Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers

There is no standardized procedure for producing geopolymers; therefore, many researchers develop their own procedures for mixing and curing to achieve good workability and strength development. The curing scheme adopted is important in achieving maximum performance of resultant geopolymers. In this...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lee, S., Van Riessen, Arie, Chon, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: mdpi 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51297
_version_ 1848758662976241664
author Lee, S.
Van Riessen, Arie
Chon, C.
author_facet Lee, S.
Van Riessen, Arie
Chon, C.
author_sort Lee, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description There is no standardized procedure for producing geopolymers; therefore, many researchers develop their own procedures for mixing and curing to achieve good workability and strength development. The curing scheme adopted is important in achieving maximum performance of resultant geopolymers. In this study, we evaluated the impact of sealed and unsealed curing on mechanical strength of geopolymers. Fly ash-based geopolymers cured in sealed and unsealed moulds clearly revealed that retention of water during curing resulted in superior strength development. The average compressive strength of sealed-cured geopolymers measured after 1 day of curing was a modest 50 MPa, while after 7 day curing the average compressive strength increased to 120~135 MPa. In the unsealed specimens the average compressive strength of geopolymers was lower; ranging from 60 to 90 MPa with a slight increase as the curing period increased. Microcracking caused by dehydration is postulated to cause the strength decrease in the unsealed cured samples. These results show that water is a crucial component for the evolution of high strength three-dimensional cross-linked networks in geopolymers.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:47:34Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-51297
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:47:34Z
publishDate 2016
publisher mdpi
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-512972017-09-13T15:35:34Z Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers Lee, S. Van Riessen, Arie Chon, C. There is no standardized procedure for producing geopolymers; therefore, many researchers develop their own procedures for mixing and curing to achieve good workability and strength development. The curing scheme adopted is important in achieving maximum performance of resultant geopolymers. In this study, we evaluated the impact of sealed and unsealed curing on mechanical strength of geopolymers. Fly ash-based geopolymers cured in sealed and unsealed moulds clearly revealed that retention of water during curing resulted in superior strength development. The average compressive strength of sealed-cured geopolymers measured after 1 day of curing was a modest 50 MPa, while after 7 day curing the average compressive strength increased to 120~135 MPa. In the unsealed specimens the average compressive strength of geopolymers was lower; ranging from 60 to 90 MPa with a slight increase as the curing period increased. Microcracking caused by dehydration is postulated to cause the strength decrease in the unsealed cured samples. These results show that water is a crucial component for the evolution of high strength three-dimensional cross-linked networks in geopolymers. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51297 10.3390/MA9070598 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ mdpi fulltext
spellingShingle Lee, S.
Van Riessen, Arie
Chon, C.
Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title_full Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title_fullStr Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title_full_unstemmed Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title_short Benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
title_sort benefits of sealed-curing on compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymers
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51297