Utilization of Electric Arc Furnace Slag as Aggregates in Concrete -- Environmental Issue

Synopsis : Electric Arc Furnace Slag (EAFS) that contains low percentage of amorphous silica and high content of ferric oxides and consequently has low pozzolanic activities in comparison with Blast Furnace Slag (BFS), is not appropriate to be used in blended cement production. Due to these characteristics, the properties of EAFS, which is also addressed as Steel Slag in this paper, have been studied as aggregate in concrete. In this order, appropriate experiments were conducted for evaluating the properties of concrete made by steel slag as coarse aggregate. These experiments include water absorption, alkali-silica reaction, resistance to degradation and soundness of aggregates as well as mechanical properties of concrete specimens such as compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were investigated, both for normal and high strength concrete. Accordingly, the results of these experiments indicate that not only steel slag can be noticed as aggregate in concrete, but also it will have more advantages in high strength concrete than normal strength concrete.