Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Mechanical performance of geopolymer pre-stressed railway sleepers

Dr.S. Imran Khan
Department of Construction Technology and Management, Wollega University, Ethiopia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study is confined to polymerization and the base chemical used is sodium hydroxide 14 molarity and
Received 17 April 2021 sodium silicate. High Performance Geopolymer Concrete (HPGC) was developed from Alkaline Activator
Accepted 23 April 2021 Solutions (AAS) under combination 60% Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) and 40% Fly ash
Available online xxxx
(FA) as binder materials produced high compressive strength of 76 N/mm2. Another mixing was made
with the same proportion of binder material and filler materials M sand was replaced by Copper Slag
Keywords: (CS). According to the test results the substitution of 50% copper slag with M sand produced at high com-
Fly ash
pressive strength of 80 N/mm2. Geopolymer Concrete was used for the casting of Wide Gauge Prestressed
GGBS
M sand
Concrete (PSC) sleepers as per Indian Railway standard specifications. And Pre-tensioning wires of stan-
Copper slag dard High Tensile Strength wire (HTS) were used with a pre-tensioning force of 50kN. Needed
Geopolymer concrete Compaction was carried out using table vibrators and steam curing was adopted based on the standard
Pre-tensioning pre-stressed production process of Indian Railways. Under power testing process the hardened concrete sleepers were
Railway sleepers. tested in the laboratory by stimulating the real load transfer condensing the field called Rail Seat Centre
Bottom (RSCB), Moment of Resistance (MR) and Moment of Failure (MF). As per the standard static flex-
ural test procedure, the number of sleeper on each side of the sleeper for a load up to 230 kN (MR) and
370 kN (MF) was determined. The result of the tests reveals that the Geopolymer concrete sleeper has a
high efficiency load and a high ultimate load.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 12th National Confer-
ence on Recent Advancements in Biomedical Engineering.

1. Introduction for improving infrastructure viz [11,12]. Bridges across the river fly
over in cities bridges for transport facility, business malls exten-
In the Asian continent, Indian Railways is the largest network sion of city limits, consequently laying new roads, construction
and hence the consumption of concrete sleepers reaches to approx- of new houses for dwelling, new buildings for commercial purpose
imately 350 million [1,2]. In the ensuing years the demand for con- and above all constructing small, medium and large scale indus-
crete sleeper will so for the reason that consumption by private tries, construction of new buildings due to bifurcation of new dis-
corporate consumption up to 700 million sleepers [3,4]. The vital trict and construction of new medical and engineering colleges
need of concrete sleepers for Indian Railways is abundantly more [13,14].
comparing to the use of conventional Teak wood sleepers which For all construction of buildings concrete usage is a must and it
have now become obsolete and of a limited use [5,6]. A quality is cement widely used with sand. Concrete and cement with sand
wise concrete sleeper is found outstanding. Based on the growing are vital building material across the world, with the current con-
need under demand for concrete sleepers across India and global sumption of 1 m3 per person per year [15,16].
level, the study evaluates not only the quantity of demand but also Based on the need of concrete for construction, there are many
the surging scarcity of sand for manufacturing concrete sleepers concrete producing industries across India. In course of production
[7,8]. Here bellow the Indian Railway scenario highlighting the of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), one of the industrial wastes is
huge need for sleeper, preferably concrete sleepers [9,10]. CO2 and it constitutes 5% to 7% global anthropogenic emission
Further, based on globalization and modernization and creation [15,17]. While there is a threat and warning by scientist across
of smart cities, there has been a radical change across the country the world on global warming and climate changes an effect of
green gas development [17,18]. And concrete is found to be a seri-
E-mail address: ashok4094@gmail.com ous contributor to emission of green gas. In addition the cement

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.04.599
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 12th National Conference on Recent Advancements in Biomedical Engineering.

