Physical and mechanical properties of concrete manufactured using electric arc furnace slag as coarse aggregates

Abstract

The use of industrial wastes as construction materials represents an attractive alternative to landfill disposal of waste especially in small Caribbean islands where arable land is very scarce. In this paper, the physical and mechanical properties of concrete using Trinidad Arcelor Mittal electric arc furnace (EAF) slag as coarse aggregates were investigated. A total of five mixes were used, and for each, the fresh and hardened properties were determined. The concrete mixes were prepared using varied slag content to natural aggregate ratio. These ratios were 0.0, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0. The fresh and hardened properties evaluated were workability, fresh density, compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength. In addition, the water absorption, specific gravity, abrasion resistance and mineralogical composition of the aggregates (limestone and EAF slag) were evaluated. The research revealed a significant improvement in the hardened properties of concrete made with EAF slag, namely the compressive, split and flexural strength of the samples. The results indicated that this improvement highly depended on the proportion of EAF slag used. It was also found that the physical properties of Arcelor Mittal EAF slag was significantly better that that of the crushed limestone, primarily in its strength/density ratio compressive and tensile strength as well as resistance to abrasion.