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TECHNICAL PAPER

LONG-TERM DURABILITY

OF AMBIENT CURED FLY

ASH BASED GEOPOLYMER

CONCRETE BY ACID ATTACK BHUSHAN H. SHINDE*

AND SULPHATE ATTACK BHAGYASHRI S. NAWALE
KSHITIJA KADAM
SUNIL B. SOMANI

Abstract as fly ash, furnace slag or silica fume can improve concrete
durability . Geopolymer concrete (GPC) is an alternative
[5]
The fly ash based geopolymer concrete with temperature to traditional cement-based concrete. It uses industrial by-
curing and ambient curing has been prepared with four products, such as fly ash or slag, and activates them with
different strength. For ambient curing, only 4 % of ordinary an alkaline solution. GPC offers better resistance to high
Portland cement is used to replace fly ash in order to gain temperatures and chemical attacks, making it a promising
[6]
strength at ambient temperature. For comparing the results material for durable construction . Now a day’s GPC stating the
the conventional cement concrete has been prepared of promising results of harden properties. There is limited research
similar compressive strengths of geopolymer concrete with carried out on fly ash based geopolymer concrete with ordinary
temperature concrete (GPCT). All the mixes has been prepared Portland cement (OPC) as curing agent with ambient cured
with 45 % river sand plus 55 % treated sea sand as a fine concrete. However, the durability of GPC under exposure to
aggregate. To evaluate long-term durability, acid attack and harsh chemical environments, such as acid and sulfate attacks,
sulphate attack tests are conducted for the exposure periods of needs to be carefully evaluated for its potential application in
1, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, and 52 weeks. Durability is evaluated in terms infrastructure and construction.
of weight loss and compressive strength of the specimens. A 1.1 Research significance
total of 504 cubes are cast under 12 different mix combinations.
The results show that geopolymer concrete cured at elevated Durability study ensures the serviceability of the concrete
temperatures and geopolymer concrete cured at ambient structures. Concrete is the backbone of every reinforced
temperatures offer greater resistance to acid attack and sulphate concrete structures. In this research fly ash based GPC with
attack, compared to cement concrete. temperature curing and ambient curing has been prepared
and used for the evaluation of durability of GPC. Total 12 mixes
Keywords: Acid attack, Ambient curing, Durability, Flyash has been prepared for the conduction of durability test. Out of
geopolymer, Sulphate attack. 12 mixes, 08 mixes of geopolymer concrete and 04 mixes was of
cement concrete (CC). In GPC first 04 mixes has been prepared
1. INTRODUCTION for GPC with temperature curing (GPCT) and another 04 mixes
has been prepared for GPC with ambient curing (GPCA). For
Concrete is second most widely used construction material evaluation of durability of concrete, acid attack and sulphate
[1]
and is exposed to various environmental conditions . Durable attack tests were carried out for the exposure duration of one
concrete are able to withstand various environmental conditions year.
and maintain its required performance over time without
significant degradation . Also durable concrete minimizing 2. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
[2]
maintenance costs, improving safety, and extending the
lifespan of infrastructures . For ensuring the longevity, safety 2.1 Materials
[3]
and durable concrete structures, concrete should resists the GPC were prepared using the locally available unprocessed fly
physical, chemical, and biological attack of deterioration . The ash of thermal power plant and liquid based alkaline activators.
[4]
[7]
incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials such Fly ash satisfies the specification of IS: 3812 (2013) standard.

68 THE INDIAN CONCRETE JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2026
* Corresponding author: Bhushan H. Shinde, Email: bhshinde@gmail.com