Please cite this article as: Dr.S. Imran Khan, Mechanical performance of geopolymer pre-stressed railway sleepers, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.04.599
Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

industries have been found the next largest producer of green- The following material were chosen and included for the purpose
house gases [19,20]. of maintaining the strength and durability of the best combination
Though there is a need for development of our country and also of 60% GGBS, 40% Fly ash, as binder materials and 40% as copper
industrial development in cement and concrete sector, there slag and 60% M sand composites as filler materials.
should not be any depletion of natural resources and environmen- Table 2 shows that strength limitations of various copper slag
tal hazard [21–30]. It is also observed that more number of mate- replacement ratios for M sand.
rials that are used for building construction are identified and
clustered under non-renewable resources. Meanwhile, towards
development of construction of buildings at urban and rural areas 3. Materials used in this research study
a very huge quantity of sand is required [5,31–39]. While there is a
huge demand for sand in the manufacturing process of concrete, 3.1. Cement
sand is not easily available across the country and there is a little
quantity of sand available everywhere and consequently there is As per specification of IS1269:1987, 53s Grade Ordinary Port-
an urgent need to find out alternate materials for natural aggre- land Cement (OPC) was used.
gates. Facing this critical situation it is found necessary that a
means of replacing river sand in concrete are recycled aggregate, 3.2. Fly ash
quarry dust, M sand and other industrial by product and they are
copper slag, steel slag etc [6,40–48]. In the recent days builders Class F fly ash was obtained from Hi-Tech Fly Ash (India) Tuti-
used industrial waste as building materials, an alternate to the corin for this study. As per specification of IS 3812 (Part 1); 2003
use of other natural resources for building. This alternate process and IS 3812 (Part 2); 2003the Fly ash classified in quality assurance
of using building materials is tested to be comparatively suitable was generated.
to construct building quite strong and that could stand sustainable
[28,49–56]. Besides improving quality of construction this alter-
nate process is found to be one of the sources to conserve environ- 3.3. Ground granulate blast furnace slag (GGBS)
ment from pollution. It is researched and found the quality of
strong buildings is possible when Fly ash is used. The Fly Ash is a The prime material GGBS was obtained, from JSW Cement,
waste that is procured in powder form coal burning residue in fur- (Name of place should be included) with all requirements of BS:
nace and locomotives. Another product that is added as waste 6699 with density 2.88 and the specific area 364 g/m2.
material is Blast furnace slag (GGBS) that is produced as a by-
product of iron and steel in the blast furnace while producing a vit-
3.4. Copper slog
reous granular product. It is then dried and crushed into a fine dust
[57–66]. One more waste product that is added is Copper slag and
For the purpose of test copper slog was procured from Hi-Tech
it is the byproduct of copper smelting and refining. It is submitted
Fly Ash (India) Private Ltd, Tuticorin. Samples for test were sup-
by National Council for cement and building materials, New Delhi,
plied with specification IS383;2016 and with density 3090, fine-
that Utilization of copper slag as performance improver in ordinary
ness module 2.9(Zone II) with density 2.32 g/cc.
Portland cement. The National council made an absolute research
and declared that sustainable development, by ensuring a harmo-
nious balance between the needs of people and the earth’s 3.5. Coarse andFine aggregate
resources, by mitigating green gas emissions, the conservation of
natural resources and the conversion of industrial waste into con- Locally available blue granite crushed stone aggregates up to
struction materials. Another material of combination is Geopoly- 20 mm and 10 mm in size was this study used, and characteriza-
mer that is compared to a new binder which found be a tion tests were conducted in accordance with SI 2386 (14).
ecological and cost-effective binding material, as it is produced
from industrial by product such as Fly ash and blast furnace gran-
ulated slag (GGBS) by substituting 100% cement into concrete. And 3.6. Alkaline liquids
It is practically analysed and reviewed that Geopolymer concrete is
a building construction material that can neither be ignored nor The following chemicals sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate
avoided. constitute alkaline solution. This solution should be used for prepa-
ration by mixing at least 24 h before test and use. The following
chemicals sodium hydroxide (14 molarity) and sodium silicate
2. Experimental programme maintaining the ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide to 2
were used for the study of polymerization.
Following the standard specifications of Indian Railway test
samples of pre stressed concrete (PSC) railway sleepers were
3.7. Super plasticizer
designed. Based on the specifications, 6 numbers of specimens
were prepared and of the test specimens, 3 were control concrete
A large-scale water-reducing super plasticizer (Ceraplast – 300)
and 3 were geopolymer concrete specimen. Here is the cross-
was added to the mix in order to improve the handling of fresh
section of railway sleeper each end is 154 mm in width at the
concrete.
top, 270 mm in width at the bottom and 235 mm in depth. The
length of specimens is 2750 mm. The exact cross-section details
of test specimens are illustrated in Fig. 9. The High Tensile Strength 3.8. High Tensile strength wire (HTS)
(HTS) strand 3 ply 3 mm with 18 no’s of strand each shall be ten-
sioned to the force of 27 kN. With regard to model, the conven- The sample wires were procured that comply with 3 mm 3-
tional concrete sample mixing model was designed in accordance layer designation in IS 6006 1983 for uncoated stress-free strands
with IS 10262-2009 using grade M60 concrete, whereas no code for prestressed concrete for the above testswith0.2% proof load
provision exists for the design of the geopolymer concrete mixture. 33000 N and Breaking load 39,000 N.
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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

