Feasibility Assessment of Incorporating Copper Slag as a Sand Substitute to Attain Sustainable Production Perspective in Concrete

Motivated by the sustainable production perspective, a laboratory testing program is exercised to ascertain the feasibility of utilizing copper slag in place of the natural fine aggregate in concrete. Totally, fifteen concrete mixtures were prepared to incorporate copper slag in place of the fine aggregate in concrete. The attributes of concrete specimens made with varying proportions of copper slag were compared (ranging from 0% to 100% substitution) at a w/c ratio of 0.44, and the optimum percentage of copper slag was decided. The w/c ratio in the mix containing optimum copper slag percentage was then varied (from 0.42 to 0.36) to examine the influence of the change in the quantity of available water on the strength attributes of concrete. Concrete specimens were assessed for workability, density, compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength. SEM images and X-ray diffractograms of concrete specimens were also studied. The results obtained indicated a significant increase in workability and a small rise in the bulk density of concrete. The study concludes that substituting 60% sand with copper slag results in better compressive strength compared to control concrete and can be improved further by reducing the w/c ratio in the mix.