Abstract
This paper presents a parametric sensitivity analysis of High-strength Self-compacting Alkali-Activated Slag Concrete (HSAASC) for enhanced microstructural and mechanical properties by replacing fine aggregates with blast furnace slag. Taguchi’s method of Experimental Design was employed to enhance the efficiency of experimental investigation by optimising the total number of experiments conducted. Based on this technique, nine mixes of HSAASC (known as calibration mixes) were designed to conduct detailed experiments. Regression models were formulated to forecast the mechanical characteristics of HSAASC mixes. The correctness of the proposed equations was subsequently validated through a comparative analysis between their projected outcomes and the experimental results obtained from six additional randomly chosen HSAASC mixes (called verification mixes). The findings of this paper reveal that the HSAASC mix labelled as CMIX-7, which contains a binder content of 800 kg/m3, a water-to-binder ratio (w/b) of 0.40, a Na2O percentage of 7.0, and an activation modulus of 1.2, demonstrates greater compressive strength (after 28 days), modulus of elasticity, split tensile strength, and flexural strength, measuring 68.22 MPa, 32,882 MPa, 5.73 MPa, and 8.18 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, it demonstrated enhanced resistance to water absorption and chloride ions penetration compared to the other HSAASC mixes. The mechanical strengths of the HSAASC mix after 28 days are primarily influenced by the percentage of Na2O, followed by binder content, activator modulus, and w/b ratio. Microstructural analysis of HSAASC mixes has highlighted the amorphous morphology and the impact of key parameters on hydration products.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al Makhadmeh W, Soliman A (2020) Effect of activator nature on property development of alkali-activated slag binders. J Sustain Cem Mater 10:240–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/21650373.2020.1833256
American Society for Testing and Materials (1997) Standard test method for density, absorption, and voids in hardened concrete C642-97. ASTM International, 1–3
ASTM C1202 (2012) Standard test method for electrical indication of concrete’s ability to resist chloride ion penetration. American Society for Testing and Materials, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1520/C1202-12.2
Awoyera P, Adesina A (2019) A critical review on application of alkali activated slag as a sustainable composite binder. Case Stud Constr Mater 11:e00268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2019.e00268
Bakharev T, Sanjayan JG, Cheng YB (2002) Sulfate attack on alkali-activated slag concrete. Cem Concr Res 32:211–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(01)00659-7
Behfarnia K, Rostami M (2017) Effects of micro and nanoparticles of SiO2 on the permeability of alkali activated slag concrete. Constr Build Mater 131:205–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.11.070
Bernal SA, Mejía De Gutiérrez R, Pedraza AL, Provis JL, Rodriguez ED, Delvasto S (2011) Effect of binder content on the performance of alkali-activated slag concretes. Cem Concr Res 41:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEMCONRES.2010.08.017
Bhavsar J, Panchal VR (2023) Strength and durability evaluation of multi-binder geopolymer concrete in ambient condition. KSCE J Civ Eng 27:1708–1719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-023-1072-2
Bilim C, Karahan O, Atiş CD, İlkentapar S (2015) Effects of chemical admixtures and curing conditions on some properties of alkali-activated cementless slag mixtures. KSCE J Civ Eng 19:733–741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-015-0629-0
Bondar D, Ma Q, Soutsos M, Basheer M, Provis JL, Nanukuttan S (2018) Alkali activated slag concretes designed for a desired slump, strength and chloride diffusivity. Constr Build Mater 190:191–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.09.124
Chi M (2012) Effects of dosage of alkali-activated solution and curing conditions on the properties and durability of alkali-activated slag concrete. Constr Build Mater 35:240–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONBUILDMAT.2012.04.005
Chi MC, Chang JJ, Huang R (2012) Strength and drying shrinkage of alkali-activated slag paste and mortar. Adv Civ Eng. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/579732
Collins FG, Sanjayan JG (1999) Workability and mechanical properties of alkali activated slag concrete. Cem Concr Res 29:455–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(98)00236-1
Ding Y, Dai JG, Shi CJ (2016) Mechanical properties of alkali-activated concrete: a state-of-the-art review. Constr Build Mater 127:68–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONBUILDMAT.2016.09.121
El-Didamony H, Amer AA, Abd Ela-Ziz H (2012) Properties and durability of alkali-activated slag pastes immersed in sea water. Ceram Int 38:3773–3780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.01.024
Falah M, Ohenoja K, Obenaus-Emler R, Kinnunen P, Illikainen M (2020) Improvement of mechanical strength of alkali-activated materials using micro low-alumina mine tailings. Constr Build Mater 248:118659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118659
Flower DJM, Sanjayan JG (2007) Green house gas emissions due to concrete manufacture. Int J Life Cycle Assess 12:282–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-007-0327-3
Huang W, Wang H (2021) Geopolymer pervious concrete modified with granulated blast furnace slag: microscale characterization and mechanical strength. J Clean Prod 328:129469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129469
