Mechanical and durability properties of the concrete with copper slag

Increased development in the field of construction with the use of sand, stones etc. depletes the natural resources and thus resulted in the scarcity of construction materials. Furthermore, generation of waste from several industries such as steel slag, copper slag, blast furnace slag etc. are being dumped in the nearby landfills leading to disposal problems. The scarcity of construction materials necessitated the utilization of suitable alternative materials with equivalent physical and chemical characteristics. This paper investigates the suitability of copper slag (CS) as a substitute to natural fine aggregate (NFA) in the concrete. The concrete mixes are prepared with 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 100% of copper slag at 0.45 w/c ratio. The behaviour of CS in the concrete was assessed by hardened properties such as compression, tension and flexure at 7, 14, 28 and 90 days and durability properties such as water absorption, porosity and chloride ion penetration at 56 days. Results indicate that the replacement of CS beyond 50% affects properties of the concrete; however increased curing improved the properties of the concrete at higher replacement levels. Characterization studies such as XRD and SEM was performed to examine the effect of CS on the properties of the concrete.