Effect of Portland cement replacement by BSSF steel slag in the physical and mechanical properties of concrete

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of concrete with use of BSSF steel slag fines in partial replacement to Portland cement. The experimental work consisted of physical-chemical characterization tests of BSSF steel slag, as well as characterization of the properties in the fresh and hardened concrete state produced by the replacement of cement by BSSF steel slag fines at 3%, 6% and 12%. The properties analyzed were: specific mass, incorporated air content, consistency, compressive strength at the ages of 7, 28 and 63 days, modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, voids index and water absorption. All data collected were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test. With the obtained results, it can be seen that in the fresh state, the concretes presented higher additive demand for same consistency and higher values of specific mass. In the hardened state, concretes showed significant improvements in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. Regarding durability, concretes with higher replacement contents presented the lowest values of water absorption by immersion and voids index