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High-temperature performance of ambient-cured alkali-activated binder concrete

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Abstract

Owing to their lower carbon footprint and efficient performance compared to portland cement (PC), alkali-activated binders (AAB) show promising potential as an alternative to PC. The present paper investigates the high-temperature performance of AAB concrete through compressive and bond strength tests. Four different AAB concrete mixes with varying proportions of fly ash: slag (100:0, 70:30, 60:40, and 50:50) cured under ambient conditions are exposed to elevated temperatures. The mechanical performance of AAB concrete is corroborated with microstructural changes. The results show that AAB concrete with fly ash: slag ratio of 70:30 exhibits the best mechanical performance after exposure to elevated temperatures. This behaviour is attributed to the growth of new crystalline phases of akermanite and gehlenite as observed from the X-ray diffraction patterns. This study shows that there is an optimum proportion of slag content beyond which the mechanical performance of AAB concrete significantly deteriorates when exposed to elevated temperatures. The failure pattern of AAB concrete during the bond strength test varies with the precursor proportion and the exposure condition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the central analytical laboratory facilities at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad campus for providing the necessary setup to conduct XRD, FTIR, and SEM-EDS analyses.

Funding

This study is sponsored by BITS Pilani, Hyderabad campus through Outstanding Potential for Excellence in Research and Academics (OPERA) grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India

    Kruthi Kiran Ramagiri

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

    Darshan Rajesh Chauhan

  3. Environmental and Land Management Engineering, Politecnico Di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Shashank Gupta

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India

    Arkamitra Kar

  5. Civil Engineering, NIT Meghalaya, Shillong, India

    Dibyendu Adak

  6. Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Bentley Campus, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia

    Abhijit Mukherjee

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  1. Kruthi Kiran Ramagiri
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  3. Shashank Gupta
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Correspondence to Kruthi Kiran Ramagiri.

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Ramagiri, K.K., Chauhan, D.R., Gupta, S. et al. High-temperature performance of ambient-cured alkali-activated binder concrete. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 6, 71 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-020-00448-y

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