Performance of Geopolymer Concrete Exposed to Aggressive Environment

An alternate to OPC in reducing carbon emissions and depletion of natural resources is Geopolymer concrete. Geopolymers are inorganic polymers and their chemical composition is similar to natural materials. Geopolymer binders are the alternatives in the development of acid resistant concrete i.e. durable concrete. The main objective of this thesis is to standardize mix design for medium grade concrete and to study the durability of geopolymer concrete under aggressive chemical environment with particular reference to the effect of acids, Sulphates and chlorides. To standardize mix design for GPC40, several trail mixes were carried out by changing alkaline solution to fly ash ratio of 0.40, 0.43and 0.45 and molarities of 8M,10M and 12M. Optimum molarity and alkaline solution to fly ash ratio were arrived at 10M and 0.43 respectively to achieve the desired grade of GPC40.Specimens were immersed in water with concentration of 5% acids, sulphates and chlorides. The compressive strength and percentage weight loss of GPC40 were compared with Ordinary Portland concrete. The performance of GPC is found to better when compared to Ordinary Portland concrete, when immersed in acids and sulphates.