Studies on Basalt Fibre Reinforced Binary Blended Geopolymer Concrete

Rapid population growth demands more infrastructure development, which improves life standard but harms the environment by overexploiting non-renewable natural resources. Concrete is one of the most used construction materials which uses Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as binder. Production of OPC is responsible for the emission of large quantities of greenhouse gases. Fly ash-based heat cured geopolymers were introduced as an alternative to OPC binders, which limits its application to precast industry. Ambient cured geopolymers can be produced by utilizing blended source materials. Hence in this study, binary blended geopolymer concrete is developed using fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as source materials. For improving the tensile properties of the mix, natural fibres like basalt fibres were introduced at 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1% by volume of concrete. The optimum proportion of fibres were finalized based on fresh and hardened properties of the mix. Durability studies like water absorption, sorptivity, thermal conductivity and chemical attack were also conducted. Results of the study indicated that basalt fibre reinforced ambient cured GPC is having comparable mechanical properties and enhanced durability characteristics to that of conventional concrete.