Role of red mud as a cementing material in concrete: a comprehensive study on durability behavior

Red mud (RM), a semi-solid residual of the alumina refinery process, has higher alkalinity, and its disposal leads to environmental imbalance. To overcome this issue, RM is partially replaced with cement in the range of 0% to 20% at an interval of 5%. The present research work majorly focused on durability and micro-level concrete studies containing pre-calcined (600 °C in 2 h) RM. The tests on red mud concrete, viz. compressive strength, sorptivity test, open porosity test, rapid chloride penetration test, accelerated corrosion test, water absorption test, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscope (EDS) analysis, have been conducted to investigate the comprehensive characterization of concrete with RM. From the compressive strength test results, maximum strength was observed at 10% replacement. Open porosity, chloride ions permeability, water absorption, and sorptivity values showed reduction at an increment of RM replacement level. RM concrete offered more corrosion resistance due to high alkalinity, which possessed a pH of more than 12.5. From the micro-level investigations such as SEM and EDS, higher C–S–H gel formation was observed in RM 10% replacement concrete. In the meantime, less number of pores was observed in all RM replaced concrete mixes.