Ultimate Failure Capacity of the Geopolymer and Ordinary Reinforced Concrete Domes Subjected to a Concentrated Load.

Geopolymer or alkaline concrete is a modern binder material characterized as an ambient friendly product within the construction field. Present study has investigated the geopolymer concrete mix used in the dome structural members compared with the use of ordinary concrete mix. Geopolymer concrete mixes are produced according to certain molecular ratios govern its design strength, so that present study has adopted molecular ratio of 14 mole (14M) as an alkaline molar concentration forming a binder material for the coarse and fine aggregate. Laboratory tested coarse and fine aggregate were used in both of geopolymer and ordinary concrete mixes. Two models of domes were made using geopolymer concrete mix while other two models were casted by the ordinary concrete mix and both types were reinforced with single layer of steel wire mesh. Later, all models were tested under uniaxial concentrated load subjected vertically on the peak of dome. Results showed that high ultimate failure load could be achieved for the geopolymer reinforced concrete as well as in the ordinary reinforced concrete when they subjected to a concentrated load on the dome's peak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]