Abstract

Recently,geopolymer cement(GC)concrete has been extensively researched as a potential alternative to Portland cement(PC)concrete owning to its environmental friendliness.Similar to PC concrete,GC concrete is a brittle material in nature.However,little has been understood on its fracture properties in terms of the fracture energy and the tension-softening curve,both of which are important for the structural analysis and safe application of GC concrete in engineering practice.This paper presents the research findings arisen from a recent Ph D project on the static fracture properties of GC concrete as compared to those of PC concrete.The fracture energy and tension-softening behaviors are compared between GC and PC mortar/concrete through extensive three-point bending tests,in considerations of the effects of various material compositions including the fly ash/slag ratio,the modulus ratio,the alkali concentration and water/binder ratio.