Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2021) 6:53

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-020-00421-9

PRACTICE-ORIENTED PAPER

An investigation on the effect of sea sand on the properties of fly ash

geopolymer mortars
Alaa M. Rashad1,2 · Mahmoud Gharieb3

Received: 19 August 2020 / Accepted: 29 November 2020 / Published online: 12 January 2021
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Abstract
The global consumption of river sand as a fine aggregate in the production of concrete and mortar is very high. Unfortunately,
in the last 20 years, the obtainability of river sand is reducing and several countries have problems in supplying. One option
to solve the scarcity of river sand is to use sea sand in the construction field. In the current paper, an attempt has been done
to investigate the effect of different ratios of untreated sea sand on the compressive strength and durability of fly ash (FA)
based geopolymer mortars activated with sodium silicate. The ratio of fine aggregate to binder was 2:1. River sand was
replaced with sea sand at levels of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, by weight. The compressive strength and percentage of water
absorption at the ages of 7, 28 and 120 days were measured. The rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT) was determined
at the age of 28 days. Selected mortar specimens were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis
(TGA) and its derivative (DTG) as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the incorporation
of sea sand into FA-based geopolymer mortars has a negative effect on the compressive strength as well as the percentage
of water absorption and charge passed. As the content of sea sand increased as the deterioration increased.

Keywords Fly ash geopolymer · Mortars · River sand · Sea sand · Compressive strength · Water absorption · Chloride
permeability

Introduction total global industrial energy resources annually. In addition,

the manufacture of cement devours huge amounts of natural
Portland cement is still used as the main binder material virgin materials. One solution to alleviate these problems is
for the production of concrete and mortar. So that, a huge to replace part of cement with mineral admixtures especially
amount of cement was produced each year. It is estimated at high volume [3, 3]. Unfortunately, using these materials
that the production of cement reached about 4.1 million can decrease ­CO2 emissions by only ~ 16% [5]. The second
tonnes in 2018 [1]. Unfortunately, the manufacture of cement option is to replace Portland cement with alkali-activated
releases ~ 8% of the total C
­ O2 [2]. This emission leading to a aluminosilicate materials. The sources of these materials
rise in seawater level and the occurrence of natural disasters. can be found in the form of nature [6] or as by-product and
The manufacture of cement devours about 12–15% of the waste materials [7, 7]. Using by-product or waste materials
as sources of geopolymers can help get rid of them. Large
amounts of FA are produced as a by-product of coal combus-
* Alaa M. Rashad tion. The amount of this by-product is expected to increase
[email protected]; [email protected]; due to the rapid increase in the electric power industry. It
[email protected]
was estimated that about 20–30% of this by-product is used,
1
Building Materials Research and Quality Control Institute, whilst the rest is surface impounded and landfilled resulted
Housing & Building National Research Center (HBRC), in water contamination, due to leaching, and air pollution
Cairo, Egypt [3]. Thus, it is better to use this material as a part of cement
2
Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, and a source for geopolymers instead of dumping it. Using
Shaqra University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia FA as a source material for geopolymer not only can solve
3
Raw Building Materials Technology and Processing the problem of dumping and disposal, but also can decrease
Research Institute, Housing & Building National Research the ­CO2 emissions and can keep the virgin raw materials.
Center (HBRC), Cairo, Egypt

