Development of mix design method based on statistical analysis of different factors for geopolymer concrete

Abstract

The present study proposes the mix design method of Fly Ash (FA) based geopolymer concrete using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In this method, different factors, including binder content, alkali/binder ratio, NS/NH ratio (sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide), NH molarity, and water/solids ratio were considered for the mix design of geopolymer concrete. The 2D contour plots were used to setup the mix design method to achieve the target compressive strength. The proposed mix design method of geopolymer concrete is divided into three categories based on curing regime, specifically one ambient curing (25 °C) and two heat curing (60 and 90 °C). The proposed mix design method of geopolymer concrete was validated through experimentation of M30, M50, and M70 concrete mixes at all curing regimes. The observed experimental compressive strength results validate the mix design method by more than 90% of their target strength. Furthermore, the current study concluded that the required compressive strength can be achieved by varying any factor in the mix design. In addition, the factor analysis revealed that the NS/NH ratio significantly affects the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

geopolymer concrete / mix design / fly ash / response surface methodology / compressive strength / stress−strain

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Acknowledgments

Financial assistance was provided in the form of a fellowship to the first author from the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India and is appreciatively acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the support from the staff of Structures Testing Laboratory at Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India during the experimentation work reported in the paper.

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