Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-021-00624-8

TECHNICAL PAPER

Influence of geopolymer aggregates on microstructural and strength

characteristics of OPC concrete
Mukkala Priyanka1 · Karthikeyan Muniraj1 · Sri Rama Chand Madduru2

Received: 9 May 2021 / Accepted: 19 August 2021

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Abstract
This paper investigated the physical and microstructural properties of a manufactured fly ash–GGBFS-based geopolymer
aggregates. The analysis on geopolymer aggregate included specific gravity, water absorption, crushing value, impact value,
attrition, loss angles abrasion, and angularity index. Besides, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was done to diagnose
the microstructure of geopolymer aggregates. In contrast, the compressive strength of geopolymer aggregate-based ordinary
Portland cement (OPC) concrete was studied. Besides, the microstructure and the pore structure development of geopolymer
aggregate-based concrete at the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) were examined through SEM. In this paper, three types of
geopolymer aggregates are prepared by replacing 0, 10, and 20% of fly ash with GGBFS cured under an oven (at 60° for
12 h) and ambient conditions. The experimental data showed that the dry density of manufactured geopolymer aggregate
concrete was less than that of natural aggregate-based concrete; it is about 1000 kg/m3 for geopolymer aggregate. However,
concrete prepared geopolymer aggregates (80% fly ash and 20% GGBFS) showed higher resistance among all the tests and
giving similar results at ambient and oven curing.

Keywords Fly ash · GGBFS · OPC · Geopolymer aggregates · Microstructure · Interfacial transition zone

Introduction and emission of dust are the major problems affecting the
environment due to the extraction of coarse aggregate [6],
In the twenty-first century, entire world is looking at which plays a significant role in the concrete performance
sustainable construction materials [1, 2]. Proper utiliza- and occupies 75% of its total volume. Since, a scarcity
tion of industrial by-products will generate sustainability in the availability of natural aggregates and to decrease
in construction; fly ash is the by-product of coal-based the environmental impacts, fly ash aggregates are consid-
power plants, as fine particulate [3, 4]. In India, 217.04 ered the best alternatives to natural aggregates [7]. For
million tons of fly ash is generated in 2018–2019, which both, the difficulties fly ash aggregates are supposed to
occupied 65,000 acres of land as ash ponds. By the year be a capable alternative and pelletization is the prevail-
2020, fly ash's expected generation is above 225 million ing procedure for the aggregates [8]. Properties of fly ash
tones [5]. On the other hand, biodiversity, noise pollution, aggregates and the substantial concrete were scrutinized
correspondingly. It should also be noted that fly ash-
based artificial aggregate with alumina–silica will help
* Mukkala Priyanka
Mukkala.priyanka@gmail.com; mp_civilp@vignan.ac.in construct the homogeneity of concrete due to the probable
good bonding with the cement matrix [9–11]. Shi et al.
Karthikeyan Muniraj
mk_civil@vignan.ac.in (2019) have primarily focused on enhancing the variables
like tilting angle, revolution speed, and water content for
Sri Rama Chand Madduru
maddurusriram@scce.ac.in cold bonding pelletization through a disc pelletizer [12].
The tilting angle of 40–45 degrees, the rotation speed of
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Vignan’s Foundation 40 r.p.m was the optimal value for artificial aggregates'
for Science, Technology and Research, Vadlamudi, Guntur, production [13]. However, water does not make suffi-
A.P 522213, India
cient for activating fly ash particles [14–16]; a chemi-
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Sree Chaitanya College cal reaction is required to attain great strength, known as
of Engineering, Karimnagar, T.S, India

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 38 Page 2 of 10 Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38

