Strength and durability of geopolymer concrete made with low calcium fly ash and metakaolin

The use of Portland cement in concrete construction is under critical review due to the high amount of carbon dioxide gas released into the atmosphere during the production of cement. From few years, attempts to increase the utilization of fly ash to partially replace the use of Portland cement in concrete are gathering momentum. Geopolymer concrete is a ‘new’ material that does not need the presence of Portland cement as a binder. Instead, the source of materials such as fly ash, metakaolin that are rich in Silicon (Si) and Aluminium (Al) are activated by alkaline liquids to produce the binder. Hence concrete with no Portland cement. This study reports the details of the development of the process of making low calcium based fly ash and Metakaolin-based geopolymer concrete in the present experimental study, attempts are made to study on the various strength properties like compressive strength, split tensile strength, an also durability properties like Acid attack term durability properties of Geopolymer concrete. Experiments were conducted on Geopolymer Concrete with different percentages of metakaolin and molarity of alkaline activator. Studies were made of residual compressive strength, weight loss and Ultrasonic pulse velocity of Geopolymer Concrete mixes. It was observed that as the addition of Metakaolin to control the concrete mix of fly ash increases, the workability of concrete.