Abstract :
Geopolymer materials have been proposed
for various applications due to their excellent fire
resistance and low processing cost. One requirement
that geopolymer composites need to meet for structural
applications is graceful failure, as catastrophic
failure during service can result in significant loss of
life. In this paper, the properties of novel low cost
composites made by infiltrating stainless steel mesh
with geopolymer resin are reported. Four point flexure
tests on these composites showed metal-like yielding
behavior instead of catastrophic failure and the ‘‘yield
strength’’ was significantly higher than the flexure
strength of the geopolymer matrix. Exposure to high
temperatures, 800 and 1,050 C, resulted in the ‘‘yield
strength’’ decreasing to ~59 and ~44% level respectively
compared to the strength of as-processed samples.
However, the good ductility was still retained
after the high temperature treatment, which makes this
novel composite a strong candidate for the applications
where catastrophic failure upon fire/high temperature
exposure needs to be avoided.
