Performance of Fiber-Reinforced Sustainable Concretes Manufactured with Aggregate and Binder from Steelmaking Slag

Abstract

It is well known that the construction industry generates a huge amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, mainly emitted during the manufacture of cement and the exploitation of quarries for aggregate production. On the other hand, steelmaking industry landfills millions of tons of waste (slag) that can be reused as raw materials in innovative processes. For these reasons, in order to preserve natural resources and improve the sustainability of concrete manufacturing, this paper addresses the design and behavior of high-workability and fiber-reinforced concrete, produced with electric arc furnace slag in substitution to aggregates and with cement that contains ground granulated blast furnace slag and/or ladle furnace slag as supplementary cementitious materials. The main in-fresh, mechanical and durability properties were experimentally evaluated, which showed good performance results in all the cases. Good adhesion between fibers, aggregates and cementitious matrix within the concrete specimens was also observed. Furthermore, these sustainable concretes reached self-compactability, which enable an energy-saving placement and its use in a wide range of building applications, thus contributing to the circular economy in the construction sector.