The most often used artificial substance created by humans worldwide is concrete. The main binding component of concrete that has an adverse effect on the environment is cement. Limiting the use of cement and investigating substitute materials are necessary to reduce carbon emissions. A long-lasting alternative that offers enhanced sustainability in construction materials is geopolymer concrete (GPC). In concrete, industrial waste materials such as fly ash, rice husk ash, red mud, metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), and similar waste by-products can be used as the binding agent (GPC) in place of cement. This natural resource is expensive and limited because of the depletion caused by the growing demand for natural river sand. Environmental deterioration has resulted from the emergence of illicit river sand excavations. This study suggests using manufactured sand in place of river sand in the construction industry as a sustainable solution to this problem. The compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength of geopolymer concretes with different molarities were assessed. When activated with a 12 M solution, the geopolymer concrete, which was made of GGBFS as the basis and a blend of 60% produced Manufactured sand and 40% river sand, reached a maximum compressive strength of 54.66 MPa after 28 days which shows the effectiveness of such a sustainable construction material which is an alternate for reducing carbon footprint.
Enhancing Sustainability in Geopolymer Concrete Using Manufactured Sand: A Comprehensive Study
Monika Verma
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2026-01-01
Abstract
The most often used artificial substance created by humans worldwide is concrete. The main binding component of concrete that has an adverse effect on the environment is cement. Limiting the use of cement and investigating substitute materials are necessary to reduce carbon emissions. A long-lasting alternative that offers enhanced sustainability in construction materials is geopolymer concrete (GPC). In concrete, industrial waste materials such as fly ash, rice husk ash, red mud, metakaolin, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), and similar waste by-products can be used as the binding agent (GPC) in place of cement. This natural resource is expensive and limited because of the depletion caused by the growing demand for natural river sand. Environmental deterioration has resulted from the emergence of illicit river sand excavations. This study suggests using manufactured sand in place of river sand in the construction industry as a sustainable solution to this problem. The compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength of geopolymer concretes with different molarities were assessed. When activated with a 12 M solution, the geopolymer concrete, which was made of GGBFS as the basis and a blend of 60% produced Manufactured sand and 40% river sand, reached a maximum compressive strength of 54.66 MPa after 28 days which shows the effectiveness of such a sustainable construction material which is an alternate for reducing carbon footprint.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
