Volume change characteristics of eco-friendly mortar mixes produced with geopolymeric binder and recycled fine aggregate

Abstract

The production of geopolymer mortar using recycled fine aggregate (RFA) generated from concrete waste has significant potential to be a sustainable construction material. In this article, the volume change properties of the produced geopolymer mortar mixes are studied in terms of drying shrinkage up to the age of 180 days and reported as the percentage increase with respect to the shrinkage value of 3 days. The influence of RFA content, alkaline liquid (AL) in terms of the concentration of sodium hydroxide (SH) solution, the ratio of sodium silicate (SS) solution to SH solution, and the ratio of AL to fly ash (FA) were investigated on the drying shrinkage properties of the geopolymer mortar mixes. All the cast specimens were cured at 80°C for 24 hours. Higher drying shrinkage values were observed for the mortar mixes produced with higher RFA content, AL/FA, SS/SH ratio, and lower concentration of SH solution. Scanning electron microscope images were studied for the samples taken from the geopolymer mixes showing lower drying shrinkage values to understand the microstructure. © 2019 by ASTM International.