Effect of superplasticizer and extra water on workability and compressive strength of self-compacting geopolymer concrete

This study documents the results of an experimental work carried out to investigate the effect of superplasticizer and amount of extra water on strength and workability properties of Fly ash-based Selfcompacting geopolymer concrete. The experiments were conducted by varying the amount of extra water and dosage of superplasticizer. A total of nine mixtures with superplasticizer content varying from 3 to 7% and extra water ranging from 10 to 20% of the mass of fly ash were prepared and tested. The essential workability properties of the freshly prepared concrete such as filling ability, passing ability and segregation resistance were evaluated by using Slump flow, T50 slump flow, V-funnel, L-box and J-ring test methods. The compressive strength tests were carried out at 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. Test results indicated that extra water and superplasticizer are key parameters and play an important role in the development of self-compacting geopolymer concrete. Workability of self-compacting geopolymer concrete was dependent on the amount of extra water and dosage of superplasticizer. With the increase in amount of extra water and superplasticizer, the workability was improved. However, the addition of water beyond 15% resulted in bleeding as well as segregation and decreased the compressive strength of the concrete. The compressive strength of self-compacting geopolymer concrete was significantly decreased as the amount of extra water exceeded 12% by mass of Fly ash. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2012.