Electric curing method for geopolymer concretes in cold weather conditions

Akın M. H., POLAT R.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING, cilt.30, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

Özet

This study explores the use of electric curing, a method commonly applied to cement-based concrete in cold weather, for producing geopolymer concrete. Geopolymer concretes were produced by activating ground granulated blast-furnace slag and perlite with NaOH and Na2SiO3. Reinforcements were added to the samples to simulate real construction scenarios and to enable the placement of embedded heating cables for electric curing. The samples were cured for 48 h in a freezer at -10 degrees C and under Erzurum's outdoor cold weather conditions (average night: -10 degrees C, day: +1 degrees C). Control samples were cured in an oven at 50 degrees C for the same duration. After 28 days, analyses including compressive strength, UPV, water absorption ratio, thermal conductivity, SEM, FT-IR, and XRD were performed. As a result, only for the Y-L coded samples containing GGBS and steel fibre, the highest compressive strength obtained by the electric curing method was 66 MPa, whereas the maximum compressive strength achieved by the oven curing method was 61.9 MPa. The results obtained from XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and all other tests showed no significant difference between the two curing methods, and it was determined that electric curing is a viable approach for producing geopolymer concrete in cold climates.