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Research on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Fiber Geopolymer Mortar
Open accessAbstract
It is known that geopolymer mortar exhibits high compressive strength but relatively low flexural strength, high brittleness, and poor toughness. Engineering practices for cement-based materials have demonstrated that incorporating fibers can effectively prevent the expansion of existing cracks and the formation of new ones in the materials. Adding polypropylene fibers to geopolymer mortar can, on the one hand, improve the crack resistance of the mortar, and on the other hand, enhance the impact resistance of the geopolymer mortar. In this paper, slag, metakaolin, and fly ash are utilized as silico-aluminous raw materials, standard sand is employed as aggregate, and a mixture of water glass and NaOH in a specific proportion is used as the alkali activator to prepare geopolymer mortar. Polypropylene fibers are incorporated to improve its mechanical properties. The effects of fiber length and mixing method on the mechanical properties of geopolymer mortar are studied to determine the optimal fiber length and mixing method. The mechanism of the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced geopolymer mortar is analyzed by combining SEM. The research results indicate that the geopolymer mortar with 15 mm single-doped fibers exhibits the best flexural strength and toughness. In contrast, the geopolymer mortar with 12 mm single-doped fibers demonstrates the best compressive strength. The geopolymer with 9 mm and 18 mm hybrid-doped fibers has the best mechanical properties and is superior to the geopolymer mortar with single-doped fibers.
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Research works printed but not linked: 33
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Metadata
- Authors
- Xing, Z., Li, Z., Wang, P., Li, C., & Song, Z.
- Affiliations
- Northeast Forestry University (CN)
- Harbin Vocational College of Science and Technology (CN)
- Heilongjiang Cold Region Architectural Science Research Institute, Harbin 150090, China
- Heilongjiang Construction Technology Development Center Co., Ltd., Harbin 150010, China
- Corresponding author
- Xing, Zhiqiang
- Venue
- Coatings
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2025-10-24
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1239
- ISSN
- 2079-6412 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4415494359
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 1.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Coatings (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Concrete and Cement Materials Research
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Innovative concrete reinforcement materials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Stabilization
- Keywords
- polypropylene fibers, fiber length, flexural strength, compressive strength, toughness, crack resistance, impact resistance, metakaolin, fly ash, slag, alkaline activator, sodium silicate, sodium hydroxide, microstructure
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