Abstract
Road construction is an activity that demands a significant amount of aggregates for bituminous mixtures. In addition, these aggregates must be of a suitable quality for use, even more so on high traffic roads. In response to this problem, and in order to avoid the extraction of new raw materials, research is being carried out using industrial waste as a substitute for conventional aggregates. In this way, the extraction of raw materials is reduced and landfilling of waste is avoided. However, these wastes must have certain properties and environmental advantages over natural aggregates. Otherwise, the use of waste would not be environmentally beneficial but would be more damaging to the environment. For this reason, this research evaluates the viability of using electric arc furnace slag as aggregates for bituminous mixtures, the main objectives being the determination of the characteristics of the by-product, the particularities and the critical points to be taken into account for its subsequent use in mixtures. At the same time, the environmental advantages of treating this waste to obtain a usable aggregate are evaluated in comparison with the processing of a natural aggregate. The results showed that electric arc furnace slags have a suitable chemical composition and excellent physical and mechanical properties for use in bituminous mixtures, even on high traffic roads. At the same time, it was determined that their use produces a considerable reduction in environmental afflictions. Therefore, it could be affirmed that the use of electric arc furnace slags in bituminous mixtures is recommendable as a way to develop more sustainable materials for construction.
Highlights
The construction sector is one of the most demanding sectors for raw materials that exist today [1]
Given that electric arc furnace slags were produced in steel production, and come from processes where the existence of heavy metals are common as the leachates from these slags, we proceeded to the analysis of the same with the aim to determine that their use does not lead to significant environmental problems
This section first describes the results of physical, chemical and mechanical tests to check the validity of electric arc furnace slags as coarse and fine aggregates for bituminous mixtures
Summary
The construction sector is one of the most demanding sectors for raw materials that exist today [1]. The choice of these slags for the proposed purpose is motivated by the importance of these aggregates in this material in a generalized way, by the relevance of this material in road infrastructures and by the Materials 2021, 14, 782 very important demand for it in this type of infrastructure For this purpose, and as a novelty with respect to other research relating to life cycle studies [27], the slag has been physically, chemically and mechanically characterized, determining its suitability, as well as the material it could replace within the bituminous mixtures. As a novelty with respect to other research relating to life cycle studies [27], the slag has been physically, chemically and mechanically characterized, determining its suitability, as well as the material it could replace within the bituminous mixtures In this way, it has been possible to objectively evaluate whether its use entails the shortest working life of the final conformed product. This research is crucial for all researchers who wish to develop various types of bituminous mixtures with electric arc furnace slag
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