This document describes a study on the effects of different curing regimes for geopolymer concrete composites. The study involves casting concrete specimen using fly ash and GGBS activated by a sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution. The specimen will be cured using different temperature curing regimes including ambient temperature curing and external exposure curing. The mechanical properties of the specimens from the different curing regimes will be tested and compared to a control specimen cured at 60°C for 24 hours. Literature on geopolymer concrete and curing was reviewed to inform the methodology. Materials to be used include fly ash, GGBS, sodium hydroxide pellets, and sodium silicate solution. Properties of the materials will

1. SI.No. Roll No. Student Name
1 208W1A01B6 B.SRIYA
2 208W1A01D4 K.MAHESH BABU
3 208W1A01C4 G.DEVESH
4 208W1A01C1 D.JAIWANTH
Name of the Project: Study on effects of different curing regimes for geopolymer
concrete compositions
Name of Guide: B. Sriram
Section : C Batch No: 2
V R SIDDHARTHA ENGINEERING COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING: VIJAYAWADA-7
Mini Project – 1 (20CE6554)

2. CONTENTS
 Abstract
 Aim & Objectives
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Summary of literature survey
 Methodology
 work progress
 References

3. ABSTRACT
Increasing population worldwide has led to the need for the construction
of buildings to accommodate our needs. Concrete is the most widely used
construction material which uses cement as a main ingredient. Production
of cement is an energy extensive process which involves high emission of
CO2 content, this led to the need of search of alternative material for
cement to control these emissions for sustainability. Geopolymer concrete
is one such alternative, where waste material like fly ash, GGBS (ground
granulated blast furnace slag) etc. are used in place of cement to make
concrete. For these waste materials to act and create a binding nature like
cement, there is a need for activation of these materials using some
solutions like NaOH, KOH, NaSiO3 etc. however, for this binding
activity to occur at optimum level curing level of 60ºC for 24 hours is
required. As it is difficult to achieve this at field level there is a need for
research in this area for making it usable at field level. This study
involves comparison of different curing regimes like ambient temperature
curing, external exposure curing and different temperature curing and
their effects on the mechanical properties on geopolymer
concrete composites.

4. Aim & Objectives
 AIM
To Study on effects of different curing regimes for geopolymer
Concrete composites.
 OBJECTIVES
1. 1) To study the mechanical behavior of control specimen with
geopolymer concrete composite at 60ºC for 24 hours oven curing.
2. 2) To study the mechanical behavior of geopolymer concrete
composite with different curing regimes.
3. 3) To compare the mechanical properties of specimen of different
curing regimes with control specimen.

5. INTRODUCTION
o Concrete is the most widely used construction material which uses
cement as a main ingredient.
o Production of cement is an energy extensive process which involves
high emission of CO2 content, this led to the need of search of
alternative material for cement to control these emissions for
sustainability.
o Initial research on geopolymers carried out by Davidovits was on the
linear organic polymer, which is a branch of organic chemistry.
o Later, this topic was extended beyond this scope and research
conducted in the early 1970s was focused on developing
nonflammable inorganic polymer materials suitable for fire
resistance.
o The work was ended to develop an amorphous to semi-crystalline
three-dimensional silico-aluminate composite called geopolymer.

6. o Geopolymer concrete is one such alternative, where waste material
like fly ash, GGBS (ground granulated blast furnace slag) etc. are
used in place of cement to make concrete.
o For the activation of these materials some solutions like NaOH,
KOH, NaSiO3 etc. are used.
o For proper binding action to occur at optimum level the casted
specimen should be placed in oven at 60℃ for 24 hours.
o This study involves comparison of different curing regimes like
ambient temperature curing, external exposure curing and different
temperature curing.
o To also study their effects on the mechanical properties on
geopolymer concrete composites.
o For the selection of suitable ingredients of geopolymer concrete to
achieve desire strength at required workability, an experimental
investigation has been carried out for the gradation of geopolymer
concrete and a mix design procedure is proposed on the basis of
quantity and fineness of fly ash, quantity of water, grading of fine
aggregate, fine to total aggregate ratio.

7. o For the selection of suitable ingredients of geopolymer concrete to
achieve desire strength at required workability, an experimental
investigation has been carried out for the gradation of geopolymer
concrete and a mix design procedure is proposed on the basis of
quantity and fineness of fly ash, quantity of water, grading of fine
aggregate, fine to total aggregate ratio
o Geopolymer is a new development in the world of concrete in which
cement is totally replaced by pozzolanic materials like fly ash, ground
granulated blast furnace slag and activated by highly alkaline solutions
to act as a binder in the concrete mix.

8. LITERATURE REVIEW
SI. No Authors Findings
1
M. I. Abdul Aleem studied that User-friendly geopolymer concrete can be used under
conditions similar to those suitable for ordinary portland cement concrete.
These constituents of Geopolymer Concrete shall be capable of being
mixed with a relatively low-alkali activating solution and must be curable
in a reasonable time under ambient conditions. The production of versatile,
cost-effective geopolymer concrete can be mixed and hardened essentially
like portland cement. Due to the high early strength Geopolymer Concrete
shall be effectively used in the precast industries. The Geopolymer
Concrete shall be effectively used for the beam column junction of a
reinforced concrete structure.
2
S. Kumaravel Studied that The compressive strength of hot cured concrete is much higher
than that of ambient cured concrete. In ambient curing, the compressive
strength increases as the age of concrete increases from 3 days to 12 days.
The average density of fly ash based geopolymer concrete is similar to that
of OPC concrete. The geopolymer concrete possesses good compressive
strength and well-suited to manufacture precast concrete products.
3
Muhd Fadhil Nurruddin Studied that Several methods of curing has been attempted by various
researchers which include oven heating, membrane curing, steam curing,
hot gunny curing, hydrothermal curing, room temperature and water curing
respectively. Among these attempted methods, oven curing proofed to be
the most efficient method of curing of geopolymer concrete. The
requirement for elevated temperature curing of the geopolymer concrete
makes it a challenge that limits its application to only precast applications.

