Thermal Performance Modeling of Geopolymer Concrete

Abstract

Geopolymers are used for several applications due to their sustainability, low density, low cost, excellent thermal properties, and fire resistance. Geopolymer concrete (GC) may possess superior fire resistance compared to conventional concretes with ordinary portland cement (OPC). The proper understanding of the effects of elevated temperatures on the properties of GC is essential. In the research reported in this paper, relationships are proven for normal and high-strength GCs at elevated temperatures to establish efficient modeling and specify the fire-performance criteria for concrete structures. They are developed for unconfined GC specimens that consist of compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, flexural strength, thermal strain, prestressed thermal strain, and the compressive stress–strain relationships at elevated temperatures. The proposed relationships at elevated temperature are compared with experimental results and available OPC relationships. These results are used to establish more accurate and general compressive stress–strain relationships.