Influence of Various Types of Steel Fibre on the Mechanical and Physical Characteristics of GGBS Based Geopolymer Concrete

Abstract

This study provides experimental investigation of the mechanical and physical properties of reinforced geopolymer concrete based on Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS). This research demonstrates the influence of various types of steel fibre on compressive, split tensile, flexural strengths and elastic modulus of hardened GPC, workability of reinforced geopolymer concrete and also analyzed the workability, setting time and flow test of fresh geopolymer concrete. Additionally, corrosion test was conducted on reinforced geopolymer concrete. Mixtures of alkaline liquid to GGBS ratio of 0.5 with steel fibers had been added to the mixture of 0% volume fractions (Vf %), 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% concrete amount. Based on the result of the experiments, the presence of steel fibres enhanced the compressive and tensile strength of the SERGPC, in terms of volume fraction of steel fibres as compared to the regular GPC without fibres. It was observed that there was a significant improvement in GPC's mechanical characteristics and corrosion rate as the lifespan of concrete increased. The incorporation of steel fibres resulted in increased compressive and flexural strengths in the early age and consequently tensile splitting power was increased. The increase in concrete geopolymer content improved the rate of corrosion over time.