Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Effect of copper slag as a ne aggregate on the properties of cement mortars and concrete
Khalifa S. Al-Jabri *, Abdullah H. Al-Saidy, Ramzi Taha
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 33, Al Khodh, Post Code 123, Oman

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of using copper slag as a ne aggregate on the properties of cement mortars and concrete. Various mortar and concrete mixtures were prepared with different proportions of copper slag ranging from 0% (for the control mixture) to 100% as ne aggregates replacement. Cement mortar mixtures were evaluated for compressive strength, whereas concrete mixtures were evaluated for workability, density, compressive strength, tensile strength, exural strength and durability. The results obtained for cement mortars revealed that all mixtures with different copper slag proportions yielded comparable or higher compressive strength than that of the control mixture. Also, there was more than 70% improvement in the compressive strength of mortars with 50% copper slag substitution in comparison with the control mixture. The results obtained for concrete indicated that there is a slight increase in density of nearly 5% as copper slag content increases, whereas the workability increased signicantly as copper slag percentage increased compared with the control mixture. A substitution of up to 4050% copper slag as a sand replacement yielded comparable strength to that of the control mixture. However, addition of more copper slag resulted in strength reduction due to the increase in the free water content in the mix. Also, the results demonstrated that surface water absorption decreased as copper slag content increases up to 50% replacement. Beyond that, the absorption rate increased rapidly and the percentage volume of the permeable voids was comparable to the control mixture. Therefore, it is recommended that up to 4050% (by weight of sand) of copper slag can be used as a replacement for ne aggregates in order to obtain a concrete with good strength and durability requirements. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 17 January 2010 Received in revised form 26 April 2010 Accepted 19 June 2010

Keywords: Concrete Cement mortar Copper slag Waste material Industrial by-products Strength Durability

1. Introduction It was well recognised for many years the benecial utilisation of some industrial by-products in improving the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. By-products such as pulverised fuel ash, silica fume and ground granulated blast furnace slag (ggbfs) are added in different proportions to concrete mixes as either a partial substitute to Portland cement or as admixtures. Concrete prepared with such materials showed improvement in workability and durability compared to normal concrete and has been used in the construction of power and chemical plants and under-water structures. Use of some waste materials has been well documented in design specications. New by-products and waste materials are being generated by various industries, dumping or disposal of these materials causes environmental and health problems. Therefore, recycling of waste materials a great potential in concrete industry.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +968 2414 1333; fax: +968 2441 3416. E-mail address: aljabri@squ.edu.om (K.S. Al-Jabri). 0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.06.090

Copper slag is an industrial by-product material produced from the process of manufacturing copper. It has been estimated that approximately 24.6 million tons of slag are generated from the world copper industry [1]. In the Sultanate of Oman, approximately 60,000 tons of copper slag are produced every year by Oman Mining Company. Although copper slag is widely used in the sand blasting industry and in the manufacturing of abrasive tools, the remainder is disposed of without any further reuse or reclamation. Copper slag possesses mechanical and chemical characteristics that qualify the material to be used in concrete as a partial replacement for Portland cement or as a substitute for aggregates. For example, copper slag has a number of favourable mechanical properties for aggregate use such as excellent soundness characteristics, good abrasion resistance and good stability [1]. Also, copper slag exhibits pozzolanic properties since it contains a low CaO content and other oxides such as Al2O3, SiO2, and Fe2O3. Use of copper slag in the concrete industry as a replacement for cement and/or ne aggregates can has the benets of reducing the costs of disposal and helps protecting the environment. Despite the fact that several studies [27] have been reported on the effect of copper slag replacement on the properties of