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The global consumption of river sand as a fine aggregate addition, there are contradictory results regarding the effect
in the production of concrete and mortar is very high. It of sea sand on the compressive strength of the geopolymers,
was estimated that 47–59 billion tonnes of sand and gravel of which some authors reported a positive effect [25], whilst
are mined every year [9]. Because it is expected that the other reported a negative effect [19–21] and the third opin-
global population may reach 8.5 billion by 2030 [10], a large ion reported no effect [23, 23]. These few publications and
demand of construction materials required for infrastruc- contradictory results open the door for more investigations.
tures. As a result, the demand of river sand will increase. Thus, this article aims to investigate the effect of replacing
Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, it has become notable river sand by sea sand at levels of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%,
that the obtainability of river sand is reducing and several by weight, on the compressive strength and durability of
countries have problems in supplying. In some areas, there FA-based geopolymer mortars activated with sodium sili-
is an urgent need to replace river sand in concrete and mor- cate. The durability in the current investigation was meas-
tar with other materials aiming to decrease the consumed ured by two different methods named water absorption and
energy through transportation. The increase in fine aggregate rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) according to ASTM
demand and the day by day scarcity of river sand open the C1202. The obtained results will add useful data in the field
door to use cementitious materials [11], agricultural wastes of using sea sand fine aggregate in FA-based geopolymer
[12], recycled rubbers [13], recycled glasses [14, 14], by- mortars.
products [16, 16] and sea sand [18] as a fine aggregate.
To reduce the environmental pollution, energy consump-
tion, by-product landfills and the scarcity of river sand, geo- Research significance
polymers with sea sand can be used. In the literature, some
studies prepared geopolymers with the incorporation of sea Due to the depletion of river sand in some areas and coun-
sand as a fine aggregate. In this regard, Li et al. [19] found tries, using sea sand as a fine aggregate in the construction
21.48% reduction in the compressive strength of alkali- field can share to solve these problems. Thus, the effect of
activated slag (AAS) concretes made of seawater and sea sea sand on the properties of the matrices has come in the
sand activated with sodium meta-silicate compared with front during the last recent years. In the current research, the
those prepared with freshwater and river sand. Shinde and effect of different proportions of sea sand fine aggregate on
Kadam [20] found comparable 28-day compressive strength the compressive strength and durability of FA-based geo-
of FA-based geopolymer concretes activated with NaOH polymer mortars has been investigated. This research will
and sodium silicate solution containing washed sea sand to provide the literature with useful data in this field.
those containing river sand. Soundarapandian [21] found
21.9% and 3.69% reduction in the 28-day splitting tensile
strength and flexural strength, respectively, of 70% FA/30% Experimental program
slag-based geopolymer concretes activated with sodium sili-
cate and NaOH solution with the inclusion of marine sand Materials
compared to those containing river sand. Nguyen et al. [22]
reported that FA-based geopolymer concrete activated with The used FA was brought from the disposal waste result-
water glass and NaOH solution containing sea sand exhib- ant from the burning of pulverized coal. It is classified as
ited lower compressive strength and splitting tensile strength Class F regarding ASTM-C618. It is specific gravity and
than those containing river sand. Yang et al. [23] reported Blaine surface area were 2.4 and 400 ­m2/kg, respectively.
comparable 3-, 7- and 28-day compressive strength of AAS Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the FA deter-
concretes activated with sodium silicate and NaOH solution mined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, whilst
containing sea sand to those containing river sand. Zhang Fig. 1 shows its mineralogical characteristics evaluated by
et al. [24] found comparable 28-day compressive strength of XRD. Commercial liquid sodium silicate with a density of
alkali-activated mortars activated with sodium silicate and 1380 kg/m3 and chemical composition of 8.2% 27.8% S ­ iO2,
NaOH solution containing sea sand fine aggregate mixed ­Na2O and 64% H ­ 2O was used as an alkali activator. The river
with seawater to the control. On the contrary, Saranya et al. sand matches with ES-1109/2002 was used for mortars as
[25] found 41.13%, 48.1% and 55.3% enhancement in the a reference fine aggregate. Its fineness modulus, chloride
7-, 14- and 28-day compressive strength, respectively, of content ­(Cl−), ­SO3 content and water absorption were 2.47,
FA-slag-based geopolymer concretes activated with sodium 0.04%, 0.1% and 1.5%, respectively, whilst its particle size
silicate and NaOH solution containing sea sand compared to distribution was located within the range of medium grading
those containing river sand. zone according to the classification of the Egyptian Stand-
As can be observed, there are few publications focused on ard Specification ES 1109/2002. The sea sand was brought
the effect of sea sand on the properties of geopolymers. In from Alexandria (North of Egypt). Its fineness modulus,