4. Methodology of preparation of geopolymer concrete sary. The liquid component of the mixture was subsequently added
to dry materials and continued for another four minutes.
4.1. Preparation of alkaline solutions
4.4. Casting and curing
The prime need in the process of preparation is alkali liquid and
for the purpose A mixture of sodium hydroxide solution and The samples were cast by compacting them properly and pour-
sodium silicate solution was used. The next process in this research ing them into three layers after mixing is complete. Concrete sam-
work was by mixing 14 molarity of sodium hydroxide the com- ples were placed in the steam curing chamber and maintained at
pressive strength of geopolymer concrete was investigated. The 70 degree centegradefor 24 hours.
molecular weight of Sodium Hydroxide is 40. To form one-litre
solution and to produce 14-molar solution, 560 g of sodium
5. Mechanical properties of geopolymer concrete
hydroxide flakes were weighed and dissolved in water. The volu-
metric flask has a capacity of 1 L and sodium hydroxide flakes were
Based on the findings of the test results, a high compressive
added to the water to prepare a 1-litre solution. This solution was
force of 80.33 N/mm2 was delivered by the combination of 60%
prepared during the 24 h preceding the casting.
GGBS and 40% fly ash and the substitution of 50% copper slag by
M sand. Following this, high-strength geopolymer concrete (HSGC)
4.2. Mixing proportion was produced by the above mixing combination. Table 2 sets out
the mechanical properties of Geopolymer concrete. Table 3 and
The density of Geopolymer Concrete is assumed to be 2400 kg/ Table 4 give further details.
m3 since no provisions of the Geopolymer Concrete Mixture Design
Code exist. According to the density of the concrete the rest of the 6. Information about pre stressed railway concrete sleeper
calculations were carried out. The overall volume of the concrete specimen
was filled with fine (M sand) and coarse aggregate was 80%, The
proportion of weight of the alkalinity to fly ash and GGBS ratio In order to determine the dimensions, details and mixing pro-
was kept at 0.30. The ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide portions of the concrete design an investigation was conducted
to be maintained to 2. The Super Plasticizer weighed 2% of the according to Indian Railway Standard specifications. The rail
weight of GGBS and fly ash by 86 liters for moderate Appetent tem- cross-member was designed for an axle load of 22.5 Ton. The rail
perature and 103 liters per cubic meter high appetent temperature. seat load designed for the rail sleeper is 15 Ton and the specified
In the process of preparation of Geopolymer concrete, the conven- cracking load for the rail sleeper is 230kN at the bottom of the rail
tional method for the production of standard concrete was seat and 60 kN for center top location. In total, six number of slee-
adopted. Table 1 and Fig. 1 show the combined classification chart per samples were cast and section details for each sample are illus-
for course aggregates, sand and copper slog. trated in Fig. 2.The HTS 3-ply strand 3 mm 18 not each strand must
be a tensile strength of 27 kN. The concrete is M60 grade concrete.

