Abstract:
Portland cement is one of the most used materials in the world. However, demand and energy expenditure have increased the search for alternative and more sustainable materials that can fill this gap. Thus, the objective of this research was to create a metakaolin geopolymeric paste, partially replacing it with fly ash in percentages of 20 and 40%, with curing at 25 and 65 ºC to carry out tests in the hardened state of compressive strength and apparent density at 3 and 6 days. The results showed that thermal curing accelerated the geopolymerization process and achieved results of 12.71, 11.56 and 9.76 MPa for (0, 20 and 40% fly ash) at 3 days, while in ambient curing only the reference sample of metakaolin had satisfactory results, reaching 11.32 MPa. For the 6 days, with the longer time for alkaline activation, the ambient curing compounds had better results compared to the 3 days, with gains of 30.1%, 54.7% and 247% for (0, 20 and 40% of substitution). Thus, it was observed that for early ages, the metakaolin and fly ash geopolymer has greater potential for application when used with thermal curing at moderate temperatures around 60 ºC.