Performance of heat and ambient cured geopolymer concrete exposed to acid attack

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the acid resistance of GPC cured under heat regime and GPC composites (GPCC) cured under ambient conditions. The GPC samples were prepared under heat curing at a temperature of 60°C for a period of 48 h, whereas the GPCC samples were prepared with a combination of 80% fly ash and 20% slag. The specimens of GPC and their composites were exposed to 2% and 10% sulfuric acid and nitric acid solutions for a period of 6 months. The parameters that were examined during the experimental investigation are weight loss, compressive strength loss and the maximum depth of penetration of acid. The results indicated that the weight loss is relatively lower in the GPC samples compared with that in the GPCC samples, particularly at the initial periods of immersion. However, the residual strengths of the GPCC samples at longer periods of immersion are higher than those of the GPC samples. It was also found that compressive strength loss and depth of penetration were observed to be less in the GPCC samples compared with those of the GPC samples.