934

K.S. Al-Jabri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938

concrete, further investigations are necessary in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding that would provide an engineering basis to allow the use of copper slag in concrete. The effect of copper slag on the hydration of cement-based materials was investigated by Mobasher et al. [2] and Tixier et al. [3]. Up to 15% copper slag, by weight of cement was used as a Portland cement replacement together with up to 1.5% of hydrated lime as an activator for pozzolanic reactions. Results indicated a signicant increase in the compressive strength for up to 90 days of hydration. Also, a decrease in capillary porosity and an increase in gel porosity were observed. Moura et al. [4] reported that copper slag could be a potential alternative to admixtures used in concrete and mortars. The use of slag from copper smelting as a ne aggregate in concrete was also investigated by Akihiko and Takashi [5]. From mortar strength tests with a cement/slag/water ratio of 1/2/0.55, the ball milled slag gave a higher strength. The effects of using several types of slag on mortar and concrete reactions, reinforcing steel corrosion, abrasion, workability and slump, shrinkage, and freezing and thawing characteristics were examined. Copper slag was also used by Ayano et al. [6] as a ne aggregate in concrete. They described the strength, setting time and durability of concrete mixtures made with copper slag. Al-Jabri et al. [7] studied the effect of copper slag (CS) and cement by-pass dust (CBPD) replacements on the strength of cement mortars. Experimental results indicated that the mixture containing 5% CBPD + 95% cement yielded the highest 90 days compressive strength of 42 MPa in comparison with 40 MPa for the mixture containing 1.5% CBPD + 13.5 CS + 85% cement. The optimum CS and CBPD to be used was 5%. In addition, it was determined that using CBPD as an activating material would operate better than using lime. Also, all samples met the 3 and 7 days compressive strength specications requirements for cement mortars. The fundamental properties of concrete using copper slag and class II y ash as ne aggregates were investigated by Ishimaru et al. [8]. It was concluded that up to 20% (in volume) of copper slag or class II y ash as ne aggregates substitution can be used in the production of concrete suitable for structures. In order to control the bleeding in concrete mixtures when incorporating copper slag as ne aggregates, Ueno et al. [9] suggested a grading distribution of ne aggregate based on particle density. The study investigated the maximum size of slag ne aggregate that does not signicantly inuence the amount of bleeding and the required plastic viscosity of paste to control the amount of bleeding by the variation of water-to-cement ratios. Al-Jabri et al. [10] investigated the effect of CS and CBPD as partial replacements for cement on concrete properties. In addition to the control mixture, two different trial mixtures were prepared using different proportions of CS and CBPD and three water-to-binder ratios were studied: 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7. Results showed that 5% copper slag substitution for Portland cement gave a similar strength performance as the control mixture, especially at the low water-tobinder ratios of 0.5 and 0.6, while higher copper slag (13.5%) replacement yielded lower strength values. Results also demonstrated that the use of CS and CBPD as partial replacements for Portland cement has a negligible effect on the modulus of elasticity of concrete, especially at the small quantities substitution. Shi et al. [11] presented a comprehensive review on the use of copper slag in cement, mortars and concrete. The paper was focused on the characteristics of copper slag and its effects on the engineering properties of cement, mortars and concrete. Wu et al. [12] investigated the mechanical properties of copper slag reinforced concrete under dynamic compression. Results showed that the dynamic compressive strength of copper slag reinforced concrete generally improved with the increase in amounts of copper slag used as a sand replacement up to 20%, compared with the control concrete, beyond which the strength was reduced. Wu et al. [13] also investigated the mechanical properties of high strength concrete incor-

porating copper slag as a ne aggregate. Results indicated that the strength of concrete, with less than 40% copper slag replacement, was higher than or equal to that of the control specimen. The microscopic view demonstrated that there were limited differences between the control concrete and the concrete with less than 40% copper slag content. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using copper slag as a partial and/or full replacement for sand in mortars and normal concrete. The study consisted of the following tasks: 1. Investigate the effect of copper slag replacement as a ne aggregate on the compressive strength of cement mortars at different curing periods. 2. Evaluate the effect of copper slag replacement on the workability and density of concrete. 3. Conduct compressive, tensile and exural strength testing on concrete mixtures. 4. Assess the durability of concrete made with copper slag by conducting initial surface absorption and total absorption tests.

2. Materials 2.1. Cement The cement used in this study was ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced by Oman Cement Company. This cement is the most widely used one in the construction industry in Oman.

2.2. Coarse and ne aggregates Coarse aggregates (i.e. 20 mm and 10 mm) and ne sand were taken from a nearby crusher in Al-Khoudh Area. These are the aggregates typically used in normal concrete mixtures in Oman. The gradation test conducted on the ne sand and copper slag showed that they met specications requirements for concrete sand (Fig. 1).

2.3. Copper slag Copper slag used in this work was brought from Oman Mining Company, which produces an annual average of 60,000 tons. In preparation of cement mortars, the sand and copper slag particles used were those passing 850 lm and retained on 600 lm according to OS26-1981 [14]. The copper slag was ground in the laboratory into a ne powder to the required size following the procedure described by Al-Jabri et al. [7]. Sieve analysis test was conducted in accordance with BS 882 [15] on three samples of copper slag in order to determine the particle size distribution and to compare with the gradation requirements for concrete sand (Fig. 1). Both sand and copper slag have comparable gradations, which satisfy grading limit, Zone 1.

