Influence of Copper Slag Properties on Behaviour of Cement Mortars and Concrete

The promotion of green infrastructure as an alternative to traditional concrete, known as grey infrastructure, is not as benign as many people think. In this concern, many alternative materials have been kept in place as a solution for the problems faced by the construction industry. The knowledge of understanding the basic property of a material is significant as the characteristics cannot be directly assumed that it can be compared to FA while mixing concrete. In this work, Copper Slag (CS) is used as a partial replacement for Fine Aggregate (FA), and a major focus is to understand the behaviour of the material based on its particle size, texture shape and surface characteristics as it decides the quality of concrete. Also, the importance of optimizing water/cement ratio (w/c) and dosage of Superplasticizer (SP) is a major consideration in this work which has a great impact on workability and strength parameter as it affects durability performance of concrete. Marsh cone test to decide optimum SP was carried out for PCE-based SP and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC). Optimal w/c ratio was decided based on the trials carried out using flow test for mortars, and mortar cubes were prepared and tested for 3, 7 and 28 days compressive test. In order to check the behaviour of CS in concrete, cubes were prepared and subjected to compressive strength for 7, 28 and 90 days based on the ideal water–cement ratio (w/c) and SP obtained from various trials conducted to achieve required workability and strength. Test results revealed that CS mortars and concrete exhibited higher strength than the control mix. The chemical reaction between the cement matrixes, incorporation of CS and SP for optimized w/c and dosage of SP not only enhanced the strength but also provided the required workability though CS has less water absorption capacity.