature for 28 days was found to be as low as 291 $kgf/cm^{-2}$, which was not a suitable value for use in engineering materials. On the contrary, addition of 20 wt% and 40 wt% of blast furnace slag powders to fly ash increased the compressive strength to 458 $kgf/cm^{-2}$ and 750 $kgf/cm^{-2}$, respectively. 5 wt% addition of $Ca(OH)_2$ increased the compressive strength up to 640 $kgf/cm^{-2}$; further addition of $Ca(OH)_2$ further increased the compressive strength. When 2 wt% of silica fume was added, the compressive strength increased to 577 $kgf/cm^{-2}$; the maximum strength was obtained at 6 wt% addition of silica fume. It was confirmed that the addition of CaO and $SiO_2$ to the fly ash powders was effective at increasing the compressive strength of geopolymerized fly ash.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.345-362
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• 2018

In this paper, mechanical and short-term durability properties of fly ash and slag based geopolymer concretes (FAGPC-SGPC) were investigated. The alkaline solution was prepared with a mixture of sodium silicate solution ($Na_2SiO_3$) and sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) for geopolymer concretes. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete was also produced for comparison. Main objective of the study was to examine the usability of geopolymer concretes instead of the ordinary Portland cement concrete for structural use. In addition to this, this study was aimed to make a contribution to standardization process of the geopolymer concretes in the construction industry. For this purpose; SGPC, FAGPC and OPC specimens were exposed to sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$), magnesium sulfate ($MgSO_4$) and sea water (NaCl) solutions with concentrations of 5%, 5% and 3.5%, respectively. Visual inspection and weight change of the specimens were evaluated in terms of durability aspects. For the mechanical aspects; compression, splitting tensile and flexural strength tests were conducted before and after the chemical attacks to investigate the residual mechanical strengths of geopolymer concretes under chemical attacks. Results indicated that SGPC (100% slag) is stronger and durable than the FAGPC due to more stable and strong cross-linked alumina-silicate polymer structure. In addition, FAGPC specimens (100% fly ash) showed better durability resistance than the OPC specimens. However, FAGPC specimens (100% fly ash) demonstrated lower mechanical performance as compared to OPC specimens due to low reactivity of fly ash particles, low amount of calcium and more porous structure. Among the chemical environments, sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) was most dangerous environment for all concrete types.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.661-666
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• 2006

The compressive strength of a paste composed of a low-calcium Class F fly ash and alkaline activator solutions was investigated. These activator solutions, made with sodium hydroxide, water glass and water, have a very high $OH^-$ concentration. The composition of alkaline activator solution and temperature have been shown to notably influence the development of the compressive strength of the fly ash-cements paste. Compressive strength of 50 MPa could be achieved by curing of the fly ash at $60^{\circ}C$ for 48 hrs or $85^{\circ}C$ for 24 hrs. This study presented the optimum mixing ratio of Class F fly ash/sodium hydroxide/water glass as 25:8:2 in weight basis, and activator/fly ash as 0.6/1.0 for high strength paste.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.374-381
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• 2015

This study is investigating the fire resistant finishing materials composed of fly ash and glass forming light weight aggregate has the high temperature thermal stability. High temperatures such as a fire, cementitious materials beget dehydration and micro crack of cement matrix. From the test result, developed fire resistant finishing materials showed good stability in high temperatures. These high temperature stability is caused by the ceramic binding and low thermal conductivity of glass forming light weight aggregate. Also, alkali activation reaction of fly ash and meta kaolin not showing the decomposition of calcium hydrates. Thus, this result indicates that it is possible to fire resistant finishing light weight mortars.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1701-1708
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• 2007