polymerization [17–20]. Polymerization is the process of Materials and methods

forming tetrahedral three-dimensional chains by linking
monomers [19, 20]. In the process, the alkaline solution In this study, fly ash and GGBFS are used to prepare the
acts as a catalyst, which combines the hydroxides and geopolymer aggregates conforming to ASTM 618 [32] and
silicates to react with alumina and silica in fly ash [9, 21]. ASTM 989 [33] and are obtained from the local area. It
In 2015, Singh [22] gave an outline on choosing activators was classified under class F fly ash due to less Cao content
that sodium can liberate monomers from another alkaline. noted chemical composition in Table 1. It has a bulk den-
Hence, the combination of sodium silicate and sodium sity of 832 kg/m3 and a specific surface area of 2656 ­cm2/g;
hydroxide can be a good choice for selecting an alka- the initial and final setting times of fly ash were 358 min
line solution. Therefore, the usage of the alkaline solu- and 532 min, respectively. To prepare geopolymer aggre-
tion in the preparation of aggregates will improve fly ash gates, alkaline hydroxide and alkaline silicate are the two
particles' bonding. The improved bonding in aggregate solutions required. Sodium was chosen as alkaline for the
will enrich the properties of concrete, like compressive work. NaOH pellets and ­Na2SiO3 were collected from Vamsi
strength [23, 24]. Results signify that the fly ash aggre- chemicals, Vijayawada. For the present study, the 8 molarity
gates show a strong affinity with concrete in physical, of NaOH solution was prepared. After cooling of prepared
mechanical, durability, and environmental properties. In NaOH solution, N ­ a2SiO3 was added with a ratio of 1:2. This
this context, geopolymer aggregates become one of the alkaline solution was prepared one day before mixing time
candidates to produce alternative aggregates for the con- [34, 35]. ­Na2SiO3 to NaOH proportion is maintained as two
siderations of both fly ash disposal and natural resources and to ensure workability, the activator to binder ratio used
preservation. However, geopolymerization requires oven for the production of aggregate is taken as 0.3. For concrete
curing, an energy consumption process [25–27], which production, OPC 43 grade cement was used conforming to
increases the economy again. GGBFS can produce the ASTM C 150-19 [36] fine aggregate collected from local
necessary heat to overcome this difficulty, which can dealers. The sieve analysis tests were carried out accord-
help in quick geopolymerization at ambient curing [28, ing to IS 2386-1963 (Part I) [37]. The result indicated that
29]. GGBFS is the by-product of the steel manufactur- the fine aggregate is of Zone-II. Geopolymer aggregates of
ing industry, which is formed while quenching iron. The 10 mm, 12 mm and 16 mm sizes with the proportions of
composition will change based on the raw materials in the 1:1:2 are used in place of coarse aggregates. The manufac-
iron production process [30, 31]. turing and properties of aggregates are discussed in the fol-
The main objective of this paper is to understand the lowing sections.
influence of geopolymer aggregates in the strength attain-
ment of OPC concrete. In the present study, geopolymer
aggregates are manufactured by replacing 0, 10, and 20% Manufacturing of geopolymer aggregates
fly ash with GGBFS. The manufactured aggregates were
cured under the oven and ambient curing. To study geo- The geopolymer aggregates were manufactured by using a
polymer aggregates physical properties, crushing value, disc pelletizer. The speed of the pelletizer is maintained at 40
impact value, abrasion value, attrition value, specific rotations per minute, and the angle of tilt is fixed at 45°. Fly
gravity, and water absorption tests were performed. In ash and GGBFS are added to the pelletizer and the disc was
addition, the microstructural characteristics of geopoly- rotated for 3–5 min before adding half of the solution to the
mer aggregates were studied through XRD, SEM, and binder and continues the rotation for 3–5 min. The alkaline
EDX. Besides, the compressive strength was determined solution was continuously sprayed on the binder materials
for geopolymer aggregate-based concrete and natural during the accumulation process for pellet formation, which
aggregate-based concrete. However, to understand the is known as agglomeration [5]. After forming fresh pellets,
bonding of geopolymer aggregate with cement paste the they were transferred to curing. For ambient-cured aggre-
SEM analysis was conducted. gates, they were placed under a regular atmosphere under the
temperature of 25 ± 2 °C. For oven-cured aggregates, they

Table 1  Chemical composition Material Al2O3 SiO2 Fe2O3 CaO MgO Na2O K 2O MnO P2O5 SO3 TiO3 LOI
of the binders
Cement 4.08 21.27 3.17 65.25 1.98 0.67 1.02 – – 1.97 – 0.35
Fly ash 25.10 58.25 4.6 2.87 1.2 0.43 0.86 2.9 0.15 1.16 0.83 1.59
GGBFS 12.14 1.10 32.22 45 4.23 0.82 0.07 1.92 – 0.85 – 1.99

