Influence of the initial water content in flash calcined metakaolin-based geopolymer

Raphaëlle Pouhet (1) , Martin Cyr (1) , Raphaël Bucher (1)

1 LMDC - Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des constructions

This study assesses the influence of the initial amount of water in metakaolin-based geopolymer on some of its properties in the hardened state. Results suggest a linearly decreasing influence of the amount of water on the mechanical performance of the geopolymer and showed that the majority of this water was not bonded to the structure. Moreover, it was found that whatever the amount of water initially introduced, all the samples contained the same amount of water after a drying period. The study of the porous network showed a large pore volume of 50% of the total volume which corresponds to the volume of water initially introduced. Finally, the observation of numerous macropore helped to explain the high transfer coefficients measured on the geopolymer.

Mots clés: Geopolymer; Metakaolin; Water content; Compressive strength; Porous network; Transfer properties

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Génie civil

Raphaëlle Pouhet, Martin Cyr, Raphaël Bucher. Influence of the initial water content in flash calcined metakaolin-based geopolymer. Construction and Building Materials, 2019, 201, pp.421-429. ⟨10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.12.201⟩. ⟨hal-02395947⟩