4.3. Preparation of concrete

6.1. Preparing test specimens and curing
It is known that the alkaline liquid is a combination of sodium
For a short span of approximately three minutes the following
hydroxide solution and sodium silicate solution. By mixing 14
materials coarse aggregates, and fine aggregates (combination of
molarity of sodium hydroxide the strength of geopolymer concrete
M sand and copper slag) from the dry saturated surface were
was investigated in this research study. Fly ash, GGBS and aggre-
mixed with the binder (FA and GGBS) in a turbine type mixture,
gate were first dry-mixed together in a 150-litre saucepan blender
the alkaline activator solution along with the super plasticizer
for approximately three minutes. Under saturated conditions – dry
and additional water were added after dry mixing. Until a uniform
on the surface Aggregates were prepared. The alkaline liquid was
consistency was reached the mixture was continued for a further
mixed with Super Plasticizer Ceraplast 300 at 2% by weight of fly
4 minitues, The fresh concrete was poured in two coats and before
ash and GGBS, and then additional water was added when neces-
pouring the concrete, the tie mould was thoroughly cleaned with
sanders and blowers to remove all loose materials. immediately
Table 1 after the process of mixing. For the need of facilitating stripping
Design of a Geopolymer concrete mixture for grade M60 concrete. easily releasing agents were applied to the interior of the mould.
S.No. Materials Proportions Quantity of the materials in
The attachment to the 16 mm diameter pockets and drive pins,
kg per m3 of Concrete the application of the sealant and the placement of the mould in
1 NaOH 37
the bench were performed. High Tensile Steel (HTS) wire is con-
2 NaSiO3 74 formed to IS 6006: 1983. It was to be cleaned and free of oil and
3 Super plasticizer 7.38 moisture. The same wire length and equal spacing between wire
4 Water 86lit (Moderate ambient positions were examined. Grease and oil on insert shaft were
Temp) /103lit (High ambient
cleaned. Prior to securing the drums and shims and tightened as
Temp)
5 Fly Ash 148 shown in Fig. 3, HTS threads were inserted into the end plate holes
6 GGBS 222 and all strands were pulled by hand. The position of the supporting
7 Combined Aggregate (80% of 2400) 1920 screws and anchorage plates was verified. A starting force of 50 kN
8 Coarse Aggregate 20 mm CA1 (50% 937 was applied. As shown in Fig. 4. The measuring elongation and HTS
of 1920)
9 Coarse Aggregate 10 mm CA 2 (27% 506
wires were verified and the complete pre-stressing force of 243 kN
of 1920) in the wire was applied by the device equipped with the automatic
10 M sand (Fine Aggregate) (23% of 442 load cutting unit with measuring gauge. In order to avoid accidents
1920) the safety plates were placed over the end of the bench, covering
11 M sand (50% of 442) 265.20
the ends of the strands fitted with barrel and wedges outside the
12 Copper Slag (40% of 442) 176.80
benches. In Fig. 5, the arrangement is well indicated.
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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1. Combined Grading Curve (50% M Sand + 50% CS).

Table 2 and the minimum compression strength of 40 N/mm2 is required.

