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This paper reports on an experimental program investigating the durability and mechanical properties of alkali activated slag concrete (AASC). The AASC was prepared using ground granulated blast furnace slag activated by high concentration alkali solution. The mechanical properties were determined by compressive strength and elastic modulus. The durability characteristics of AASC were measured using Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) and permeable voids tests. The result showed that AASC developed a comparable strength to Portland Cement (PC) concrete over the short term. However, the material displayed an increase in voids, as well as a reduction of velocity over time. This could lead to the material displaying inferior performance over longer periods of time.

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This paper reports on experimental work that has been undertaken to investigate the flexural strength performance of fly ash-based geopolymer (FG) concrete. The FG concrete was prepared using low calcium class F fly ash with high silicate content. The flexural strength properties of FG were assessed using modulus of rupture test up to the age of 360 days. Compressive strength and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) tests were also performed to corroborate the flexural strength test results. The results showed that the FG concrete demonstrates a comparable compressive strength and velocity to OPC concrete. Hewever, the flexural strength of FG concrete exhibited a better performance compared to that OPC concrete. The measured flexural strength of FG concrete also exhibited a higher value compared to the predicted one using ACI 318M-08 standard. The relationship between flexural strength with compressive strength demonstrated a similarity behavior to that OPC concrete. Thus, it can be concluded that the use of the ACI standard can be applied conservatively to determine the flexural strength of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete.

The use of geopolymer binder as cement replacement material can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide gas produced during the Portland Cement manufacturing process. However, the main issue of geopolymer binder is in the mixing process of sodium silicate and NaOH which requires specialized knowledge and strict supervision. This paper reports the effect of water binder ratio on strength development of fly ash geopolymer mortar using dry geopolymer powder. Fly ash with high calcium content was used as primary material. The dry geopolymer powder was prepared by wet mixing method which was made by drying a mixture of NaOH solution and limestone for 24 hours. The variations of water to binder ratio were 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, and 0.50. Strength properties were measured by compressive strength at the age of 7, 14 and 28 days. The results showed that the water binder ratio significantly affect the strength development of geopolymer mortar prepared by dry geopolymer powder. The water binder ratio of 0.40 gives the highest compressive strength of 10.3 MPa at 28 days. This suggests that the use of dry geopolymer powder on geopolymer mortar production can overcome the difficulties of geopolymer mortar mixing on site.