Influence of calcium and alumina-based pozzolanas on the strength properties of low calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete

This work presents the effect of Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA) and metakaolin (MK) on the strength properties of geopolymer concrete (GPC). Geopolymer concrete made with FA produces calcium aluminosilicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) product due to presence of alumina and sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel as main reaction product of polymerization. Geopolymer concrete made with FA and GGBS, calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) also gets produced additionally with calcium aluminosilicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) gel and sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel due to presence of high content of CaO in GGBS. This additional product imparts more strength performance in GPC. In geopolymer concrete made with FA and MK, the more amount of calcium aluminosilicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) is produced due to presence of high amount of alumina in metakaolin along with sodium aluminosilicate hydrates (N-A-S-H) giving more strength to GPC. Metakaolin is recommended to be used for the development of GPC because it has high amount of alumina.