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38 Page 3 of 10 38

were placed in an oven chamber at the temperature of 60 °C (A1) using formula A = (A2/A1) * 100. Attrition value was
for 12 h, then removed from the oven and kept at ambient calculated as the percentage ratio of amount passed from IS
temperature. The formed pellets were sieved before going to 1.7 mm sieve after rotating 1000 rotations in the abrasion
testing. Figure 2 shows the grading curve of the aggregates. testing machine ­(AT2) to the initial weight of the aggregates
In the laboratory scale pelletizer, 20 kg of aggregates was ­(AT1) using formula AT = ­(AT2/AT1) * 100.
produced at a time. Schematic representation of the produc-
tion is as shown in Fig. 1.
The aggregates are sieved according to IS 2386 (Part
I)-1963 [36]. Figure 2a, b shows cumulative passage of Mix proportions for concrete preparations
aggregates through different sieves and the gradation.
Water absorption (W) of the aggregate was calculated as Since the aggregates have low density, the mix proportions
per ASTM C127 [38]. It was calculated as the percentage are done in according to standard practice for selecting pro-
of ratio of mass increase of aggregates after immersion in portions for structural lightweight concrete ACI 211.2-98
water for 24 h (W2) to the dry mass of the aggregate (W1) [39]. The quantities of materials required for 1 ­m3 volume
using formula W = (W2/W1) * 100. The crushing value was are tabulated in Table. 2. The specimens were prepared by
calculated as the percentage ratio of amount passed from mixing dry materials, namely cement, fine aggregate and
IS 2.36 sieve after crushing the aggregates at the rate of coarse aggregate initially for 5–6 min. To this, the required
400 kN in 10 min (C2) to the initial weight of the aggregates quantity of water is added and blended for an extra 3–4 min
(C1) using formula C = (C2/C1) * 100. Impact value was to get a uniform mixture. After well mixing of all the materi-
calculated as the percentage ratio of amount passed from als, concrete was transformed into the 150 × 150 × 150 mm
IS 2.36 sieve after giving 15 blows through impact testing moulds in three layers. The workability of the mix is cal-
machine (I2) to the initial weight of the aggregates (I1) using culated using slump cone test conforming to the IS 1199-
formula I = (I2/I1) * 100. Abrasion value was calculated as 1959 [40]. After 24 h, the specimens were removed from
the percentage ratio of amount passed from IS 1.7 mm sieve the moulds and kept in water curing for 28 days. Then, com-
after rotating 500 rotations with 11 steel balls in the abrasion pressive strength of geopolymer aggregate-based concrete is
testing machine (A2) to the initial weight of the aggregates found out conforming to BS EN 12390-3 [41].

Fig. 1  Schematic representa-

tion of process of aggregate
production

Fig. 2  a Gradation curve and b (a) 120 (b)

aggregates of different sizes
% of Passing Seive

100
80
60
40
20
0
0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25
Size of the Sieve (mm)

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Table 2  Mix Calculations for Geopolymer Aggregate concrete

Mix ID Cement (kg/m3) Fine aggregate (kg/m3) Geopolymer aggregate (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3)

OF100 ­G0 404 700 629 202

OF90 ­G10 404 700 629 202
OF80 ­G20 404 700 629 202
AF100 ­G0 404 700 629 202
AF90 ­G10 404 700 629 202
AF80 ­G20 404 700 629 202

Table 3  Physical properties of Type of aggregate Crushing strength Impact strength Water Specific gravity Abrasion Attrition
aggregates absorp-
tion

OF100 ­G0 25.84 26.8 10 1.89 15 12

OF90 ­G10 24.73 25.4 8 1.9 14 11
OF80 ­G20 20.8 24.7 7 1.97 13 10
AF100 ­G0 29.5 27.7 11 1.85 17 13
AF90 ­G10 27.5 25.7 10 1.85 15 11
AF80 ­G20 26.04 24.7 7 1.87 13 10

Results and discussions 12 11 1.98

10 10 1.96
10
1.94
water absorpon; %

Physical properties of geopolymer aggregates 8 1.92

8

Specific gravity
7 7
1.9
A comparison was made on the geopolymer aggregate 6 1.88
properties considering the density, crushing value, impact 1.86
value, specific gravity, water absorption, abrasion value, 4
1.84
attrition value. All the tests were performed on aggre- 2
1.82
gate sizes varying from 6 to 12 mm. The bulk density of 1.8

