ALKALI-

ACTIVATED
FLY ASH-SLAG
CONCRETE

PRESENTED BY:-
JETHWANI ROHAN RAJESH(16JE002575)
ABHISHEK SONI (16JE002477)
TUSHAR GUPTA (16JE0024760
ISH KUMAR
Sit Dolor(16JE002259)
Amet
 Introduction

� It is well known that there is huge amount of emissions of CO2 due to the
production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
� This research is based on the development of sustainable concrete which
would replace the conventional concrete
� This special type of concrete is called as Alkali-activated fly ash-slag concrete
(AAFS)
� The by-product such as fly-ash (FA) and Ground Granulated Blast furnace
Slag (GGBS) can used under the presence of alkaline activator to develop
AAFS
� This research has given emphasis towards ambient curing so that the
developed AAFS can be applicable to general practical application
o Major amount of industrial by-products from the steel plant and thermal power plant such as fly ash
(FA) and GGBS can be used for the development sustainable concrete which can be used for civil
infrastructures
o One of such type of sustainable concrete is Alkali-activated fly ash-slag concrete (AAFS)
o The term “Alkali-activated fly ash-slag” is usually used to designate an amorphous alkali
aluminosilicate
o The combined solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) are usually used
as alkaline activators
o The curing at high temperatures is required for the fast polymerization of AAFS but the addition of
some proportion of GGBS with FA reduces this curing temperature to the ambient temperature
o As both the raw materials used for the formation of AAFS are totally waste in nature, they help in
protecting the environment by reducing the use of OPC and also preventing the need of heat curing
o The strength of Alkali-activated fly ash-slag concrete depends on various parameters such as
composition of the binding materials, type of alkaline activators, concentration of the alkaline
activators used, curing temperature, curing time, Si-Al ratio and sodium based compounds
o The curing temperature primarily contributes to the enhancement of the polymerisation process
which helps in the development of strength properties. As the curing temperature is increased there
is significant increase in the polymerisation process which gives more strength to the AAFS
o AAFS is a promising candidate as an alternative to conventional concrete for developing sustainable
infrastructures.
 Research Significance

� Till date there is limited information available in literature on proper mix design as well as
about the optimum proportion of the FA and GGBS for development of AAFS

� AAFS has shown excellent properties in terms of strength and durability as compared to
that of conventional concrete. Thus to ensure the use of AAFS around us in day to day life
this research is carried out and various tests are performed on the samples made of AAFS
and comparison is done with conventional concrete

� This research mainly emphasises on the performance evaluation of AAFS with 100%
replacement to OPC with FA and GGBS under ambient curing conditions
 Specimens Used

The materials used in this research are as follows:

� Fly-ash:- Low Calcium Fly ash (FA) is the by-product that can be
obtained during the electricity production at thermal power plant
� GGBS:- GGBS is the by-product obtained from the manufacturing
of steel
� Fine Aggregate
� Coarse Aggregate
� Superplasticizer:- polycarboxylate-based superplasticizers (SPs)
have a significant effect on the workability of AAFS [29], it was used
to improve the workability of AAFS in this work.
 Workability

� Generally, the workability of

AAC is lower than that of OPC
concrete because the
presence of silicate in AAC
would bring a sticky
characteristic.
� Effect of fly ash/slag ratio
Figure shows the flow value of AAFS pastes and slump value of AAFS
concrete with various slag content. The slump and flow values decreased
with the increase of slag content in the mixture ,which is consistent with
previous studies.
� Effect of molarity of sodium hydroxide solution
Comparing the flow and slump values of Series A and Series B in figure it can
be found that the workability of AAFS decreased with the increase of SH
molarity.
� Effect of sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide ratio
As shown in Fig , the slump value (SS/SH ratio of 1.5) kept the highest level.
When the SS/SH ratio increased to 2.0, the slump value decreased.
Similarly, when the SS/SH ratio increased from 2.0 to 2.5, the slump value of
A25 decreased. It indicates that the workability of AAFS concrete decreased
with the increase of SS/SH ratio, which is in good agreement with previous
research.
► Optimal mixtures terms of workability

For Series A, all AAFS mixtures can be classified as highly workable concrete as
the slump value of these specimens was higher than 90 mm. For Series B, only
mixture 6 was defined as highly workable concrete, while other two mixtures
were classified as medium workable concrete. Furthermore, all the mixtures in
Series C were classified as medium workable concrete because the slump
value of these mixtures were in the range between 50 and 90 mm. For Series D,
all the mixtures were considered as highly workable concrete according to the
classification.

