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Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015.

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Other Authors: Kearsley, Elsabe P.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Kearsley, Elsabe P.
author_browse Kearsley, Elsabe P.
author_facet Kearsley, Elsabe P.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:22.809Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46257 Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder Kearsley, Elsabe P. Shekhovtsova, Julia UCTD Fly ash Alkali-activated binder Sustainable construction materials Binder performance Environmental impact Low-carbon construction Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11 SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12 SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13 SDG-13: Climate action Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. This thesis focuses on alkali-activation of South African fly ash with the aim to utilize high volumes of fly ash in construction material, such as concrete. This new type of binder does not contain Portland cement and could reduce carbon dioxide emission related to Portland cement production. At the same time fly ash utilization contributes to growth and economy of the country, conservation of natural resources and improvement of environmental aspects. Although numerous studies have been devoted to alkali-activated materials and geopolymers, only a few studies were performed using South African fly ash. Rational technological parameters such as elevated temperature curing and mix composition of alkali-activated fly ash cements contained South African raw materials were determined in this thesis. Curing at 60 ºC for 16 hours gives the best trade between energy consumption and strength of the alkali-activated fly ash cements. Alkali content should not exceed 12 % Na2O (preferably 9 %) which causes high standard deviation of the compressive strength and coefficient of variation between different batches of the concrete, as well as facilitates efflorescence formation. Produced alkali-activated fly ash cements were characterized by using different techniques (XRD, ATR-FTIR, SEM). Alkali-activated fly ash cements are assumed to be low heat binders but the current study shows that significant amount of energy can be released during elevated temperature curing of these cements. Increased amount of alkali can cause temperatures up to 150 ºC which will negatively affect structure development of alkali-activated fly ash cement resulting in observed strength drop when alkali concentration exceeds 9 % Na2O of fly ash mass. This finding is a valuable addition to the existing knowledge on alkali-activated materials which was not mentioned anywhere previously. For the first time initial shrinkage of alkali-activated fly ash cured at elevated temperature during the first 24 hours was investigated in this thesis. Initial shrinkage of alkali-activated fly ash depends on alkali content and increases with an increase in amount of alkali. The initial shrinkage of alkali-activated fly ash concrete is significantly less, up to twofold, than the shrinkage of fly ash-OPC blended concrete even when the latter was cured at room temperature and 99 % relative humidity in comparison to curing of alkali-activated fly ash concrete at 60 ºC in dry oven. Heat cured alkali-activated fly ash concrete has engineering properties similar to OPC concrete‟s properties. The alkali-activated fly ash concrete with 9 % Na2O, containing 500 kg of fly ash per cubic meter with dolomite aggregates provides adequate workability, and has the following characteristics:  Slump of fresh concrete 50 mm  Compressive strength at 28 days 45.5 MPa  Elastic modulus at 28 days 30 GPa  Poisson‟s ratio at 28 day 0.11  Modulus of rupture at 28 days 5.7 MPa  Split tensile strength at 28 days 3.2 MPa  Initial shrinkage (during first 24 hours) 1400 microstrain  Drying shrinkage after 1 year 300 microstrain  Creep after 1 year 600 microstrain The durability indices indicate that the alkali-activated fly ash concrete is comparable to the conventional concrete, and service life of structures made from the alkali-activated fly ash concrete should meet modern requirements. The alkali-activated fly ash concrete developed can thus be recommended for precast concrete units. tm2015 mi2025 Civil Engineering PhD Unrestricted SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production SDG-13: Climate action 2015-07-02T11:08:30Z 2015-07-02T11:08:30Z 2015/04/14 2015 Thesis Shekhovtsova, J 2015, Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46257> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46257 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Fly ash
Alkali-activated binder
Sustainable construction materials
Binder performance
Environmental impact
Low-carbon construction
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11
SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12
SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title_full Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title_fullStr Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title_full_unstemmed Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title_short Using South African fly ash as a component of alkali- activated binder
title_sort using south african fly ash as a component of alkali activated binder
topic UCTD
Fly ash
Alkali-activated binder
Sustainable construction materials
Binder performance
Environmental impact
Low-carbon construction
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11
SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12
SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46257