Imbabi MS, Carrigan C, McKenna S (2012) Trends and developments in green cement and concrete technology. Int J Sustain Built Environ 1:194–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJSBE.2013.05.001
Manjunath R, Narasimhan MC (2018) An experimental investigation on self-compacting alkali activated slag concrete mixes. J Build Eng 17:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JOBE.2018.01.009
Manjunath R, Narasimhan MC, Kumar S (2022) Effects of fiber addition on performance of high-performance alkali activated slag concrete mixes: an experimental evaluation. Eur J Environ Civ Eng 26:2934–2949. https://doi.org/10.1080/19648189.2020.1776771
Manjunath R, Narasimhan MC, Umesh KM, Kumar S, Bala Bharathi UK (2019) Studies on development of high performance, self-compacting alkali activated slag concrete mixes using industrial wastes. Constr Build Mater 198:133–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONBUILDMAT.2018.11.242
Mareya M, Bahurudeen A, Varghese J, Thomas BS, Sithole NT (2023) Transformation of rice husk modified basic oxygen furnace slag into geopolymer composites. J Mater Res Technol 24:6264–6278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.04.225
Puertas F, Amat T, Fernández-Jiménez A, Vázquez T (2003) Mechanical and durable behaviour of alkaline cement mortars reinforced with polypropylene fibres. Cem Concr Res 33:2031–2036. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(03)00222-9
Puertas F, González-Fonteboa B, González-Taboada I, Alonso MM, Torres-Carrasco M, Rojo G, Martínez-Abella F (2018) Alkali-activated slag concrete: Fresh and hardened behaviour. Cem Concr Compos 85:22–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEMCONCOMP.2017.10.003
Rajesh DVSP, Reddy AN, Tilak UV, Raghavendra M (2013) Performance of alkali activated slag with various alkali activators. Int J Innov Res Sci Eng Technol 2:378–386
Reddy KC, Subramaniam KVL (2020) Blast furnace slag hydration in an alkaline medium: influence of sodium content and sodium hydroxide molarity. J Mater Civ Eng 32:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)mt.1943-5533.0003455
Ruiz-Santaquiteria C, Skibsted J, Fernández-Jiménez A, Palomo A (2012) Alkaline solution/binder ratio as a determining factor in the alkaline activation of aluminosilicates. Cem Concr Res 42:1242–1251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2012.05.019
Shariati M, Shariati A, Trung NT, Shoaei P, Ameri F, Bahrami N, Zamanabadi SN (2021) Alkali-activated slag (AAS) paste: correlation between durability and microstructural characteristics. Constr Build Mater 267:120886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120886
Shi C, Krivenko PV, Roy DM (2006) Alkali-activated cements and concretes. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon
Shojaei M, Behfarnia K, Mohebi R (2015) Application of alkali-activated slag concrete in railway sleepers. Mater Des 69:89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATDES.2014.12.051
Soliman A, Abubakr AE, Diab SH (2023) Effect of activator concentrations on the postfire impact behavior of alkali-activated slag concrete. J Mater Civ Eng 35:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1061/jmcee7.mteng-14605
Thomas RJ, Ariyachandra E, Lezama D, Peethamparan S (2018) Comparison of chloride permeability methods for alkali-activated concrete. Constr Build Mater 165:104–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONBUILDMAT.2018.01.016
Tushar D, Das D, Pani A, Singh P (2022) Geo-engineering and microstructural properties of geopolymer concrete and motar: a review. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Civ Eng 46:2713–2737. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-021-00756-y
Vediyappan S, Chinnaraj PK, Hanumantraya BB, Subramanian SK (2021) An experimental investigation on geopolymer concrete utilising micronized biomass silica and GGBS. KSCE J Civ Eng 25:2134–2142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-1477-8
Wang SD, Pu XC, Scrivener KL, Pratt PL (2015) Alkali-activated slag cement and concrete: a review of properties and problems. Adv Cem Res 7:93–102. https://doi.org/10.1680/ADCR.1995.7.27.93
Weil M, Dombrowski K, Buchwald A (2009) Life-cycle analysis of geopolymers. In: Provis JL, van Deventer JSJ (eds) Geopolymers: structures, processing, properties and industrial applications. Elsevier Ltd., pp 194–210. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781845696382.2.194
Yang KH, Lee KH, Song JK, Gong MH (2014) Properties and sustainability of alkali-activated slag foamed concrete. J Clean Prod 68:226–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2013.12.068
Yuan XH, Chen W, Lu ZA, Chen H (2014) Shrinkage compensation of alkali-activated slag concrete and microstructural analysis. Constr Build Mater 66:422–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CONBUILDMAT.2014.05.085
Acknowledgements
The support from my supervisors, Professor Pramod Kumar Gupta and Professor Mohd. Ashraf Iqbal from the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
SK: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing-Original Draft. Dr. PKG: Reviewing and Editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Review & Editing. Dr. MAI: Supervision, Project administration.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare that the manuscript is the author’s original work and has not been published.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kumar, S., Gupta, P.K. & Iqbal, M.A. Parametric Sensitivity Analysis of High-Strength Self-compacting Alkali-Activated Slag Concrete for Enhanced Microstructural and Mechanical Performance. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Civ Eng (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-023-01227-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-023-01227-2