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2021) 6:53 Page 3 of 9 53

Table 1  Chemical composition Oxide composition FA (%) remaining mixtures, river sand was replaced with sea sand
of FA at levels of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. These mixtures were
SiO2 55.95 labeled as S25, S50, S75 and S100, respectively. Table 2
Al2O3 23.3 shows the proportion of mixtures.
Fe2O3 4.84 The manners of mixing are: solid components comprising
CaO 4.84 fine aggregate and FA were dry mixed together in a mixer
MgO 1.85 with a speed of 80 rpm for 5 min. The solution of mix-
Na2O 0.91 ing water and sodium silicate was added to the solid com-
K2O 1.82 ponents and mixed for 5 min. The mixer was temporarily
SO3 0.65 stopped for 1 min then mixed again for an additional 5 min.
TiO2 1.03 The fresh mortars were placed into cylinders with dimen-
P2O5 0.73 sions of 100 × 200 mm (for charge passed measurements)
MnO 0.05 and cubes with dimensions of 50 × 50 × 50 mm (for other
Cl− – measurements). The fresh mortars were vibrated for 1 min
L.O.I 3.47 to remove air bubbles. The extra mortars were scraped, and
the top surfaces were leveled and covered with polyethyl-
ene sheets to avoid water evaporation. The specimens were
cured at 70 ± 2 °C for 24 h, then at room temperature up to
the testing date.
The compressive strength at the ages of 7, 28 and
120 days was measured according to ASTM C109/C109
M-16a, whilst the percentage of water absorption was meas-
ured at the same ages according to ASTM C642–13. For
each test, four specimens were tested and the average was
determined. The rapid chloride permeability test was per-
formed at the age of 28 days to measure the charge passed
through a 50 mm thick mortar sample with a diameter of
100 mm according to ASTM C1202. One end of the sam-
ple was immersed in 30% NaCl solution, whilst the other
end in 0.3 M NaOH. The applied voltage across the ends of
the sample was constant during the period of measurement
(60 V). The electrical current value passed (in Coulombs)
through the sample was monitored for 6 h.
Fig. 1  XRD pattern for FA

Results and discussions

chloride content (­ Cl−), ­SO3 content and water absorption
were 1.9, 5.8%, 2.45% and 3%, respectively. The sea sand in Compressive strength
the current investigation was used as it is without desalting,
of which it was found that the desalting of 1 ton of sea sand The development of the compressive strength values
consumes about 2 tons of freshwater and about 0.52 kW h of all mortar specimens made of river sand and differ-
of electricity [26]. ent percentages of sea sand at different ages is presented
in Fig. 2. As can be seen, the compressive strength of all
Mixture proportions and methods

Five mortar mixtures were identified. The first one was pre- Table 2  Details of mortar mixture proportions (g)
pared from river sand as a fine aggregate and FA as source Mix FA River sand Sea sand Na2SiO3 Water
material for geopolymer. The FA: river sand ratio was 1: 2,
S0 100 200 – 50 10
by weight, [17, 17]. A fixed dosage of sodium silicate of
S25 100 150 50 50 10
50% from FA weight was used to activate each mixture. A
S50 100 100 100 50 10
fixed water/binder (w/b) ratio of 0.1 (excluding the amount
S75 100 50 150 50 10
of water in sodium silicate) was used for all mixtures. The
S100 100 – 200 50 10
mixture containing river sand was labeled as (S0). For the

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70 14
7-d 28-d 120-d 7-d 28-d 120-d
Compressive strength (MPa) 60 12

Water absorption (%)

50 10
40 8
30 6
20 4
10 2
0 0
S0 S25 S50 S75 S100 S0 S25 S50 S75 S100
Sample code Sample code

Fig. 2  Effect of different ratios of sea sand on the compressive Fig. 3  Effect of different ratios of sea sand on the percentage of water
strength absorption

