Development of rubberized geopolymer concrete: Strength and durability studies

Abstract

Nowadays, an exigency has gone through the roof for cementitious material. Unfortunately, the present process of production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is found associated with pessimistic impacts on environments because of an emission of immense magnitude of CO 2 – a primary Green House Gas (GHG). This has, on the whole, pushed around concrete scientists and construction industries to hunt for innovative, sustainable, durable, user plus eco-benign and of course, cost-efficient substitutes for current binders and construction materials. Quite recently, Geopolymer binders produced by a synthesis of Silica and Alumina rich pozzolanic precursor – like Fly Ash, with alkali solution as an activator through the process of Geopolymerization have become known as luminously promising option to conventional cement. This study includes not only development of rubberized Geopolymer concrete but also investigates on its strength and durability criteria. What's more to add, at this time, natural sand is over exploited for construction and industry creating a scarcity for it, which in turn, resulted into a swift escalation of its cost. In the current study, the waste rubber tire fibres are employed as a partial substitute of fine aggregates. The study reveals that the application of waste rubber tire fibre as a replacement of Sand is not merely cost-effective but also user- and eco-benevolent appropriate corridor for developing rubberized Geopolymer concrete sans compromising its sustainability. This paper is a scientific approach for complying the performance evaluation of strength studies such as Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength, Split Tensile Strength, Modulus of elasticity; Pull off strength and durability parameter like abrasion resistance of fly ash based rubberized geopolymer concrete and compared the results with OPC rubberized concrete. The outcomes of comparison have unearthed that Rubberized Geopolymer Concrete (RGPC) enjoys superiority in context of all the above parameters to its counterpart Rubberized OPC-Concrete. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd