Effect of Amorphous Metallic Fibers on Strength and Drying Shrinkage of Mortars with Steel Slag Aggregate

Abstract

Recently, with increasingly stringent environmental regulations and the depletion of natural aggregate resources, high-quality aggregates have become scarce. Therefore, significant efforts have been devoted by the construction industry to improve the quality of concrete and achieve sustainable development by utilizing industrial by-products and developing alternative aggregates. In this study, we use amorphous metallic fibers (AMFs) to enhance the performance of mortar with steel slag aggregate. Testing revealed that the 28-day compressive strength of the sample with steel slag aggregate and AMFs was in the range of 48.7–50.8 MPa, which was equivalent to or higher than that of the control sample (48.7 MPa). The AMFs had a remarkable effect on improving the tensile strength of the mortar regardless of the use of natural aggregates. With AMFs, the drying shrinkage reduction rate of the sample with 100% steel slag aggregate was relatively higher than that of the sample with 50% natural fine aggregate. Furthermore, the difference in the drying shrinkage with respect to the amount of AMFs was insignificant. The findings can contribute to sustainable development in the construction industry.