Carbon steel slag as cementitious material for self-consolidating concrete

This study deals with the recycling of carbon steel slag (CSS) to produce self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Since the chemical composition of CSS is similar to that of Portland cement or blast furnace slag (BFS), it is expected to behave similarly. In the current study, the pozzolanic activity index of CSS is examined. Furthermore, the use of CSS as a pozzolanic material to partially replace Portland cement in the production of SCC is tested. We designed concrete mixtures with different water-to-cementitious material ratios (w/cm) keeping water and superplasticizer (SP) contents constant. Results showed that the design and performance of all the concrete mixtures used in this investigation were comparable to those of SCC and high performance concrete (HPC). However, compared to ordinary plain concrete (OPC), the additional CSS content increases the setting time. In the CSS mixtures set for 90 d, compressive strengths of 86%, 134% and 121% were attained as compared to the control concrete; the corresponding w/cm ratios were 0.28, 0.32 and 0.40, respectively. Verifying the soundness of the SCC for meeting the criteria for HPC, the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of CSS was found to be comparable to that of ordinary concrete. In conclusion, the recycling of CSS can be advantageously employed in the production of SCC.