Results from geopolymer concrete (60% GGBS and 40% fly ash) replacing M sand with The tensile force was released and the wire was cut from the con-
copper slag (0–70%). crete traverse through the welding process after reaching the
S. Cube % of Average Average Average Split required strength of the specimen.
No. ID Copper Compressive Flexural Tensile
Slag Strength Strength Strength
(N/mm2) (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
6.2. Curing procedure and DeMoulding
1 GFGC 0 65.18 4.60 2.42
2 GFGC 10 69.19 4.67 2.50
3 GFGC 20 71.85 4.73 2.58 For the purpose of achieving the strength of the sleeper steam
4 GFGC 30 74.52 4.87 2.67 curing was adopted in four steps such as the pre-steaming period,
5 GFGC 40 75.85 5.00 2.72
rising period, isothermal period and cooling period. The initial
6 GFGC 50 77.19 5.20 2.85
7 GFGC 60 76.15 4.44 2.78 strengthening of the concrete sleeper must be done by steam
8 GFGC 70 75.85 4.27 2.71 under atmospheric pressure until the concrete reaches a compres-
sion resistance of 40 N/mm2 is illustrated. Fig. 6 illustrates the
steam curing cycle.
The concrete sleeper benches were laid out uniformly and
Table 3 stacked on top of one another. All steam chambers were numbered
Mixing schemes for M60 grade concrete. as a series and the dial thermometer was correctly calibrated. The
pre stream time to be counted from the last cast bench located in a
S.No Material Proportions Quantity of materials in
kg per m3 of Concrete steam chamber. By placing a thermometer at both ends of the
steam chamber the even distribution of steam is achieved. On
1 Standard Deviation 4.3
2 Target Mean Strength 73.76 N/mm2 maintaining 70-80 degree centigrade for 4–5 h in the chambers,
3 Degree of workability Extreme low the steam was shut down and the benches were cooled to 10-15
4 Degree of Quality control Good above ambient temperature. Figs. 7 and 8 describe the boiler and
5 Type of Exposure Severe steam curing chamber.
6 Cement 493
To make sure that the cubes reached the strength the test con-
7 Combined Aggregate (78% of 2400) 1874
8 Coarse Aggregate 20 mm (50% of 1874) 937 crete cubes were to release the strength. The screw of the sleeper
9 Coarse Aggregate 10 mm (27% of 1874) 506 mould was loosened and the bolts were unscrewed uniformly after
10 M sand (23% of 1874) 431 having ascertained the strength. As a next step, the pin bolts were
11 Admixture Nil
removed from the endplates. On Releasing tensioning and then to
12 W/C Ratio 0.31
13 Aggregate/Cement Ratio 3.8
loosen end plates, on cutting wires at ends, de-moulding, and
placed over trolleys. And the process of final cutting of the wire
around the end surface was complete. Now, the surface was free
With a capacity of 9000 revolutions per minute, the vibrator of cracks and honeycomb and insert holes were cleaned. The pro-
was attached to the bottom of the sleeper mould. In order to trans- jection of the end wire was not extended beyond 3 mm. A layer
fer the tensile force to the concrete traverse the sample of concrete of anti-corrosive bitumen was applied to each end of the sleeper.
cubes was poured and tested after 11 hours per steam drying cycle The lot number and date of casting to appear on the sleeper.

Table 4
Mechanical characteristics of traditional concrete.

S.No. Cube ID Average Compressive Strength (N/mm2) Average Flexural Strength (N/mm2) Average Split Tensile Strength (N/mm2)
1 CC 65.13 6.1 5.28

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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 2. Illustrated cross section of pre-stressed concrete sleeper.

Fig. 6. Steam Curing Cycle Process.

Fig. 3. Position for fixing barrels and wedges.

Fig. 7. Boiler of steam curing.

Fig. 4. Position of pre-tension loading head and device.

Fig. 5. Safety guard plate fitted with barrel, wedges and sleeper ready for casting. Fig. 8. Precast sleeper specimens.

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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

6.3. Test procedure the moment of failure (MF) on each side. The final failure was not
expected to occur until 370kN applied. In order to determine the
For facilitating the marking of cracks samples of pre-stressed ultimate failure load this method adopted. Figs. 11–13 show the
ties were whitewashed. On a 50-ton capacity loading frame testing different tests on concrete sleeper. Table 5 illustrated comparison
was conducted. Before the process of resting the sleeper on the of test result of conventional pre-stressed rail sleeper and geopoly-
reaction blocks, the sleeper was centered using a plumb line so that mer pre-stressed concrete rail sleepers.
it is exactly below the center of the loading head. 280 mm was
labeled from the center of the loading point on both sides and on 7. Discussion
both rail seats. The support was manufactured half-round with a
diameter of 38 mm and was welded to MS plates with a thickness As per technical specifications that are used in the rail system.
of 25 mm. Additional 6 mm rubber cushions were placed between Three samples of prefabricated pre-stressed concrete sleeper were
the supports and the sleeper. The supports were located inward
280 mm from the center of the loading points, as Illustrated in
Fig. 9. The load applied to the center line of the rail seat through
the pressure distribution of the MS plate with a plate size
145  25 mm and a 6 mm rubber plate was placed between the
sleeper and the loading head. The bottom of one rail seat was
tested at the same time to ensure that the other end was not held
up. Initially, two point loads were applied to the both rail seats,
loaded at a rate of 30–40 kN per minute until the specified load
of 60 kN, which was held at this level for three minutes for crack
observation. Under this process, a crack is defined as a crack that
is barely visible to the naked eye and that is at least 15 mm long
from the tension edge of the sleeper. However, if the crack occurs
at a load lower than the specified load, its value must be recorded.
When two load points are applied to the sleeper, the load is spread
toward the center and upper surface of the sleeper. The above
mode of test device is called Sleeper Center Top (SCT).
In Fig. 10, the arrangement was explained as follow. The brack- Fig. 11. Static bending test on pre-Tensioned pre-cast conventional concrete
ets were placed outwards 280 mm from the center point of loading sleeper.
on each side and the single point load was applied to the left side of
the rail seat and also the sleeper design and the Moment of Resi-
dence. With regard to power load the load was applied at the rate
of 30 to 40 kN per minutes and the load was progressively
increased from the overly specified load of 230 kN. Further, it
was held for three minutes to observe cracks if occurred. This lay-
out test procedure was referred to as the Rail Seat Centre Bottom
(RSCB), which measures the Moment Resistance (MR) of the slee-
per. A similar procedure was applied to the other side of the rail
seat. The above procedure was repeated up to 370kN to determine

