A Comprehensive Investigation of Performance Characteristics, Mechanical Properties and Durability Parameters of Self-compacting Concrete Containing Iron Slag as Coarse Aggregate

Abstract

In this paper, iron slag is used as partial coarse aggregate substitution in Self-compacting concrete (SCC). The SCC samples tests were conducted after 28 days of water curing for samples with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% iron slag as coarse aggregate substitutes. This paper evaluates slump flow, V-funnel, L-box, compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, surface water absorption, capillary water absorption, electrical resistance, acid resistance, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of concrete samples. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of samples was investigated for evaluating cement paste microstructure. Samples containing 20%, 60%, and 60% iron slag as coarse aggregate substitute have higher compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strength than control samples (about 18.4%, 28.6%, and 16.9% higher, respectively). In addition, using 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% iron slag as coarse aggregate increased the compressive strength. Moreover, incorporating iron slag as a coarse aggregate decreased the mass loss of samples which were exposed to the acid environment compared to control specimens. Using iron slag as partial coarse aggregate substitution reduced the porosity of the cement matrix compared to control samples (based on SEM images).