Durability of Mortar Incorporating Ferronickel Slag Aggregate and Supplementary Cementitious Materials Subjected to Wet\u2013Dry Cycles

Ashish Kumer Saha,Prabir Kumar Sarker

doi:10.1186/s40069-018-0264-5

Ashish Kumer Saha, Prabir Kumar Sarker

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40069-018-0264-5

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Abstract

This paper presents the strength and durability of cement mortars using 0–100% ferronickel slag (FNS) as replacement of natural sand and 30% fly ash or ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as cement replacement. The maximum mortar compressive strength was achieved with 50% sand replacement by FNS. Durability was evaluated by the changes in compressive strength and mass of mortar specimens after 28 cycles of alternate wetting at 23 °C and drying at 110 °C. Strength loss increased by the increase of FNS content with marginal increases in the mass loss. Though a maximum strength loss of up to 26% was observed, the values were only 3–9% for 25–100% FNS contents in the mixtures containing 30% fly ash. The XRD data showed that the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash helped to reduce the strength loss caused by wet–dry cycles. Overall, the volume of permeable voids (VPV) and performance in wet–dry cycles for 50% FNS and 30% fly ash were better than those for 100% OPC and natural sand.

Highlights

Substantial amounts of industrial by-products are currently used worldwide as construction materials
It can be seen that compressive strength increased with increase of the percentage of ferronickel slag (FNS) up to 50% in all three series of mortars and declined with further increase of FNS
In the mortar series of 100% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as binder, the 28-day compressive strength gradually increased from 39 MPa for 0% FNS to 57 MPa for 50% FNS and gradually decreased to 44 MPa for 100% FNS

Summary

Introduction

Substantial amounts of industrial by-products are currently used worldwide as construction materials. Improvements of the hardened properties of concrete such as compressive strength, tensile strength and abrasion resistance by partial replacement of fine aggregate with the copper slag have been reported in the literature (Al-Jabri et al 2011; Wu et al 2010; Brindha and Nagan 2011). The hardened concrete properties such as compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength were improved by the partial replacement of sand with FNS Improvement of these mechanical properties was attributed to the physical properties of FNS such as high unit weight, well-grading and angularity of the particle, which improved bonding between paste and aggregates (Sakoi et al 2013; Shoya et al 1999). Among the limited literature available on durability properties of FNS aggregate concrete, Shoya et al (1999) showed that 50% replacement of natural aggregate by FNS resulted in better freeze–thaw resistance as compared to the control specimens.

Experimental Work

Compressive Strength Development in Normal Curing Condition

Conclusion