Study on Road Performance of Cement Fly Ash Stabilized Steel Slag—Concrete Recycled Macadam

In order to promote the application of steel slag in road engineering, improve its utilization rate and solve the environmental problems caused by its large accumulation, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, indirect tensile strength (ITS) test, freeze-thaw cycle test, dry shrinkage and temperature shrinkage test tests with different steel slag contents were carried out. And the strength formation mechanism of steel slag in base material was revealed by SEM. The results show that the strength of the mixture initially increased and then decreased with increasing steel slag content. The frost resistance increased with increasing steel slag content, which should be limited to no more than 75%. Increasing the steel slag content improved the drying shrinkage resistance but was not conducive to the temperature shrinkage resistance. Microscopic analysis shows that adding a suitable amount of steel slag generated a gel material that was distributed inside the pores. This increased the density of the hardened slurry structure, which improved the strength. The research can provide scientific basis for the application and promotion of steel slag in road base.

Study on the Optimum Steel Slag Content of SMA-13 Asphalt Mixes Based on Road Performance

To reduce the use of aggregates such as limestone and basalt, this paper used steel slag to replace some of the limestone aggregates in the production of SMA-13 asphalt mixes. The optimum content of steel slag in the SMA-13 asphalt mixes was investigated, and the performance of these mixes was evaluated. Five SMA-13 asphalt mixes with varying steel slag content (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were designed and prepared experimentally. The high-temperature stability, low-temperature crack resistance, water stability, dynamic modulus, shear resistance, and volumetric stability of the mixes were investigated using the wheel tracking, Hamburg wheel tracking, three-point bending, freeze–thaw splitting, dynamic modulus, uniaxial penetration, and asphalt mix expansion tests. The results showed that compared to normal SMA-13 asphalt mixes, the high-temperature stability, water stability, and shear resistance of the SMA-13 asphalt mixes increased and then decreased as the steel slag content increased. All three performance indicators peaked at 75% steel slag content, and the dynamic stability, freeze–thaw splitting ratio, and uniaxial penetration strength increased by 90.48%, 7.39%, and 88.08%, respectively; however, the maximum bending tensile strain, which represents the low-temperature crack resistance of the asphalt mix, decreased by 5.98%. The dynamic modulus of the SMA-13 asphalt mixes increased with increasing steel slag content, but the volume expansion at a 75% steel slag content was 0.446% higher than at a 0% steel slag content. Based on the experimental results, the optimum content of steel slag for SMA-13 asphalt mixes was determined to be 75%.

A Comprehensive Study on the Factors Affecting the Workability and Mechanical Properties of Ambient Cured Fly Ash and Slag Based Geopolymer Concrete

Geopolymer concrete (GPC), also known as an earth friendly concrete, has been under continuous study due to its environmental benefits and potential as a sustainable alternative to conventional concrete construction. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive studies focusing on the influence of all the design mix variables on the fresh and strength properties of GPC. GPC is still a relatively new material in terms of field application and has yet to secure international acceptance as a construction material. Therefore, it is important that comprehensive studies be carried out to collect more reliable information to expand this relatively new material technology to field and site applications. This research work aims to provide a comprehensive study on the factors affecting the fresh and hardened properties of ambient cured fly ash and slag based geopolymer concrete (FS-GPC). Industrial by-products, fly ash from thermal power plants, and ground granulated blast furnace slag from steel industries were utilized to produce ambient cured FS-GPC. A series of experiments were conducted to study the effect of various parameters, i.e., slag content (10%, 20%, 30%, and 50%), amount of alkaline activator solution (AAS) (35% and 40%), sodium silicate (SS) to sodium hydroxide (SH) ratio (SS/SH = 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0), sodium hydroxide concentration (10 M, 12 M, and 14 M) and addition of extra water on fresh and mechanical properties of FS-GPC. The workability of the fresh FS-GPC mixes was measured by the slump cone test. The mechanical properties of the mixes were evaluated by compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexure strength, and static modulus tests. The results revealed that workability of FS-GPC is greatly reduced by increasing slag content, molarity of NaOH solution, and SS/SH ratio. The compressive strength was improved with an increase in the molarity of NaOH solution and slag content and a decrease in AAS content from 40% to 35%. However, the influence of SS/SH ratio on mechanical properties of FS-GPC has a varying effect. The addition of extra water to enhance the workability of GPC matrix caused a decrease in the compressive strength. The validity of the equations suggested by previous studies to estimate the tensile and flexural strength and elastic modulus of FS-GPC mixes were also evaluated. Based on the test results of this study, empirical equations are proposed to predict the splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and elastic modulus of ambient cured FS-GPC. The optimal mixtures of FS-GPC in terms of workability and mechanical properties were also proposed for the field applications.