9. LITERATURE REVIEW
SI.
No
Authors Findings
4
Srinivasa Reddy Studied that Various molarities of NaOH are considered for study are
8M,10M,12M,14M,16M and 18M. Sodium silicate solution has
nearly 50-57% of water. The major reaction product for the low-
calcium fly ash system is sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H)
gel.
5
K.NagendraReddy Studied that The fixed ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide
is 2.5:1 and the concentration of sodium hydroxide is taken as
10M.By using GGBS compressive strength increases from 50% and
above.90% of strength achieved in 7 days only.
6
Andi Arham Adam Studied that linear increase in strength of the 4 and 6 hours cured
specimens compared to the 20hours cured specimens which was
constant at 7 days age. Moreover the 4 and 6 hours cured specimens
behaved similarly with air cured specimens. The temperature and
duration of heat curing plays a major role for the strength
development of fly ash based geopolymer mortar. The optimum heat
curing regime in this study is 120º for 20 hours.

10. Summary of literature survey
 Geopolymer concrete is an innovative method and is produced by complete elimination
of ordinary Portland cement by produced in fly ash.
 The fixed ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide is 2.5:1 or 2:1 as per requirement.
 The temperature and duration of heat curing plays a major role for the strength
development of fly ash based geopolymer mortar.
 At the age of 3days, the specimens were exposed to different temperatures in a High
temperature furnace of capacity up to 1400℃, at a rate of 5℃/min. All the specimens
were kept for heat curing at 60℃ for 24hrs in a hot air oven after 24hrs of casting.
 With the increase in concentration of NaOH, the initial strength has increased.
 The geopolymer concrete possesses good compressive strength and well-suited to
manufacture precast concrete products.
 The optimum heat curing regime in this study is 120º for 20 hours.
 Among these oven heating, membrane curing, steam curing, hot gunny curing,
hydrothermal curing, room temperature and water curing, oven curing proofed to be the
most efficient method of curing of geopolymer concrete.

11. MATERIALS USED:
NaOH PELLETS NaOH&NaSiO3 SOLUTION
FLYASH GGBS

12. Properties of materials
Density of Fine aggregate :
Density of course aggregate :
Density of GGBS :
Density of Fly Ash :

13. METHODOLOGY
Literature survey Selection materials
Study of properties
of materials
Casting of
specimen for
different curing
regimes
Testing the
specimen
Result Analysis

14. work progress
Specific Gravity Test for
GGBS
Specific gravity Test for
Coarse Aggregate

15. Adding mixture of
Sodium silicate,
NaoH pellets and
Water
Grinding Course
aggregate, Fine
aggregate, fly
ash,GGBS in concrete
mixer
Applying grease to the
moulds

16. Compaction of
Cubes
Casting of
Regimes

17. casted moulds of geopolymer concrete( Fig 1) and OPC concrete (Fig 2).
Fig 1 Fig 2

18. References
 Davidovits J. 30 Years of Successes and Failures in Geopolymer Applications.
Market Trends and Potential Breakthroughs; Proceedings of the Geopolymer 2002
Conference; Melbourne, Australia.
 Nguyen T.T., Goodier C.I., Austin S.A. Factors affecting the slump and strength
development of geopolymer concrete.
 Lyon R.E., Balaguru P.N., Foden A., Sorathia U., Davidovits J, Davidovics M. Fire-
resistant aluminosilicate composites.
 Nikoloutsopoulos N., Sotiropoulou A., Kakali G., Tsivilis S. Physical and
Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash Based Geopolymer Concrete Compared to
Conventional Concrete. Buildings.
 Effect of molarity of sodium hydroxide and molar ratio of alkaline activator solution
on the strength development of geopolymer concrete Srinivasa Reddy, Karnati
Vamsi Krishna M V Seshagiri Rao, and S Shrihari Professor of Civil Engineering,
GRIET, Hyderabad, India. 2M. Tech (Structural Engineering), Department of Civil
Engineering, GRIET, Hyderabad, India.
 Wahid F., Manalo A, Khennane A, Kayali O. Geopolymer concrete-filled pultruded
composite beams–concrete mix design and application.

19. References
o Ibrahim G. Shaaban ,Sani Haruna Methods of curing geopolymer concrete, Article
in International Journal of ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES · January
2018.
o Andi Arham Adam, The effect of temperature and duration of curing on the strength
of fly ash based geopolymer mortar, Horianto Department of Civil Engineering,
Tadulako University, Palu 94118, Indonesia.
o S. Kumaravel ,Development of various curing effect of nominal strength
Geopolymer concrete Dept. of Structural Engg., Annamalai University,
Annamalainagar - 608 002, India

20. THANK YOU