An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content

As a non-biodegradable material and a major environmental hazard due to its discharge into the environment, by-products like steel production steel slag (SS) are disposed of in open spaces, agricultural lands, and close to residential areas. This by-product is now considered to have qualities that m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bengin M. A. Herki, Ali Ibrahim Ali, Yousif Sadiq Smail, Karwan Maroof Omer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1514
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850155870047961088
author Bengin M. A. Herki
Ali Ibrahim Ali
Yousif Sadiq Smail
Karwan Maroof Omer
author_facet Bengin M. A. Herki
Ali Ibrahim Ali
Yousif Sadiq Smail
Karwan Maroof Omer
author_sort Bengin M. A. Herki
collection DOAJ
description As a non-biodegradable material and a major environmental hazard due to its discharge into the environment, by-products like steel production steel slag (SS) are disposed of in open spaces, agricultural lands, and close to residential areas. This by-product is now considered to have qualities that make it a potential substitute for cement and natural aggregates in the manufacturing of concrete or clinker in the cement manufacturing sector. The effects of using a novel type of SS made in an induction furnace (IF) in place of Portland cement and natural coarse aggregate in concrete were investigated experimentally. Steel slag powder (SSP), low-density steel slag (LDSS) aggregate, and high-density steel slag (HDSS) aggregate were all physically and chemically examined in this study. Each of these three replacement materials was added to concrete in weight proportions of 20%, 40%, and so on. The performance of the resultant mixtures was compared to that of the plain concrete, and the mechanical properties such as split tensile strength, flexural strength, and compressive strength were examined, along with the durability properties of water absorption (WA) and freeze–thaw, and the non-destructive testing of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of the concrete mixtures were also evaluated. The results indicated that adding HDSS to the concrete increased its mechanical and durability properties, while adding LDSS and SSP resulted in a small and a significant drop in mechanical properties, respectively, when compared to the plain concrete. The increase in compressive strength and the decrease in water absorption at the standard age of 28 days reached 5.2% and 2.1%, respectively. The percentage decrease in compressive strength (8.95–21.74%) of SS concrete mixtures after freeze–thaw cycles was greater than that of the control concrete. Additionally, a concrete mixture containing 40% HDSS yielded the best results.
format Article
id doaj-art-1a2211afe09a4558bfbf55da1529dc20
institution OA Journals
issn 2075-5309
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Buildings
spelling doaj-art-1a2211afe09a4558bfbf55da1529dc202025-08-20T02:24:45ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-05-01159151410.3390/buildings15091514An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> ContentBengin M. A. Herki0Ali Ibrahim Ali1Yousif Sadiq Smail2Karwan Maroof Omer3Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Soran University, Soran 44008, IraqDarin Steel Factory, Kawergoask Road, Khabat District, Erbil 44001, IraqDarin Steel Factory, Kawergoask Road, Khabat District, Erbil 44001, IraqDarin Steel Factory, Kawergoask Road, Khabat District, Erbil 44001, IraqAs a non-biodegradable material and a major environmental hazard due to its discharge into the environment, by-products like steel production steel slag (SS) are disposed of in open spaces, agricultural lands, and close to residential areas. This by-product is now considered to have qualities that make it a potential substitute for cement and natural aggregates in the manufacturing of concrete or clinker in the cement manufacturing sector. The effects of using a novel type of SS made in an induction furnace (IF) in place of Portland cement and natural coarse aggregate in concrete were investigated experimentally. Steel slag powder (SSP), low-density steel slag (LDSS) aggregate, and high-density steel slag (HDSS) aggregate were all physically and chemically examined in this study. Each of these three replacement materials was added to concrete in weight proportions of 20%, 40%, and so on. The performance of the resultant mixtures was compared to that of the plain concrete, and the mechanical properties such as split tensile strength, flexural strength, and compressive strength were examined, along with the durability properties of water absorption (WA) and freeze–thaw, and the non-destructive testing of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of the concrete mixtures were also evaluated. The results indicated that adding HDSS to the concrete increased its mechanical and durability properties, while adding LDSS and SSP resulted in a small and a significant drop in mechanical properties, respectively, when compared to the plain concrete. The increase in compressive strength and the decrease in water absorption at the standard age of 28 days reached 5.2% and 2.1%, respectively. The percentage decrease in compressive strength (8.95–21.74%) of SS concrete mixtures after freeze–thaw cycles was greater than that of the control concrete. Additionally, a concrete mixture containing 40% HDSS yielded the best results.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1514cement replacementfreeze–thaw resistancerecyclingsteel slagmechanical propertiesconcrete sustainability
spellingShingle Bengin M. A. Herki
Ali Ibrahim Ali
Yousif Sadiq Smail
Karwan Maroof Omer
An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
Buildings
cement replacement
freeze–thaw resistance
recycling
steel slag
mechanical properties
concrete sustainability
title An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
title_full An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
title_fullStr An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
title_full_unstemmed An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
title_short An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Concrete Sustainability: Utilising Unprocessed Steel Slag with Low CaO and High SiO<sub>2</sub> Content
title_sort innovative approach to enhancing concrete sustainability utilising unprocessed steel slag with low cao and high sio sub 2 sub content
topic cement replacement
freeze–thaw resistance
recycling
steel slag
mechanical properties
concrete sustainability
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1514
work_keys_str_mv AT benginmaherki aninnovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT aliibrahimali aninnovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT yousifsadiqsmail aninnovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT karwanmaroofomer aninnovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT benginmaherki innovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT aliibrahimali innovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT yousifsadiqsmail innovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent
AT karwanmaroofomer innovativeapproachtoenhancingconcretesustainabilityutilisingunprocessedsteelslagwithlowcaoandhighsiosub2subcontent