Cast in place geopolymer concrete pile with heating unit
AssigneesUniversity of Tennessee Research Foundation, Hebei Research Institute of Construction and Geotechnical Investigation Co., Ltd.
InventorsBaoshan Huang, Wei Hu, Xiang Shu, Qiang He, Qingke Nie
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Abstract
Methods of preparing cast-in-place geopolymer piles using electrical heating wire (130) to provide heat to cure the piles are described. The heating wire (130) can be associated with a reinforcement cage (120) inserted in the pile shaft. Rod-shaped heating units comprising electrical heating wire (130) can be inserted into a pile shaft and can be reusable. Geopolymer piles with high compressive strength can be prepared from mixtures of class F fly ash and aqueous sodium hydroxide by heating the piles with the heating wire to a stable curing temperature for at least about 24 hours.
Claims26
A method of preparing a cast-in-place geopolymer concrete pile, the method comprising:
- (a) providing a subterranean shaft, wherein the shaft extends below ground surface and comprises an open end at ground surface and a bottom end at a pre-determined depth below ground surface;
- (b) inserting one or more heating units into the shaft, wherein each heating unit comprises one or more lengths of a heating wire, said heating wire comprising an electrically conductive wire, and wherein each heating unit is connectable to a power source;
- (c) filling the shaft with an uncured concrete composition comprising an uncured geopolymer concrete or an uncured geopolymer cement;
- and
- (d) providing an electric current to the one or more heating units, thereby providing heat sufficient to cure the concrete composition and prepare a cast-in place geopolymer concrete pile.
A cast-in-place geopolymer concrete pile prepared by curing an uncured geopolymer concrete or uncured geopolymer cement using heat produced by a heating wire.
A system for preparing a cast-in-place geopolymer concrete pile, said system comprising at least one of:
- (a) a heating unit comprising one or more lengths of heating wire, optionally one or more lengths of insulated heating wire, attached to a reinforcement cage, optionally a steel reinforcement cage;
- and
- (b) one or more rod-shaped heating units comprising one or more lengths of heating wire, optionally one or more lengths of insulated heating wire, further optionally wherein each rod-shaped heating unit is enclosed in a detachable housing;
- wherein each heating unit is adapted for connection to a power source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.