Fig. 12. Static bending test on pre-tensioners precast Geopolymer concrete sleeper.

Fig. 9. Test arrangement of centre top.

Fig. 10. Test arrangement of rail seat centre bottom. Fig. 13. Ultimate failure of re-tensioned precast Geopolymer concrete sleeper.

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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 5
Comparison of test result of conventional pre-stressed rail sleeper and geopolymer pre-stressed concrete rail sleeper.

Sleepers ID Cube Strength in N/mm2 Sleeper Centre Top (SCT) Rail Centre Bottom Rail Centre Bottom
Load Applied in kN (RSCB) Load at First (RSCB) Load at Failure
Crack in kN in kN
Top Bottom I II I II
PSC 1 72.27 75 – 256 261 380 385
PSC 2 70.62 74 265 271 385 390
PSC 3 67.38 68 266 270 377 380
PGFGC 1 77.33 76 267 277 380 387
PGFGC 2 78.67 74 281 265 390 395
PGFGC 3 75.56 75 268 269 395 392

poured using 53 grade (special) portland cement (OPC). Further,

three additional specifications were prepared using geopolymer
concrete (GCGF). After 28 days of water curing in the OPC sample,
the load transfer (prestress) was carried out. After 24 h of steam
curing in the GCFM sample, the load transfer has carried out imme-
diately. In accordance with Indian railway standard, all specimens
underwent sheer strength testing. During the experimental test
observation, two parameters were observed and recorded. While
observing the load incremental in progress, deflection was mea-
sured, using a Linear – variation differential transformer (LVDT)).
Using both first crack and ultimate loading were recorded during
load incremental in progress and deflection was measured. Due
to the influence of sheer strength rather than flexural force and
loading was in progress considerable deviation was not shown Fig. 15. Flexural behavior of conventional concrete sleeper.
by the sample. While analyzing all test samples, it was noted that
rupture occurred without variation with a formation of initial crack
at the specific load and same crack was extended with a slope of
45degree. In Table 5, the test results illustrate the initial crack load
and ultimate load. Figs. 14–17 show the load versus center deflec-
tion. In order to tap apparent inference, the curve was idealized
and moved the same, which is indicated in the above mentioned
figures. Until the formation of the first crack in all samples the
deflection varies nearly linearly. Besides the variation, in both sam-
ple categories the load at the first crack was in highly closed range
(256,277kN). The Initial crack depth found laid between 5 mm and
15 mm. Without increasing the load, after the first crack was
formed the specimen were deformed again. During the experimen-
tal, test this was possible due to transfer of stress from the cover
concrete to pre-stress wire. This transmission could cause the addi-
tion to deflection and eventually the pre-stressing wire needed to
play to resist the flexural forces. It was also found that the load
verses displacement curve is again linear until the ultimate load
Fig. 16. Flexural behavior of Geopolymer concrete sleeper.
displaced. Further in the process of load conversion period, the ini-
tial crack apparently extended over the top of the being, causing
shear failure of specimen.