mortar specimens increases with increasing curing time. The age of 28 days with the incorporation of sea sand compared
compressive strength of the specimens made of river sand to the control. Jau et al. [29] found 5–8% reduction in the
exhibits the highest compressive strength at all ages. At the 35-week compressive strength of concrete containing sea
age of 7 days, the compressive strength of 28.5 MPa can sand compared with those containing river sand. Thunga
be obtained. This confirmed a good strength at this early and Das [30] found 25.03%, 14.46% and 13.24% reduction
age due to using suitable curing temperature. The suitable in the 7-, 14- and 28-day compressive strength of concretes
curing temperature can promote the geopolymerization by replacing river sand with treated sea sand, respectively. Li
degree, increase the energy of kinetic and produce a stronger et al. [31] found a reduction in the 7-, 14- and 28-day com-
Al–Si–O network. The dissolution and polycondensation of pressive strength of mortars made of distilled water and sea
the aluminosilicate can form the N–A–S–H gel network, sand compared with those made of distilled water and river
which is the binding geopolymeric phase. As the curing time sand. Sun et al. [32] found a reduction in the 180-day com-
increases up to 28 and 120 days, the compressive strength pressive strength of mortars with the inclusion of unwashed
increases by 1.66 and 2.29 folds in comparison with that of sea sand instead of river sand.
7 days. Replacing river sand with sea sand has a significant The reduction in the compressive strength with the incor-
effect on the compressive strength at all ages. The compres- poration of sea sand could be related to the difference in the
sive strength gradually decreases as the replacement level surface texture between sea sand and river sand, which can
of river sand with sea sand increases. The incorporation of affect the properties of interlocking. Furthermore sea sand
25% sea sand can decrease the 7-, 28- and 120-day compres- contains a higher amount of salt, seashell particles (­ CaCO3)
sive strength by 28%, 12.53% and 8.5%, respectively. As the and other harmful substances compared with river sand.
replacement level increases to reach as high as 100%, the These materials can affect the properties of the matrix [18].
7-, 28- and 120-day compressive strength was decreased by Li et al. [31] related this reduction to the smooth surface of
55.83%, 38.56% and 33.12%, respectively. In the literature, sea sand, which weakens the properties of the bond between
Shinde and Kadam [20] found 9.34%, 16.5% and 19.28% binder and aggregate. The filling effect also was reduced
reduction in the 28-day compressive strength of FA-based with the inclusion of sea sand.
geopolymer concretes containing unwashed sea sand com-
pared with those containing river sand when NaOH con- Water absorption
centrations were 8, 10 and 12 M, respectively. Anbarasan
and Soundarapandian [21] found 8.23% and 6.64% reduction As known, the water absorption test can be used to evaluate
in the 7- and 28-day compressive strength of 70% FA/30% the surface porosity of the specimen. It is also related to the
slag-based geopolymer concretes activated with sodium sili- structural pores, particularly in the zone of the aggregate
cate and NaOH solution containing marine sand compared interface [33]. Increasing water absorption means a defect
to those containing river sand, respectively. The reduction in in the surface porosity. Figure 3 shows the water absorp-
the compressive strength with the incorporation of sea sand tion of all specimens at different ages. As can be seen, the
herein seems to be similar to those of the traditional Portland water absorption can be affected by curing time and replace-
cement matrices containing sea sand, of which Grirish et al. ment level of river sand with sea sand. The S0 specimens
[28] found lower compressive strength of concretes at the exhibit the lowest water absorption compared to the other

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specimens. The water absorption decreases with increasing of sea sand leads to an increase in the charge passed. As the
curing time due to increasing geopolymerization reaction content of sea sand increases as the charge passed increases.
which leading to increasing polymerization products. The Partially replacing river sand with 25% sea sand resulting
pore structure was improved by continued alkali activa- in an increase in the charge passed by 23.46%, of which the
tion [34]. Therefore, at the age of 7 days, the S0 specimens charge passed reaches 1610 Coulombs, which can be clas-
exhibit water absorption of 6.11%, whilst at the ages of sified as a “low” charge passed. Replacing river sand with
28 and 120 days, they exhibit water absorption of 4.51% sea sand by ratios higher than 25% resulting in a significant
and 3.82%, respectively. A similar trend of the results was increase in the charge passed as shown in Table 3. Fully
observed in [35]. The incorporation of sea sand leads to an replacing river sand with sea sand resulting in an increase
increase in the water absorption at all ages meaningful dete- in the charge passed by 3.1 folds and can be classified as
rioration in the surface porosity. As the content of sea sand a “high” charge passed. The obtained results herein match
increases the water absorption increases. Partially replacing with those of the compressive strength and water absorption.
river sand with 25% sea sand resulting in an increase in the It is worth mentioning that Wu et al. [37] found a higher
water absorption, of which the water absorption accounts charge passed of traditional Portland cement concrete by
7.3%, 5.42% and 4.72% at the ages of 7, 28 and 120 days, replacing river sand with coral sand. The higher charge
respectively. Fully replacing river sand with sea sand result- passed with a higher amount of sea sand could be related to
ing in a large increase in the water absorption, of which an increase in the capillary voids and microcracks between
the water absorption reaches12.75%, 9.72% and 8.17% at paste and aggregate that facilitate the engrossing chloride
the ages of 7, 28 and 120 days, respectively. This higher ions into the specimen. This observation was confirmed by
water absorption could be related to the reduction in the Zhu et al. [38], who reported that the porosity of the speci-
interlocking and filling effect with the incorporation of sea men is one of the main factors affecting chloride penetration.
sand. In addition, sea sand has higher water absorption than
river sand. XRD, TGA/DTG and microstructure analyses

Rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT) Figure 4 shows the XRD pattern of S0 sample at the age
of 28 days. As can be seen, the activation of FA did not
Generally, this test method covers the laboratory valuation present new crystalline phases in comparison with those of
of the electrical-conductance of samples to provide a quick starting source FA presented in Fig. 1. Predominant peaks
indication of their chloride ion penetration resistance. This of quartz ­(SiO2) and peaks of mullite ­(3Al2O3 ·2SiO2) can
test method is appropriate for the evaluation of materials, be observed. Fully replacing river sand with sea sand result-
material proportions, research, design purposes and develop- ing in an essential change in the crystalline phases (Fig. 5).
ment. The RCPT was conducted on all types of specimens Besides the peaks of quartz and mullite, predominant peaks
according to ASTM C1202-C97. The total charge passed of calcite ­(CaCO3) can be observed. The incorporation of
(Coulombs) by 60 voltage after 6 h was determined. The this peak is one reason for increasing CRPT, increasing
values of RCPT are presented in Table 3 with the standard water absorption and decreasing compressive strength. It
limitations. As can be seen, the S0 sample shows the lowest
charge passed. This sample exhibits a total charge passed of
1304 Coulombs, which can be classified as a “low”. This
result seems to be with the same trend as the previous result
of alkali-activated slag/FA [34]. On the same line, Atabey
et al. [36] reported that alkali-activated fly ash mortars
activated with solely NaOH (12% Na) exhibited 1482 Cou-
lombs, which can be classified as a “low”. The incorporation

Table 3  Effect of different ratios of sea sand on the charge passed

Sample code Charge passed (coulombs) Classification

S0 1304 Low
S25 1610 Low
S50 2605 Moderate
S75 3150 Moderate
S100 4050 High
Fig. 4  XRD pattern of S0 at the age of 28 days

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Temperature (oC)
0 200 400 600 800 1000
0

Derivative weight loss (%/oC)

