Development of Sustainable Geopolymer Concrete for Rigid Pavement Syn-35

Abstract

The modern world construction utilizes cement as the primary binding material in concrete. This leads to a burden on cement industries, expenses, and the emission of greenhouse gases. Approximately, 1 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted into the air upon producing 1 tonne of cement. Therefore, environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions have been a famous topic among researchers for many decades. One such solution to modern-day construction problems is geopolymer concrete. Therefore, this research focused on utilizing rice husk ash (RHA) in geopolymer concrete to be used in rigid pavements. For this purpose, workability, compressive, flexural, and split tensile tests were performed. Specimens were subjected to curing temperatures of Ambient, 45° C, 80° C, and 100° C, and were compared with water-cured specimens of OPCC at 3, 7, 14, and 28 days. The results revealed that the maximum compressive strength of 27.44 MPa was found for the specimen cured at 100° C. The flexural and split tensile strength of specimens were found to be maximum at 5.17 MPa and 3.24 MPa, respectively, when cured at 100° C. A target slump of 3 inches was achieved for all specimens. A comparison of CO2 emissions between cement and geopolymer concrete showed a difference of more than 90%. This research recommends the utilization of RHA to fabricate geopolymer concrete for use in rigid pavements.