Study on Processed Granulated Blast Furnace Slag as a Replacement for Fine Aggregates for the Greener Global Construction

As innovation in concrete technology advances and the environment weakens, it is currently evident that the boundless utilization of construction materials and its initial expense being the common determination model has become a routine with regard to the past. Since there is great interest for raw materials and natural resources are rare, it is expected to utilize a high volume of alternative materials in concrete that would be monetarily beneficial like crushed sand, blast furnace slag, etc. An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the behaviour of mortars incorporating partial volumes of secondary material to fine aggregates. Processed granulated blast furnace slag (PGBS), newly processed slag which had overcome the limitations of granulated blast furnace slag obtained as a by-product during the extraction of steel was tested for fine aggregate (FA) replacement. Several combinations of mortar mixes were prepared using Lignosulfonate (LS), Sulphonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde (SNF) and Polycarboxylate Ether (PCE)-based superplasticizers (SP) for 0 and 50% replacement levels of FA by PGBS to recognize the feasible optimum dosage of SP required to achieve desired flow characteristics of mortars. Based on the optimum dosage of SP and w/c obtained, mortar cubes were prepared and cured for 3, 7, and 28 days. These cubes were tested for compressive strength periodically, the results revealed that PCE-based SP exhibited better performance concerning flow behaviour and strength gain parameters along with the effective reduction in w/c for both 0 and 50% FA replaced mixes. PGBS exhibited higher strength when compared to 0% replaced mixes though there was a slight increase in water content required for the cohesive mix.