Experimental investigation and predictive modeling of compressive strength of pozzolanic geopolymer concrete using gene expression programming

Abstract

With regard to the adverse environmental impacts of cement production, the use of geopolymer concrete (GPC) can be considered as a more environmentally friendly approach for concreting. This study deals with an experimental investigation on the effects of partial replacement of the GGBS (replaced with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30%) used in GPC with natural zeolite (NZ) and silica fume (SF) simultaneously with different concentration (4, 6 and 8 M) of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) together with sodium silicate (water glass) solution on the compressive strength. Results indicate that increasing concentration of NaOH yields decreases the compressive strength of the concrete. In contrast, adding NZ and SF into concrete results in increasing the compressive strength. In addition, gene expression programming (GEP) was employed to develop mathematical models for predicting the compressive strength of GPC based on GGBS. Using the experimental results, an extensive and reliable database of compressive strength of GGBS-based GPC was obtained. The database comprises the compressive strength results of 351 specimens produced from 117 different mixtures. The five most influential parameters i.e., age of specimens, NaOH solution concentration, NZ, SF and GGBS content of GPC, were considered as the input parameters for modeling. The results reflected that the proposed models are accurate and possess a high prediction capability. The findings of this study can enhance the re-use of GGBS for the development of GPC leading to environmental protection and monetary benefits. 1- Ground Granulated Blast- Furnance Slag