the aggregates ranges from 820 to 1000 kg/m3, whereas 0 1.78

OF100 G0OF90 G10OF80 G20 AF100 G0 AF90 G10 AF80 G20
conventional aggregate has 1355 kg/m3 [11]. Hence, the Type of aggregate
aggregates come under lightweight aggregates. Compar-
ing the mixes, type of curing does not affect density, but
Fig. 3  Water absorption versus specific gravity
the addition of GGBFS increases density due to its higher
specific gravity and courser particle of GGBFS than fly
ash. Water absorption and specific gravity were tested curing. Specific gravity was observed less than 2 for all
according to the ASTM C127 [39]. The water absorption 6 types of aggregates. Maximum specific gravity 1.98
was carried out by placing a known measure of dry aggre- obtained at 20% GGBFS with oven curing; minimum is at
gate in a pycnometer filled with water at room temperature 0% GGBFS with ambient curing. Figure 3 shows a graph
for a certain period of 24 h. Increased weight of surface between water absorption and specific gravity relation;
dried aggregate was determined after being removed from a similar observation was found by Jiang. The strength
the water. For all the six types of geopolymer aggregates, of lightweight aggregate was determined according to
water absorption varies from 7 to 11% of its weight, which IS: 2386 (Part IV)-1963 [42] by impact value, abrasion
is comparably less absorption than aggregates prepared value and attrition value. Abrasion and attrition are the
with concrete waste [7] as shown in Table 3. The addition resistance to rupture of material towards other and same
of GGBFS will significantly decrease the water absorption materials. All the values are in permissible limits that are
corresponding to the other two types of aggregates. Type less than 30%, by observing the values in table, the addi-
of curing was prominently affecting water absorption since tion of GGBFS enhances the strength of aggregates due to
oven-curing results in less water absorption than ambient higher calcium present in the GGBFS. And also noted that
ambient curing is giving equal resistance to crushing and

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38 Page 5 of 10 38

impact with oven-curing aggregates at 20% replacement of polymerization in all the six types of aggregates, observ-
GGBFS by fly ash due to heat produced at the time of geo- ing that a wide bump appears between 25° and 40°. The
polymerization. The same results were observed by Sarker observed amorphous peak at 35° is indicated as geopolymer
and Bouissi [43, 44], who found that replacing GGBFS gel. Then, reduction of concentration of peaks indicates that
up to 20% will increase fly ash-based geopolymer paste dissolution of crystalline phases of remaining materials. The
strength. The aggregate imposes great resistance towards literature insists the presence of ­Na2SiO3 reason for reduc-
abrasion and attrition than impact and crushing due to the tion of crystalline phases [36, 44].
denser medium of aggregates.
SEM analysis of geopolymer aggregates
XRD analysis of geopolymer aggregates
Images of fly ash-based geopolymer aggregates varying
XRD Pattern of ambient and oven-cured aggregates are GGBFS % are shown in Fig. 5. It is evident that all the three
shown in Fig. 4. It can be observed that main identifier peak types of aggregates under two curing show a completely
is Quartz ­(SiO2) with high intensity at 2θ = 26°; other than reacted matrix with no unreacted fly ash particles. The
Quartz crystalline peaks absorbed are mullite, lamite and A–S–H gel formation was found in each aggregate; evident
calcite at ambient curing with an addition of hematite and to good geopolymerization takes place. Twenty per cent
katoite at oven curing. Addition of GGBS influences the replacement of GGBFS shows the formation of C–A–S–H

Fig.4  XRD pattern of a ambi-

ent curing and b oven-curing
aggregates

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 38 Page 6 of 10 Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38

Fig. 5  a 20% GGBFS at ambi-

ent curing b 10% GGBFS at
ambient curing c 0% GGBFS at
ambient curing d 20% GGBFS
at oven curing e 10% GGBFS
at oven curing f 0% GGBFS at
oven curing

30 strength than oven-curing aggregate concrete (16 MPa,

Compressive Strength: MPa

20 MPa at 0%, 10% GGBFS). However coming to 20%

25
replacement, both types of curing give the similar strength.
20 Hence to avoid oven curing for the geopolymer aggregates,
15 addition of 20% GGBFS will attain the required strength.
25 25
10 20 22 20
16 Interfacial transition zone (ITZ)
5