Effect of Steel Slag on Shrinkage Characteristics of Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement

The effects of steel slag with 0, 10%, 20 % and 40% content on the chemical shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage, internal relative humidity, and drying shrinkage of calcium sulfoaluminate cement paste were studied. The results show that the compressive strength of calcium sulfoaluminate cement paste at an early stage decreases gradually when the content of steel slag increases. When the steel slag content is 0 and 10%, the compressive strength of hardened cement pastes gradually decreases at 90 and 180 days, but the samples with steel slag content of 20% and 40% maintain the compressive strength growth within 180 d. With the extension of curing period, the gap of compressive strength is gradually narrowed. The autogenous shrinkage decreases with the increase of steel slag content and has a good linear relationship with the relative humidity inside the paste. The proportion of autogenous shrinkage to chemical shrinkage is deficient, and most chemical shrinkage occurs in the form of the pore volume. Although the trends of drying shrinkage and autogenous are consistent, the former is more severe than the latter.

SIGNIFICANT LEVELS OF STEEL SLAG CONCRETE PRODUCED WITH VARYING WATER CEMENT RATIOS

This study investigated the significance of steel slag concrete created with varying water cement ratios. Steel slag from Prism Nigeria Limited was used to replace granite (at 0, 40, 50 and 60 %) in concrete. Properties of this modified concrete were examined and its results were exposed to measurable test utilizing Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The outcome indicated that the compressive and flexural qualities of the concrete increased with increased in slag content but consistently decreased as the water-cement ratios increased. The p-values of the ANOVA test for the models term are significant because they are less than 0.05.

Post-thermal properties of Portland cement concrete made with copper slag as fine aggregates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of elevated temperature on mechanical and physical properties of concrete specimens obtained by substituting the river sand with copper slag (CS) at proportions of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The specimens were heated in an electric furnace up to 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 C and kept at these temperatures for 2 h duration. After the specimens were cooled in the furnace, mass loss, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), compressive strength, split tensile strength (STS), flexural strength (FS) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) values were determined. No spalling occurred in the specimens after subjected to elevated temperature. The surface cracks were observed only in specimens exposed to 600 C. The maximum reduction in compressive strength and STS at 600C is 50.3% and 36.39% for referral mix (NC), 18% and 16% for specimens with 100% CS (MCS4). The reduction in MOE of specimens is observed to be high as copper slag content increases with increasing temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies are carried out to examine the changes in micro-structures of specimens after exposed to elevated temperatures. Design/methodology/approach After casting of concrete specimens, it is cured for 28 days. After attainment of 28 days age, the concrete specimens is taken out from the curing tank and allowed to dry for 2 days to remove any moisture content in the specimens to prevent explosive spalling during the time of heating. The prepared concrete specimen is subjected to temperatures of 100°C, 200°C, 300°C, 400°C, 500°C and 600°C up to 2 h duration. The physical test, mechanical test and SEM studies are carried out after cooling of specimens to room temperature (RT). The quality of concrete specimens is measured by conducting UPV test after cooling to RT. Findings The post-thermal strength properties of concrete specimens with copper slag contents are higher than referral mix concrete. The reduction of MOE of concrete specimens is more with incremental in copper slag content with increase in temperatures. Furthermore, the quality of concrete specimens is ranging from “good to medium” up to 500C temperatures based on UPV test. Originality/value In this research work, the natural sand is fully replaced with copper slag materials in the concrete mixes. The post-thermal strength properties like residual compressive strength, residual STS, residual FS and residual MOE is higher than referral mix after subjected to elevated temperature conditions. Higher density and toughness properties of copper slag materials will contribute to concrete strength. The effect of elevated temperature is more on MOE of concrete specimens having higher copper slag contents when comparing to specimens compressive strength.

Development of Low-Alkali, Fly Ash/Slag Geopolymers: Predictive Strength Modelling and Analyses of Impact of Curing Temperatures

The present work analyses the effects of curing temperature (25°, 40°, 60 °C for 24 h), silicate modulus Ms value (1.5, 1.7, 2.0), and slag content (10, 20, 30, 40 wt%) on the compressive strength development (1, 7, 14, 28 days) of low-alkali geopolymer mortars with matrices from fly ash and blast furnace slag. These data were used to generate predictive models for 28-day compressive strength as a function of curing temperature and slag content. While the dominant variable for the 1-day compressive strength was the curing temperature, the slag content was dominant for the 28-day compressive strength. The ratio of the 1-day and 28-day compressive strengths as a function of curing temperature, Ms value, and slag content allows prediction of the maximal possible curing temperature and shows cold-weather casting to present an obstacle to setting. These data also allow prediction of the 28-day compressive strength using only the 1-day compressive strength.