Evaluation of steel slag and crushed limestone mixtures as subbase material in flexible pavement

Steel slag is produced as a by-product during the oxidation of steel pellets in an electric arc furnace. This by-product that mainly consists of calcium carbonate is broken down to smaller sizes to be used as aggregates in pavement layers. They are particularly useful in areas where a goodquality aggregate is scarce. This research study was conducted to evaluate the effect of quantity of steel slag on the mechanical properties of blended mixes with crushed limestone aggregates, which used as subbase material in Egypt. Moreover, a theoretical analysis was employed to estimate the resistance for failure factors such as vertical deformations, vertical and radial stresses and vertical strains of subbase under overweight trucks loads. These loads cause severe deterioration to the pavement and thus reduce its life. The results indicated that the mechanical characteristics, and the resistance factors were improved by adding steel slag to the crushed limestone. (C) 2012 Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.