International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 04 Issue: 07 | July -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1433 Evaluation of performance of Geopolymer Concrete in acid environment P Abhilash 1 , C Sashidhar 2 and I V Ramana Reddy 3 1 Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Anantapur, Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh , India, 515002 2 Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Anantapur, Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh , India, 515002 3 Professor, Department of civil engineering, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh , India, 517502 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------***----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT: The degradation of concrete by acid attack has been a major problem which needs to be addressed with the utmost concern. This acid attack is primarily due to acid rain in low concentrations. This attack depends upon both type of the acid and the concentration of the acid and the vulnerability of concrete. Portland cement concrete due to high alkanity may be prone to acid attack by acidic environment. The emergence of new alternative materials needs to address this issue by resisting acid attack to a large extent. Geopolymer materials are polymer minerals which are based on silica and alumina compounds. The process of corrosion of geopolymer concrete is tough compared to that of conventional concrete. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of geopolymer concrete and Portland cement concrete to acid environment. Durability of the concrete specimens were analyzed by immersing them in 2% concentration solutions for a period of 28, 56 and 112 days, In evaluation of their resistance on basis of change of weight and compressive strength. Results indicated that Geopolymer concrete was highly resistant to sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid. Keywords - Geopolymer Concrete, Sulphuric Acid, hydrochloric acid, Silica, Alumina. 1. INTRODUCTION Durability of concrete is the most crucial property which evaluates the life of concrete. Interactions of concrete with external environment is one of the important factors which indicates the durability of concrete. Among environmental factors like thaw, abrasion and corrosion and acid attack, acid attack is the most threatening parameter. There are many chemical attacks like acid attack, alkali attack etc. [1]. The extent of deterioration during an acid attack on concrete depends on the chemical nature of anions present. Aggregate type and concrete also influence the extent and intensiveness of acid attack. Though ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is the widely used binder in construction industry, its resistance to chemical attacks such as acids, chlorides and sulfates is a major concern. Acid attack has not traditionally attracted much attention, even when cement composites are severely damaged by acids wherein calcium hydroxide is dissolved and the hydrated silicate and aluminium phases are decomposed. In the past few many years geopolymer binders have emerged as one of the possible opportunity to opc binders because of their mentioned excessive early energy and resistance against acid attack [2] apart from its environmental friendliness. Fly ash based geopolymers are one branch in the geopolymer family and these have attracted more attention since the 1990s. As a novel binder the overall performance of fly ash based geopolymers is promising specially in some competitive situations where portland cement concretes are prone to acid environment[3]. Geopolymer binders might be a promising opportunity in the improvement of acid resistant concrete. Given that geopolymers are a unique binder that relies on alumina silicate instead of calcium silicate hydrate bonds for structural integrity they were reported as being acid resistant. Davidovits et al. [4] Determined that metakaoline based geopolymer has very low mass loss while samples have been immersed in 5% sulphuric acid solutions for four weeks Bakharev T. [5] Studied the resistance of geopolymer materials organized from fly ash in opposition to 5% sulfuric acid as much as five exposure and concluded that geopolymer materials have better resistance than ordinary cement counterparts. X.J. Song et al. [6] Performed an accelarated test to evaluate the durability of geopolymer concrete in a 10% sulfuric acid answer for 56 days and reported its its good durability. S.E. Wallah and B.V. Rangan [7] Have shown that geopolymer composites possesses good durability in examination carried out to assess the long time properties of fly ash based geopolymers. Allahverdi Ali and Skavara [8-9]conducted tests to study the mechanism of corrosion of geopolymer cements in high and low concentrations of sulfuric acid. The absence of standard methods to evaluate the performance of cements in acid environments has led to research in different exposure conditions and procedures by various authors making it difficult to