EFFECT OF CURING REGIMES ON THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF FLY ASH–GGBS BASED GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE INCORPORATING RECYCLED AGGREGATES
Keywords:
Fly Ash, GGBS, Accelerated Curing, Geopolymer ConcreteAbstract
The curing regime plays a critical role in the strength development of geopolymer concrete (GPC), particularly when incorporating industrial by-products and recycled aggregates. This study investigates the influence of different curing methods on the compressive strength of fly ash–GGBS based geopolymer concrete with partial replacement of natural coarse aggregates by recycled aggregates. Three curing conditions—ambient curing, oven curing, and hot water curing (accelerated curing)—were adopted to evaluate their effect on strength development. Concrete mixes with a constant binder composition and alkaline activator ratio were prepared and tested for compressive strength at 7 and 28 days. The results indicate that accelerated curing methods significantly enhance early-age strength due to improved geopolymerization kinetics, with oven curing exhibiting the highest strength at both ages, followed by steam curing, while ambient curing showed slower but continuous strength development over time. The incorporation of recycled aggregates resulted in a marginal reduction in compressive strength; however, the values remained within acceptable structural limits. Overall, the study highlights that appropriate curing strategies can effectively optimize the performance of sustainable geopolymer concrete, making it a viable alternative for structural applications.
References
I. J. Davidovits, “Properties of Geopolymer Cements,” First Int. Conf. Alkaline Cem. Concr., pp. 131–149, 1994.
II. P. S. M and S. V Venkatesh, “Nanotechnology Perceptions ISSN 1660-6795 www,” 2024. [Online]. Available: www.nano-ntp.com.
III. H. Yaprak, A. Alnkaa, S. uk Memi, and G. khan Kaplan, “Effects of different curing conditions on the properties of geopolymeric mortar,” MOJ Civ. Eng., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 45–50, 2019, doi: 10.15406/mojce.2019.05.00148.
IV. B. Nematollahi, J. Sanjayan, and F. U. A. Shaikh, “Synthesis of heat and ambient cured one-part geopolymer mixes with different grades of sodium silicate,” Ceram. Int., vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 5696–5704, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.12.154.
V. J. Xie, J. Wang, R. Rao, C. Wang, and C. Fang, “Effects of combined usage of GGBS and fly ash on workability and mechanical properties of alkali activated geopolymer concrete with recycled aggregate,” Compos. Part B Eng., vol. 164, no. November 2018, pp. 179–190, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.11.067.
VI. J. Xie, W. Chen, J. Wang, C. Fang, B. Zhang, and F. Liu, “Coupling effects of recycled aggregate and GGBS/metakaolin on physicochemical properties of geopolymer concrete,” Constr. Build. Mater., vol. 226, pp. 345–359, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.311.
VII. et al. Nurruddin, “Methods of curing geopolymer concrete: A review,” Int. J. Adv. Appl. Sci., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 31–36, 2018, doi: 10.21833/ijaas.2018.01.005.
VIII. M. Rohit Zende, “Study on Fly Ash and GGBS Based Geopolymer Concrete Under Ambient Curing,” J. Emerg. Technol. Innov. Res., vol. 2, no. 7, pp. 3082–3087, 2015, [Online]. Available: http://www.jetir.org/view?paper=JETIR150701 7.
IX. E. Negahban, A. Bagheri, and J. Sanjayan, “Pore structure profile of ambient temperature-cured geopolymer concrete and its effect on engineering properties,” Constr. Build. Mater., vol. 406, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.133311.
X. Jayalakshmi Sasidharan Nair and Basil Johny, “Study of Properties of Concrete using GGBS and Recycled Concrete Aggregates,” Int. J. Eng. Res., vol. V5, no. 09, pp. 160–166, 2016, doi: 10.17577/ijertv5is090184.
XI. W. Z. Chen, C. J. Jiao, X. C. Zhang, Y. Yang, and X. F. Chen, “Study on the microstructure of recycled aggregate concrete strengthened by the nano-SiO2 soaking method,” Structures, vol. 58, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.istruc.2023.105388.
XII. IS:9013-1978 Reaffirmed 2008, “Indian standard Method of making, curing and determining comopressive strength of accelerated cured concrete test specimens,” Bur. Indian Stand. New Delhi, India, vol. Reaffirmed, no. 2008, pp. 1–13, 1978.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Educational Journal of Science and Engineering
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