-0.004

-0.008

-0.012

S0 S100
-0.016

Fig. 7  Derivative thermogravimetric curves of S0 and S100 at the age

of 28 days
Fig. 5  XRD pattern of S100 at the age of 28 days

worth mentioning that Wanf et al. [39] found similar large

is worth mentioning that Wanf et al. [39] found similar pre- weight loss at 800 °C for traditional Portland cement concrete
dominant peaks of calcite (­ CaCO3) in traditional Portland sample containing coral reef sand compared to the control. The
cement concrete sample containing coral reef sand compared high weight loss of S100 sample at 800 °C explains its high
to the control one. porosity and low strength.
Figures 6 and 7 show the thermogravimetric (TGA) and Figure 8 shows SEM images of S0 sample with different
derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) curves in the range of magnifications. This sample (containing river sand) shows a
room temperature up to 1000 °C for both S0 and S100 sam- dense and compact microstructure with a good bonding in
ples at the age of 28 days, respectively. The weight losses the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between river sand and
below 200 °C are related to adsorbed and combined water paste with no obvious gap. Replacing river sand with sea
in the N–A–S–H gel [40] [41]. Comparing the weight loss sand resulting in an essential change in the microstructure of
below 200 °C of S0 sample to that of S100 sample, it can be the sample (Fig. 9). Some microcracks can be seen between
observed that this weight loss is somewhat larger in the case of paste and sea sand, confirming a weak bond between them.
S0. This observation confirming more geopolymrization pro- Porous, cavities, loose and heterogeneous microstructure
cess for the sample containing river sand (S0) compared to that with a weak interlocking and a weak bonding in ITZ can be
containing sea sand (S100). Thus, lower compressive strength observed. The pores or voids can be distinguished by the dark
was obtained for S100 compared to S0. A large weight loss at regions. These differences explain the significant reduction
around 800 °C can be observed for S100 sample, whilst this in the compressive strength, the increase in the water absorp-
weight loss cannot be observed for S0 sample. The obtained tion and charge passed of S100 in comparison with S0. These
results herein are matched with those obtained by XRD. It is observations seem to be with the line of other observations
found in the literature. In this regard, Yang et al. [23] found
100 pours microstructure of AAS specimen containing sea sand
in comparison with that containing river sand. Anbarasan and
90 Soundarapandian [42] found microcracks in the microstruc-
ture of the 70% FA/30% slag-based geopolymer sample with
Weight loss (%)

80 the inclusion of dredged marine sand. Xu et al. [43] found

microcracks in the SEM image of traditional Portland cement
70 concrete sample containing sea sand as a fine aggregate. He
et al. [44] found microcrack in the SEM image of traditional
60 Portland cement concrete sample containing desalted sea sand
S0 S100 as a fine aggregate.
50
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Temperature (oC)

Fig. 6  Thermogravimetric curves of S0 and S100 at the age of

28 days

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2021) 6:53 Page 7 of 9 53

Fig. 8  SEM images of the fracture surface of S0 with different magnifications at the age of 28 days

Conclusions 2. The incorporation of sea sand instead of river sand

increased water absorption. The water absorption
The current paper aims to investigate the effect of replac- increased with increasing sea sand content.
ing river sand by different levels of sea sand up to 100% on 3. The incorporation of sea sand instead of river sand
the compressive strength, water absorption, charge passed increased the charge passed. The charge passed
and microstructure of FA-based geopolymer mortars acti- increased with increasing sea sand content. The inclu-
vated with sodium silicate. The experimental results and sion of 100% sea sand led to a change in the charge
the analyses led to the following conclusions: passed from a “low” to a “high” classification.
4. The XRD and TGA/DTG analyses showed a large
1. The incorporation of sea sand instead of river sand amount of calcite with the inclusion of sea sand, whilst
decreased the compressive strength. The compressive SEM images showed loose, porous, and heterogeneous
strength decreased with increasing sea sand content. The microstructure with weak interlocking and weak bond-
incorporation of 25% and 100% sea sand decreased the ing in ITZ as well as microcracks with the inclusion of
28-day compressive strength by 12.44% and 38.56%, sea sand. These observations confirming the results of
respectively, whilst the 120-day compressive strength compressive strength, water absorption and RCPT.
was decreased by 8.5% and 34.12%, respectively.

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Fig. 9  SEM images of the fracture surface of S100 with different magnifications at the age of 28 days

5. In places where river sand is scarce, sea sand can be used analysis of calcium looping processes for low ­CO2 emission
as a fine aggregate for FA-based geopolymer mortars in cement plants. Int J Greenh Gas Control 82:244–260
3. Rashad AM (2015) A brief on high-volume Class F fly ash as
some applications, but it should be taken into consid- cement replacement–A guide for Civil Engineer. Int J Sustain
eration its negative effect on compressive strength and Built Environ 4(2):278–306
durability. 4. Rashad AM, Ouda AS, Sadek DM (2018) Behavior of alkali-
activated metakaolin pastes blended with quartz powder exposed
to seawater attack. J Mater Civ Eng 30(8):04018159
5. Lee H-S, Lim S-M, Wang X-Y (2019) Optimal mixture design of
Compliance with ethical standard low-CO2 high-volume slag concrete considering climate change
and ­CO2 uptake. International Journal of Concrete Structures and
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civil engineer–an overview. Constr Build Mater 41:751–765
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