► Effect of alkaline activator/binder ratio

As shown in Figure, the mixtures with AL/B ratio of 0.35 exhibited relatively low
flow value and slump value as compared to the mixtures with AL/B ratio of 0.4.
SETTING TIME
It can be divided into
initial setting time and
final setting time
based on the degree of
rigidity. The initial and
final setting time can be
determined as the time
when the penetration
resistance equals to 3.5
MPa and 27.6 MPa,
respectively.
� Effect of fly ash/slag ratio:-
Figure shows the variation of setting time of AAFS pastes with different slag
content. Both the initial and final setting time of AAFS pastes decreased with
the increase of slag replacement level.
� Effect of molarity of sodium hydroxide solution:-
It indicated that the setting time increased with the increase of molarity of SH
except for the specimens with 25% slag.
� Effect of alkaline activator/binder ratio:-
When the AL/B ratio was reduced from 0.4 to 0.35, the range of initial setting time
was decreased, and the final setting time was reduced.
� Effect of sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide ratio
A higher content of dissolute silica would enhance the alkali activation process
and reduce the time to complete the dissolution reaction resulting in the
decrease of setting time.
� Optimal mixtures in terms of setting time
As shown in Figure, the initial setting time of all mixtures is longer than 60 min,
which can fulfil the setting time requirement of BS EN 197-1:2011. Thus, the chosen
parameters in this Work.
 Compressive Strength
� Effect of fly ash/slag ratio:-The compressive strength of AAFS concrete increased dramatically at
early 28 d but after that the increasing rate of compressive strength became slower. In addition,
the compressive strength of AAFS concrete increased with the amount of slag.
� Effect of molarity of sodium hydroxide solution:- It can be noted that increasing the molarity of SH
from 10 M to 12 M gradually increased the compressive strength of AAFS concrete.
� Effect of alkaline activator/binder ratio:- It was found that decreasing the AL/B ratio from 0.4 to
0.35 increased the compressive strength of concrete. The difference of compressive strength
between specimens with different AL/B ratios became larger with the increase of curing age from
1 to 14 d. However, after that the difference become smaller and the compressive strength at 28
d was almost the same. it can be said that the amount of AL would strongly affect the early-age
(<14 d) compressive strength of AAFS concrete, but no significant effect on the 28-d compressive
strength.
� Effect of sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide ratio:- can be seen that the effect of SS/SH ratio on the
compressive strength of AAFS concrete was not obvious. The 1-d compressive strength of AAFS
concrete was increased slightly with the increase of SS/SH ratio, while the compressive strength of
AAFS concrete with low SS/SH ratio was slightly higher than that of specimens with high SS/SH ratio
at later age.
Splitting Tensile Strength
� Generally, the splitting tensile strength of concrete can be predicted based on its
compressive strength.
� It is worth pointing out that the predicted relationship between splitting tensile strength
and compressive strength of AAFS concrete is strongly affected by many influencing
factors, such as chemical and physical properties of raw materials and type of
alkaline activators.
� The splitting tensile strength increased with the increase of curing age for all mixtures.

Flexural strength
► It can be seen that the 28-d flexural strength of AAFS concrete increased with the
increase of slag content.
► The flexural strength of AAFS concrete increased significantly when the molarity of SH was
increased from 10 M to 12 M.
► The flexural strength of AAFS concrete increased dramatically with the decrease of AL/B
ratio from 0.4 to 0.35.
► The dynamic elastic modulus of AAFS concrete steadily increased with the increase of
slag replacement level. As the SH molarity increased from 10 M to 12 M, the dynamic
elastic modulus increased dramatically.
► With the decrease of AL/B ratio from 0.4 to 0.35, the dynamic elastic modulus increased
significantly.
 Optimal mixtures
Based on the discussion mentioned
above, the optimal AAFS mixtures should
have high workability (i.e., achieving a
slump value of 90 mm or over), suitable
setting time (i.e., minimum initial setting
time of 60 min) and high compressive
strength (i.e., minimum 28-d compressive
strength of 35 MPa). Therefore, the
mixtures with slag replacement level from
20% to 30%, AL/B ratio of 0.4, 10 M of
SH, and SS/SH ratio in the range of 1.5 to
2.5 were suggested as optimal mixtures.
Conclusion
� In this study, the workability, setting time and mechanical properties of
AAFS with different slag content, AL/B ratio, molarity of SH and SS/SH ratio
were investigated.
� Workability of AAFS decreased with the increase of slag content and
molarity of SH, as well as the decrease of AL/B ratio. The influence of slag
content seemed more significant at higher molarity of SH and higher AL/B
ratio. The specimens with higher molarity of SH at higher slag replacement
level exhibited a more significant loss of workability than specimens with
lower slag content.
� Setting time of AAFS pastes decreased with increasing slag content and
decreasing AL/B ratio. The effect of slag at 20% replacement level on
setting time appeared to be more pronounced.
� Compressive strength of AAFS increased significantly with the increase of
slag content and molarity of SH as well as the decrease of AL/B ratio. The
effect of slag content at 20% was more significant, while the effect of SH
molarity was less pronounced at slag replacement level of 20%. In addition,
the amount of AL would significantly affect the compressive strength
development at early age (<14 d), but the effect became less significant
for the specimens at older age (28 d).
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