0 Figure 7 depicts the images of microstructure with 20% of

OF100 G0 OF90 G10 OF80 G20 AF100 G0 AF90 G10 AF80 G20 GGBFS aggregate concrete under ambient and oven cur-
ing, giving morphological characteristics. Aggregates are
Fig. 6  Compressive strength of geopolymer aggregate concrete entirely packed with surrounding cement matrix; this would
be the reason for the restriction of micro-cracks and voids.
Interfacial transition zone (ITZ) was alleged to be a weaker
Gel formation due to alumina–silica in the fly ash and cal-
zone in the concrete mix; from the observations, it is noted
cium in GGBFS. The clear observation notices that the
that the micro-difference between cement matrix and aggre-
micro-pores in the medium of aggregates are reducing as
gate is termed as micro-hardness number and it was less than
increasing of GGBFS %, which enhances the strength prop-
10 micrometres for the two samples hence which is having
erties and less water absorption. Oven curing gives a dense
high-bonding nature, whereas in Jiang [7] got 30 micron
medium than ambient curing.
meters.
Compressive strength of concrete
SEM analysis of geopolymer aggregate concrete
The compressive strength of designed aggregate concrete at
28 days is shown in Fig. 6. The characteristic compressive Figure 8a, b represents the hydration phase of concrete
strength 25 MPa is high at 20% of GGBFS aggregates as after 28 days of curing containing 20% of GGBFS aggre-
they pose higher resistance to the all applied forces. Ca in gate under ambient and oven curing; here, calcium silicate
the GGBFS is the reason behind formation of C–S–H gel hydrate (C–S–H) and calcium hydroxide formations are
along with C–A–S–H which helps in enhancing the strength observed in both the mixes. There are no unreacted cement
of aggregates, thus increasing the strength of concrete. particles in the concrete mixes. Very minute cracks are
Ambient curing aggregates concrete gives less compressive observed and the medium of the concrete seems very denser

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38 Page 7 of 10 38

Fig. 7  SEM images, a external

surface ambient curing, b
external surface oven curing,
c Internal structure ambient
curing, d internal structure oven
curing, e hardness number at
Ambient curing, f hardness
number at oven curing

without pores. Therefore, it is the reason for getting the high- in respective table which are confirmed that both mixes
est strength than the other samples. had stable C–S–H gel formation. The Ca/Si of oven and
ambient curing is 1.56 and 1.82. Generally, if the Ca/Si
EDX analysis of geopolymer aggregate concrete ranges from 0.85 to 2.4, it is evidence of C–S–H gel for-
mation. Lower Ca/Si indicates higher C–S–H gel forma-
Figure 9 represents energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy tion [46, 47]. In the present study, microstructure analysis
results for the same mixes. Table 4 shows the elemental revealed that an increment of mechanical strength is due
composition in weight %; however, three EDS spots are to good strength of aggregates, bond between aggregates
selected on each sample as shown in Fig. 10 and average and cement matrix.
of three spots elemental weight percentages are mentioned

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 38 Page 8 of 10 Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38

Fig. 8  Scanning electron

microscopy image for a Ambi-
ent curing aggregate concrete
and b oven-curing aggregates
concrete

Similarly, the compressive strength test is done on geopolymer

aggregates-based concrete. To know the microstructural char-
acteristics of concrete SEM is done. From the experimental
studies, the following conclusions are drawn

• The aggregates prose to use in the construction since all the

tested values are in permissible limits and impose immense
resistance with respect to abrasion and attrition than impact
and crushing due to denser medium of aggregates.
• The highest water absorption percentage of the aggregates
is 11 which is less than 12%; hence, it can be used for the
construction excluding water retaining structures.
• SEM analysis of aggregate depicts that replacement of
GGBS helps to form C–A–S–H gel to make geopolymeri-
zation.
• The compressive strength is attained at 20% replacement
of GGBS giving an equal strength (25 MPa) at both the
curing conditions; hence, to avoid oven curing 20% GGBS
replacement will assist.
• Microstructure analysis revealed that both mixes had stable
C–S–H gel formation.
• The experimental values are proving that geopolymer
aggregates have enough ability to replace those conven-
Fig. 9  Energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis for a Ambient curing tional aggregates in some of civil engineering works.
aggregate concrete and b oven-curing aggregate concrete

Conclusions

The experimental investigation on geopolymer aggregates

like physical properties, XRD, SEM and EDX is observed.

Table 4  Energy-dispersive Mix OK NaK AlK SiK CaK Ca/Si

spectroscopy results
AF80 ­G20 61.39 0.77 2.78 13.66 21.40 1.56
OF80 ­G20 68.4 0.95 4.98 9.87 17.97 1.82

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2022) 7:38 Page 9 of 10 38

Fig. 10  Energy-dispersive
spectroscopy analysis spots for
a Ambient curing aggregate
concrete and b oven-curing
aggregate concrete

Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to VFSTR for providing 10. Bellum RR, Muniraj K, Madduru SRC (2020) Influence of acti-
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