6th International Conference on Computational Mathematics and Engineering Sciences / 20-22 May. 2022, Ordu – Turkey, Ordu, Türkiye, 20 Mayıs - 22 Haziran 2022, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-10
Today, it is quite common to use
conventional Portland cement-based concrete in buildings. Geopolymer concrete has been proposed as an
alternative to Portland cement concrete due to the high greenhouse gas effect
and the environmental pollution of energy consumption caused by cement
consumption. In this study, metakaolin and ground blast furnace slag (GBFS) were
preferred as binder materials to increase the early age strength of concrete
and not cause loss of strength due to possible porosity in later ages. In addition, due to the high
probability of brittle fracture of geopolymer concrete after curing at high
temperatures, it aims to cope with these negative properties by using polyvinyl
alcohol fibers (PVA) without reducing the flexural, compressive strengths of
concrete. In this study, to examine the effect of PVA on the mechanical properties
of high strength geopolymer concrete, three mixtures were designed, 0.3% kg/m3,
0.6 kg/m3 fiber and did not contain any fibers which were kept in a
curing environment at 80 oC for 10 hours. GBFS and quartz powder vary, with the
same weight percentage of metakaolin as the binder in the mixtures. In addition, the aggregate (quartz)
and alkali activator contents of the mixtures are the same. The test results showed that the
mixture containing 0.6 kg/m3 PVA reached 136.2 MPa by increasing the
compressive strength by 18.77% compared to the without PVA mixture, and
reaching 6.03 MPa by increasing the flexural strength by 63.41%. In addition, it has been determined
that the use of PVA as a reinforcing element prevents brittle fracture in
geopolymer concrete samples. The results showed that PVA could be used as a
reinforcement element to prevent the negative behavior of geopolymer concrete,
such as high mechanical properties and less energy consumption and prevent its
negative behavior, such as a brittle fracture.