Fig. 14. Flexural behavior of conventional concrete sleeper. Fig. 17. Flexural behavior of Geopolymer concrete sleeper.

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Dr.S. Imran Khan Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

7. In a controlled concrete specimen the formation of the crack

is isotropic, while in the geopolymer concrete specimen the
formation of a crack is catastrophic.
8. In geopolymer concrete the failure mode is found noisy
whereas in controlled concrete it is In place of M sand to
obtain high strength concrete and good durability proper-
ties, it is recommended to use 40% by weight of copper slag.
9. Copper slag is viable for use as an alternate to fine aggregate
in concrete for the reason that copper slag has potential
properties of strength and durability.
10. As it is found there is high early strength, geopolymer con-
crete needs to be used efficiently in prefabricated industries,
for the reason that enormous production is possible in short
duration and rupture during transport and the curing period
Fig. 18. Crack pattern of Geopolymer concrete Rail sleepers.
need to be minimized.
11. While comparing the cost the price of geopolymer fly ash-
based concrete is estimated to be around 10–30% cheaper
than that of portland cemented concrete.
7.1. Prominent points observed in the load versus deflection curve 12. It is recommended to use 10 mm aggregates for better
maneuverability rather than using coarse 16 mm and
The initial crack formation (0A) was identified by occurrences, 20 mm size aggregates.
observing the deformation period for the original crack (A-B), 13. It is to be highlighted that the availability of geopolymer
transfer of stress from concrete to prestress wire transit area (B- concrete holds a harmonious balance between the resource
C); The ultimate load (C) and causes of failure (C-D) were initiated of the earth and the needs of a growing population with
by the prestressing wire. The ultimate load in both clauses was the regard to environmental conservation, a process of pro-
similar to that observed in the ultimate breaking load. This obser- ducing geopolymer is reduced the emission of green gases
vation could be found in 377kN and 392kN range. Comparing to and also industrial is possibly converted into an alternate
the failure mode of those clauses, the remarkable difference was for building materials.
noticed in the conventional concrete specimen and geopolymer 14. Another added advantage is curing of water is avoided by
concrete specimen. When the first crack was found and observed, using geopolymer concrete and thus it minimizes and con-
the crack gradually continued and become specimen, reaching serves availability of water resources.
the ultimate fracture load crack. The crack that was observed cre- 15. By using the solar system for generating power, the dry cur-
ated the single wide crack at 45°. ing process of geopolymer concrete can be carried out
Fig. 18 shows this wide cracking. Traditional concrete failure resulting to reducing in consumption of electricity.
mode was found quiet where as in case of geopolymer concrete, 16. It is further highlighted of the benefit of using geopolymer
after the first crack was formed, the crack propagation was in the concrete that is strongly recommended for pre-fabricated
dormancy. When the load reached the failure level, the crack sud- railway concrete sleeper.
denly expanded and spread, causing catastrophic noise failure, by
comparing the loading capabilities of conventional and geopoly- CRediT authorship contribution statement
mer concrete specimen. During the experimental test, finally it
was found clear that the geopolymer concrete sleeper exhibited a S. Imran Khan: Methodology, Formal analysis, Supervision, Val-
high performance load and a high ultimate load. idation, Writing - original draft.

8. Conclusion Declaration of Competing Interest

1. The ratio between span and total depth is about 0.4 and the The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
failure of the specimen beam/ties is primarily controlled by cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
the shear strength of sample. to influence the work reported in this paper.
2. While testing made with an identical strength of conven-
tional concrete and geopolymer concrete, the performance Acknowledgements
of the sleepers under the first cracking load and the ultimate
load are practically identical. The authors also would like to acknowledge Dr. S. Nagan and Dr.
3. In the process of investigating the initial cracking load and Brindha D., Department of Civil Engineering, Thiagarajar College of
ultimate cracking load in control concrete and geopolymer Engineering, Madurai, Tamilnadu. India for their assistance in con-
sample, the geopolymer has the higher initial and ultimate ducting some of the tests in this study.
loading related to the control concrete sample.
4. In course of testing the convention concrete specimen and
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