Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A comparative study on fly ash pozzolanic cement mortar and ambient-cured alkali-activated fly ash–GGBS cement mortar after exposure to elevated temperature

  • Technical paper
  • Published:
Innovative Infrastructure Solutions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In all the sectors of the economy, issues about sustainable solid waste management and recycling have become increasingly prominent. On the other side, the total energy consumption is dramatically increasing all over world and much of the energy demand lies on building energy consumption for thermal insulation purpose, high-temperature packaging or encapsulating materials. From this point of view, current research explores the possibility of using industrial waste from thermal power plants as a replacement for binder in traditional Portland cement by chemical reaction. Design of composite using 20% partially replacement of fly ash in cement binder (FOPC) and alkali-activated cement (AAFSC) using high-volume fly ash with GGBS as an additive in 4:1 mass ratio, harden at room temperature to study the thermal insulation property. The effect of temperature in the wide range from 30 to 800 °C on thermal conductivity and compressive strengths was evaluated, and the results are compared. The calcium hydroxide groups irrespective of fly ash addition in Portland cement matrix begin to decompose at 300–400 °C and calcium carbonate at 700 °C and melt at 800 °C that were evidenced from thermal stability studies. The thermal impact on strength and mass loss is greatly reduced in AAFSC, provided 50% of virgin strength at 800 °C. The composites comprising FOPC covered by AAFSC and vice versa studied by varying binder-to-filler ratio as 1:1 and 1:2. AAFSC cover integrated well, whereas FOPC drastically failed to retain the structure. Finally, this study confirmed on given thermal-resistant properties and environmental effect, the alkali-activated cement prepared from low energy intensive path be a best option for thermal-resistant building construction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hewlett P, Martin L (2019) Lea's chemistry of cement and concrete, Butterworth-Heinemann, UK

  2. Gani MSJ (1997) Cement and concrete. CRC Press, London

  3. Kumar Mehta P, Monteiro PJM (2014) Concrete: Microstructure, Properties, and Materials, Fourth Edition (McGraw-Hill Education: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Athens, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New Delhi, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto. https://www.accessengineeringlibrary.com/content/book/9780071797870

  4. IEA, Global thermal energy intensity and fuel consumption of clinker production, 2014–2018 and in the Sustainable Development Scenario, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-thermal-energy-intensity-and-fuel-consumption-of-clinker-production-2014-2018-and-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario.

  5. Harvey LDD (1993) A guide to global warming potentials (GWPs). Energy Policy 21(1):24–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lothenbach B, Scrivener K, Hooton R (2011) Supplementary cementitious materials. Cem Concr Res 41:1244–1256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2010.12.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lane RO, Best JF (1982) Properties and use of fly ash in portland cement concrete. Concr Int Des Constr 4(7):81–92

    Google Scholar 

  8. Dandautiya R, Singh AP (2019) Utilization potential of fly ash and copper tailings in concrete as partial replacement of cement along with life cycle assessment. Waste Manag 99:90–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Venkateswara Rao A, Srinivasa Rao K (2020) Effect of fly ash on strength of concrete. In: Ghosh S, Kumar V (eds) Circular economy and fly ash management. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0014-5_9 (Book chapter ) p 125–134

  10. Wang X-Y (2014) Effect of fly ash on properties evolution of cement based materials. Constr Build Mater 69:32–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nath P, Sarker P (2011) Effect of fly ash on the durability properties of high strength concrete. Procedia Eng 14:1149–1156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hassan A, Arif M, Shariq M (2019) Use of geopolymer concrete for a cleaner and sustainable environment-A review of mechanical properties and microstructure. J Clean Prod 223:704–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ouellet-Plamondon C, Habert G (2015) Life cycle assessment (LCA) of alkali-activated cements and concretes. In: Pacheco-Torgal F, Labrincha J, Leonelli C, Palomo A, Chindaprasit P (eds) Handbook of Alkali-Activated Cements, Mortars and Concretes. Cambridge, UK: Elsevier), 663–686. doi: https://doi.org/10.1533/9781782422884.5.663., eBook ISBN: 9781782422884 Hardcover ISBN: 9781782422761

  14. Shi C, Jiménez AF, Palomo A (2011) New cements for the 21st century: the pursuit of an alternative to Portland cement. Cem Concr Res 41:750–763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2011.03.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Turner LK, Collins FG (2013) Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions: a comparison between geopolymer and OPC cement concrete. Constr Build Mater 43:125–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sandanayake M et al (2018) Greenhousegas emissions of different fly ash based geopolymer concretes in building construction. J Clean Prod 204:399–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Palomo A, Grutzeck MW, Blanco MT (1999) Alkali-activated fly ashes, a cement for the future. Cem Concr Res 29(8):1323–1329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Shang J, Dai JG, Zhao TJ, Guo SY, Zhang P, Mu B (2018) Alternation of traditional cement mortars using fly ash-based geopolymer mortars modified by slag. J Clean Prod 203:746–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Singh NB, Saxena SK, Kumar M, Rai S (2019) Geopolymer cement: synthesis, characterization, properties and application. Mater Today proceeding 15:364–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.04.095

  20. Provis JL, van Deventer JSJ (Eds) (2009) Geopolymer: structures, processing, properties and industrial applicatione. Elseviewer

