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Strength, durability, and microstructure of self-compacting geopolymer concrete produced with copper slag aggregates

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Abstract

Lack of vibrations on fresh concrete negatively influences the compaction and thus the quality of concrete. This is particularly concerning with geopolymer concrete (GPC) containing sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), which is viscous in nature. In this study, self-compacting geopolymer concrete (SCGC) containing fly ash (FA) and ultrafine slag (UFS) with copper slag aggregates (CSA) was proposed and investigated. CSA were used as a substitute to sand (by weight) in SCGC at different percentages up to 60%. In the fresh state, slump, T500 slump flow, V-funnel, L-box, U-box, and sieve aggregation ratio tests were performed to investigate flowability, passing ability, and viscosity. At the hardened state, the compressive strength, water absorption, chloride ion resistance and sorptivity tests were examined. The flowability of SCGC improved when CSA were added, and the highest slump of 735 mm was achieved for the mix with 60% CSA. Substitution of up to 20% of CSA enhanced the properties of SCGC at all ages. Mix having 20% CSA (20CSA-SCGC) was superior to other mixes, exhibiting the highest compressive strength (47 MPa) at 365 days while possessing the lowest water absorption, sorptivity, and the highest chloride ion resistance. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses also confirmed the improved microstructure of Mix 20CSA-SCGC. Meanwhile, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the presence of quartz and calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) products, which were the main contributors to properties enhancement.

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Abbreviations

AAL:

Alkaline activator liquid

Al:

Aluminium

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ASH:

Aluminium silicate hydrate

ASTM:

American Society of Testing Materials

Ca:

Calcium

CASH:

Calcium aluminate silicate hydrate

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

CS:

Copper slag

CSA:

Copper slag aggregates

CSH:

Calcium silicate hydrate

EDS:

Energy-dispersive spectroscopy

FA:

Fly ash

Fe:

Iron

GPC:

Geopolymer concrete

IS:

Indian Standard

ITZ:

Interfacial transition zone

K:

Potassium

Mg:

Magnesium

Na:

Sodium

NA:

Natural aggregates

NaOH:

Sodium hydroxide

NASH:

Sodium aluminate silicate hydrate

Na2SiO3 :

Sodium silicate

R 2 :

Regression coefficient

RCPT:

Rapid chloride permeability testing

RHA:

Rice husk ash

SCGC:

Self-compacting geopolymer concrete

Si:

Silicon

SPSS:

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, SCU, 1 Military Road, PO Box 157, East Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Saloni Arora & Yee Yan Lim

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, DCRUST, Murthal, 50th K.M. Stone, N.H. 1, Murthal (Sonepat), Haryana, India

    Parveen Jangra

  3. School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, GPC Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia

    Thong M. Pham

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  1. Saloni Arora
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  2. Parveen Jangra
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  3. Yee Yan Lim
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Contributions

Saloni Arora: conceptualization, software, data curation, writing—original draft preparation. Parveen Jangra: data curation, writing, methodology, visualization, investigation, supervision, reviewing and editing. Yee Yan Lim: funding acquisition, writing, software, reviewing and editing, supervision. Thong M. Pham: funding acquisition, writing, reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Parveen Jangra.

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Highlights

• Utilization of copper slag aggregates as partial substitution to sand.

• SCGC with improved mechanical and durability properties.

• Microstructure of SCGC studied using SEM, XRD and EDS analyses.

• Correlations between different properties were established.

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Arora, S., Jangra, P., Lim, Y.Y. et al. Strength, durability, and microstructure of self-compacting geopolymer concrete produced with copper slag aggregates. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 666–684 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22170-1

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