Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Lithium-Based Geopolymer Composites Reinforced with Basalt Fibers

Received 29 Jul 2012 Accepted 24 Dec 2012 Available online 20 November 2013 Recently, geopolymer binders have been considered because of low cost, simple processes for synthesis and many raw materials in nature. Geopolymer with brittle nature does not have high strength and cannot be used alone for structural materials. Therefore, to use in different structures, the composite which is reinforced with fibers such as carbon, glass, basalt, etc hasbeen used. In this research, influence of different parameters such as firing temperature and weight fraction of continuous basalt fiber on strength of lithium-based geopolmer composites reinforced by basalt fibers was studied. Firstly, raw materials for geopolymer preparation were calcined. Then, geopolymer matrix with specific molar ratio was made with three different weight percent of basalt fiber. The Molds were put in an oven and after that the composites were taken out of the molds. Then the samples were cured at three different temperatures. After heat treatment, C-MOR of composites was tested and flexural strength and fracture energy for different samples were calculated. The results showed that basalt fiber composites at 200 C had high strength, but by increasing temperature the strength decreased. Also, Fracture energy of composites at 200 C was higher than other temperatures. Keywords