Mechanical behavior of non-silicate based alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag

Abstract This paper presents properties of an alkali-activated (AA) binder that contain 85% of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and 15% of powder blended as chemical activators. The manufactured binder neither contains any conventional cement nor silicate based chemical activators that are widely used for activation. The AA binder when tested as cementitious materials as per standards, meets the specifications of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) 43 grade. Using this AA binder, a design mix concrete has been prepared and the cube, cylindrical and prism specimens were tested for compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength after curing in the air as well as in water at the different age of maturity. The test results of the rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT), sulfate resistivity and alkali-silica reaction (ASR) have also been presented. In this study the magnitude of strength generated by AA binder is similar to that of OPC whereas the AA binder performs well in durability.