Seed pelleting is generally conducted in order to save the labor for sowing and thinning by enabling the precision mechanical planting. In the present study, the influence of physical and chemical properties of pelleting solid materials was investigated on carrot seed germination. Among the pelleting solid materials evaluated, dialite, kaolin, and talc showed low bulk density and high porosity. Bentonite and dialite carried high water holding capacities of 184% and 173%, respectively, while calcium carbonate, calcium oxide, and fly ash showed relatively low water holding capacity. The pH of kaolin (6.8) and dialite (7.4) were close to neutral, while limestone (12.8), calcium oxide (13.0), and bentonite (10.0) were highly basic. High electro-conductivity was shown in limestone and calcium oxide. EDS analysis revealed that the main elemental compositions of talc were Si (71.0%) and Mg (29.0%), and those of calcium carbonate were Ca (66.6%), Si (22.9%), and Mg (10.5%). High granulation capacity was observed from talc and the mixture of talc and calcium carbonate. Seeds pelleted with bentonite showed the highest hardness. The dissolving type of the pellet layer after imbibition was split type in talc, limestone, zeolite, and fly ash, melt type in calcium carbonate and calcium oxide, and swell type in bentonite and vermiculite. The shortest dissolving time of pellet layer was observed from calcium carbonate and kaolin. The germination speed $(T_{50})$ was delayed as the size of pelleted seeds increased. The optimum size of pelleting was 19 ratio in carrot.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.229-240
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• 1987

Carbonation of concrete is one type of a chemical process. The reaction mechanism is very complex for the case when low-calcium fly ash and blast furnace slag is added. When fly ash and blast furnace slag is used as an admixture in concrete, they improve compressive strength in the long term, permeability and chemical resistance of concrete by a pozzolanic reaction and latent hydraulic property. On the other hand, the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash and latent hydraulic property of the blast furance slag leads to a reduction of the alkalinity of the concrete. It has been pointed out that this will accelerate the carbonation of the concrete and the corrosion of reinforcement steel embedded in the concrete. In order to clarify the effect of fly ash and blast furance slag on the carbonation of concrete, an accelerated carbonation testing of concrete was carried out by varying the conditions of concrete and the initial curing period in water. The test results of accelerated carbonation were compared to the carbonation test results of concrete stored for 15 years in open air, but protected from rain. As a result, the equation for the rate of carbonation based on compressive strength of concrete was proposed.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.4
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• pp.335-347
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• 2024

This study pioneers the exploration of creep and shrinkage behavior in ambient-cured geopolymer concrete (GPC), a vital yet under-researched area in concrete technology. Focusing on the influence of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution concentration, the research utilizes low calcium fly ash (Class-F) and alkaline solutions to prepare two sets of GPC. The results show distinct patterns in compressive strength development and dry shrinkage reduction, with a 14 M NaOH solution demonstrating a 26.5% lower dry shrinkage than the 16 M solution. The creep behavior indicated a high initial strain within the first 7 days, significantly influenced by curing conditions and NaOH concentration. This study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing a deeper understanding of the time-dependent properties of GPC, which is crucial for optimizing its performance in structural applications.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.213-228
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• 2014

Alkali-activated binder (AAB) is recently being considered as a sustainable alternative to portland cement (PC) due to its low carbon dioxide emission and diversion of industrial wastes and by-products such as fly ash and slag from landfills. In order to comprehend the behavior of AAB, detailed knowledge on relations between microstructure and mechanical properties are important. To address the issue, a new approach to characterize hardened pastes of AAB containing fly ash as well as those containing fly ash and slag was adopted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectra microanalyses. The volume stoichiometries of the alkali activation reactions were used to estimate the quantities of the sodium aluminosilicate (N-A-S-H) and calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) produced by these reactions. The 3D plots of Si/Al, Na/Al and Ca/Si atom ratios given by the microanalyses were compared with the estimated quantities of CSH(S) to successfully determine the unique chemical compositions of the N-A-S-H and CSH(S) for ten different AAB at three different curing temperatures using a constrained nonlinear least squares optimization formulation by general algebraic modeling system. The results show that the theoretical and experimental quantities of N-A-S-H and CSH(S) were in close agreement with each other. The $R^2$ values were 0.99 for both alkali-activated fly ash and alkali-activated slag binders.