The effect of using steel slag as fine aggregate on properties of mortar

Abstract

Steel slag is a by-product of steel manufacturing. It can be used in various fields of civil engineering, e.g.  as aggregate in concrete and asphalt mixtures. Aim of this research is to investigate of the effects on the mortar properties by partially replacing the sand by steel slag.

Four mixtures were investigated in terms of mechanical properties and water requirement of normal consistency. The first mixture was prepared without steel slag. The rest of mixtures were prepared with the ratio of steel slag of  10wt%, 20wt% and 30wt% respectively as partial replacement of sand. It was found that the sample containing 10% of steel slag gave the best mechanical properties at age of 28 days. The flexural strength for this sample was 6.91MPa and 38.51MPa with percentage of increase equal to 1% and 4.4% respectively in comparison with the control sample (sample without steel slag). In addition, it was found that the water requirement increases when the ratio of replacement was increased.