  21. Duxson P, Fernández-Jiménez A, Provis JL et al (2007) Geopolymer technology: the current state of the art. J Mater Sci 42:2917–2933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-006-0637-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ng C, Alengaram UJ, Wong LS, Mo KH, Jumaat MZ, Ramesh S (2018) A review on microstructural study and compressive strength of geopolymer mortar, paste and concrete. Constr Build Mater 186:550–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Imtiaz L, Rehman SKU, Memon SA, Khizar Khan M, Faisal Javed M (2020) A review of recent developments and advances in eco-friendly geopolymer concrete. Appl Sci 10:7838. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10217838

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhang P, Gao Z, Wang J, Guo J, Hu S, Ling Y (2020) Properties of fresh and hardened fly ash/slag based geopolymer concrete: a review. J Clean Prod 270:122389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Jiang C, Wang A, Bao X, Ni T, Ling J (2020) d A review on geopolymer in potential coating application: Materials, preparation and basic properties J Build Eng 32: 101734. http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jobehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101734.

  26. Singh B, Ishwarya G, Gupta M (2015) Geopolymer concrete: a review of some recent developments. Constr Build Mater 85:78–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Debicki G, Haniche R, Delhomme F (2012) An experimental method for assessing the spalling sensitivity of concrete mixture submitted to high temperature. Cem Concr Comp 34:958–963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lahoti M, Tan KH, Yang EH (2019) A critical review of geopolymer properties for structural fire-resistance applications. Constr Build Mater 221:514–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.06.076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Aditya L, Mahlia TMI, Rismanchi B, Ng HM, Hasan MH, Metselaar HSC, Muraza O, Aditiya HB (2017) A review on insulation materials for energy conservation in buildings. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 73:1352–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Alonso C, Fernandez L (2004) Dehydration and rehydration processes of cement paste exposed to high temperature environments. J Mat Sci 39:3015–3024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Guerrieri M, Sanjayan J, Collins F (2009) Residual compressive behavior of alkali- activated concrete exposed to elevated temperatures. Fire Mater 33(1):51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Park SM, Jang JG, Lee NK, Lee HK (2016) Physicochemical properties of binder gel in alkali-activated fly ash/slag exposed to high temperatures. Cem Concr Res 89:72–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Zhang HY, Qiu GH, Kodur V, Yuan ZS (2020) Spalling behavior of metakaolin- fly ash based geopolymer concrete under elevated temperature exposure. Cem Concr Compos 106:103483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Sivasakthi M, Jeyalakshmi R, Rajamane NP, Rinu J (2018) Thermal and structural micro analysis of micro silica blended fly ash based geopolymer composites. J of Non-Cryst Solids 499:117–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Revathi T, Jeyalakshmi R, Rajamane NP (2018) Study on the role of n-SiO2 incorporation in thermo-mechanical and microstructural properties of ambient cured FA-GGBS geopolymer matrix. Appl Surf Sci 449:322–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Donatello S, Kuenzel C, Palomo A, Fernandez J (2014) High temperature resistance of a very high volume fly ash cement paste. Cem Concr Comp 45:234–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Erfanimanesh A, Sharbatdar MK (2020) Mechanical and microstructural characteristics of geopolymer paste, mortar, and concrete containing local zeolite and slag activated by sodium carbonate. J Build Eng 32:101781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Jiang X, Xiao R, Zhang M, Hu W, Bai Y, Huang B (2020) A laboratory investigation of steel to fly ash-based geopolymer paste bonding behavior after exposure to elevated temperatures. Constr Build Mater 254:119267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Junaid MT, Kayali O, Khennane A (2017) Response of alkali activated low calcium fly-ash based geopolymer concrete under compressive load at elevated temperatures. Mat Struct 50(1):50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Mohd Ali AZ, Sanjayan J, Guerrieri M (2017) Performance of geopolymer high strength concrete wall panels and cylinders when exposed to a hydrocarbon fire. Constr Build Mater 137:195–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Valencia Saavedra WG, Mejía de Gutiérrez R (2017) Performance of geopolymer concrete composed of fly ash after exposure to elevated temperatures. Constr Build Mater 154:229–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Mendes A, Sanjayan JG, Collins FG (2008) Phase transformations and mechanical strength of OPC/slag pastes submitted to high temperatures. Mater Struct 41(2):345–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the DST WMT [grant number DST/TDT/WMT/2017]; DST-FIST sponsored facilities from the Department of Chemistry, SRMIST has been utilised. The assistance of Late Dr R Gopalakrishnan, Department of physics and nano technology during experimentation was greatly acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, SRM Nagar, kattankulathur, 603203, India

    Poornima Natarajan, T. Revathi & R. Jeyalakshmi

  2. Centre for Advanced Concrete Research, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, SRM Nagar, kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India

    M. Sivasakthi

Authors
  1. Poornima Natarajan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Sivasakthi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. Revathi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Jeyalakshmi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Jeyalakshmi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all 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.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Natarajan, P., Sivasakthi, M., Revathi, T. et al. A comparative study on fly ash pozzolanic cement mortar and ambient-cured alkali-activated fly ash–GGBS cement mortar after exposure to elevated temperature. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 7, 30 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-021-00635-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-021-00635-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation