Effective Utilization of Wastes from Steel Industries in Concrete

Steel slag, a by-product of steel making, is produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in steel-making furnaces. The slag occurs as a molten liquid melt and is a complex solution of silicates and oxides that solidifies upon cooling. It is estimated that 115-180Mt of steel slag is poured out annually worldwide and in addition to this previous accumulation of the material has created mountains of steel slag. In India, steel slag output is approximately 20% by mass, of the crude steel output. The slag in India is used mainly in the cement manufacture and in other unorganized work, such as landfills and railway ballast. In order to reduce the pollution load on landfill for the disposal of steel slag at steel industries, it can be effectively utilized in construction as aggregates in concrete. Use of waste materials can solve problems of lack of aggregate in various construction sites and reduce environmental problems related to aggregate mining and waste disposal. The use of waste aggregates can also reduce the cost of the concrete production. In this research work an attempt is made to utilize the steel slag as partial replacement material for natural aggregates in concrete. 10% to 100% replacement was done in 10% increment and fresh and hardened concrete properties were studied.