Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Ph.D candidate, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
2
Associate Professor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
3
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran
10.22065/jsce.2024.386806.3048
Abstract
Using the Taguchi method, this study deals with the optimization of the impact performance of fiber reinforced geopolymer concretes based on agricultural wastes, under repeating impact according to the method proposed by ACI C544. In the construction of geopolymer concretes, rice husk ash was used as binder and corn stalk was used as aggregate. Moreover, mixtures were reinforced by wheat straw, barley straw, and sugarcane. The factors of curing method, the concentration of sodium hydroxide solution, the mass ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide, the mass ratio of the alkaline activator to binder, the mass ratio of aggregate to binder, the type of fiber, and the fiber volume were considered as the inputs of the Taguchi analysis. Given the number and levels of considered factors, 18 mix designs were used in construction of specimens, on the basis of the L_18 (6^3×1^2) orthogonal array proposed by Taguchi. Moreover, the present study determined the optimal levels of factors using the signal-to-noise ratio analysis, and determined the percentage of participation of each factor in the test results by means of the delta method. In addition, by making and testing the optimal mixtures proposed by the Taguchi method, the present study validated the method. Based on the experimental results, the fiber volume factor, with an optimal level of 8%, was recognized as the most influential factor with a participation of 55.4% in the first crack resistance and 63.9% in the ultimate resistance. On the other hand, the difference between the predictions of the Taguchi method and the experimental results was less than 10%, which indicates the validity of Taguchi method in this field. Finally, statistical analysis on the results of impact tests showed that two-parameter Weibull distribution is a suitable statistical distribution for the statistical investigation of the impact resistance of geopolymer concretes.
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