Fresh and Hardened Properties of Paving Concrete with Steel Slag Aggregate

Abstract

In 2006 the United States saw the production of 8.6 million tons of steel slag. Although steel slag is currently used as an aggregate in Hot Mix Asphalt surface applications, this paper examines the feasibility of utilizing this industrial by-product as a replacement for both fine and coarse aggregate in conventional concrete mixtures. The first phase of this research examined the effects on the fresh and hardened properties of concrete caused by replacing a percentage of the volume of both fine and coarse aggregate with steel slag available in the Northeastern Ohio area. The basis for comparison was the Ohio Department of Transportations Class C option 1 concrete paving mixture. During this program three types of steel slag were utilized. The slag had been aged and tested for expansion by the producer/supplier, as required by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The fresh concrete properties of workability, air content and unit weight, and hardened properties of compressive and splitting tensile strength were examined per standard ASTM guidelines. This preliminary investigation demonstrates that the specifications called for by the Ohio Department of Transportation can be met. Further study to assure that the performance of the finished pavement is not degraded is on-going.