Performance of geopolymer concrete when exposed to marine environment

Abstract

Over the decades, concrete is widely known as the most resourceful construction material as it is suitable for many building applications. However, despite its ability to last hundreds of years in many applications, it has been proven that Portland cement concrete poses problems such as carbon dioxide emission and its durability when exposed to sea water, sulphuric soils or freezing weather. As a result, an alternative binder is in need to reduce these problem which nowadays, the uses of geopolymer concrete is promoted. Therefore, this research is intended to investigate the effect of marine environment towards geopolymer concrete and is compared to OPC concrete. By using the same curing conditions, both type of concrete is immersed in artificial seawater for total of 28 days before the properties such as water absorption, density and compressive strength is tested. As a result, despite the similar density, the GPC is found to have lower water absorption and higher compressive strength when compared to OPC concrete. As a conclusion, GPC exhibits a higher resistance to seawater thus, suitable for construction in marine environment when compared to OPC.