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0.075

Sand Copper Slag

% Passing

Grading limits "zone 1"

0.15

0.3

0.6

1.18

2.36

10

Sieve size (mm)

Fig. 1. Gradation of sand and copper slag.

K.S. Al-Jabri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938 3. Experimental study 3.1. Mix design 3.1.1. Cement mortars To study the effect of copper slag substitution as a replacement for ne aggregates on the strength of cement mortars, specimens were prepared with different percentages of copper slag (by weight). The percentages of copper slag added were as follows: 0% (for the control mix), 20%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. Fifteen cubes (70 mm 70 mm 70 mm) were cast for each mixture and three samples each were tested after 3, 7, 28, 56 and 90 days of curing. The main purpose for keeping the samples for longer curing periods of 56 and 90 days is to observe any detrimental effect from the use of copper slag as ne aggregates on the compressive strength of concrete. The quantities of materials (Table 1) used in each mortar cube were selected according to OS26-1981 [14] using a water-to-cement ratio of 0.4. The specied cube compressive strength values for cement mortars are 15 N/mm2 and 23 N/mm2 at 3 and 7 days, respectively based on OS26-1981 recommendations.

935

 Compressive strength test was conducted on cement mortar samples at 3, 7, 28, 56, and 90 day of curing in accordance with BS 1881: Part 116 [17] using a loading rate of 1.25 kN/s;  7 and 28 day cube compressive strength test was conducted in accordance with BS 1881: Part 116 [17] using a loading rate of 2.5 kN/s;  28 day cylinder tensile (splitting) strength test was done in accordance with ASTM C496-96 [18] using a loading rate of 2 kN/s;  28 day exural strength test was conducted in accordance with ASTM C78-94 [19] using a simple beam with third point loading at a loading rate of 0.2 kN/s;  the initial surface absorption test was conducted in accordance with BS 1881: Part 208 [20]; and  the permeable voids contents were determined as per ASTM C642-97 [21].

4. Results and discussion 4.1. Materials characterization Tests were conducted to determine the chemical composition, specic gravity and water absorption of copper slag and sand [22]. Results presented in Table 3 show that copper slag has a low CaO content compared with ordinary Portland cement, which indicates that copper slag on its own can not be used as a cementitious material. But copper slag has high concentrations of silica, alumina and iron oxides, which suggests that copper slag could have the potential to produce high quality pozzolans. Results from specic gravity and water absorption tests (Table 3) revealed that copper slag has a specic gravity of 3.4 which is higher than that of sand (2.77), whereas the water absorption values for copper slag and sand were about 0.2% and 1.4%, respectively. This suggests that concrete produced with large copper slag substitution would have larger density values than concrete produced with sand alone. On the other hand, due to its low water absorption it is expected that the free water content in concrete mixtures will increase as copper slag content increases. This will lead to an increase in the workability of concrete mixtures containing high copper slag percentages 4.2. Effect of copper slag replacement on the strength of cement mortars The measured compressive strength values for different mixture proportions are presented in Table 4. The test results indicate that all specimens yielded a higher compressive strength than specications requirements of 15 and 23 MPa for cement mortars after 3 and 7 days, respectively. For all mixtures, as the curing period increases the compressive strength will increase and the gain

3.1.2. Concrete mixtures Concrete mixtures with different proportions of copper slag used as a partial or full substitute for ne aggregates were prepared in order to investigate the effect of copper slag substitution on the strength and durability of normal concrete. Eight concrete mixtures were prepared with different proportions of copper slag. The proportions (by weight) of copper slag added to concrete mixtures were as follows: 0% (for the control mix), 10%, 20%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. The control mixture (with 0% copper slag and 100% sand) was designed to have a target 28 day compressive strength of 45 N/mm2, using a water-to-binder ratio of 0.5. Batch quantities are shown in Table 2. To determine the unconned compressive strength of concrete, six cubes (150 mm 150 mm 150 mm) were cast for each mixture, and three samples were tested after 7 and 28 days of curing. Three 150 mm diameter by 300 mm height cylinders were prepared for each mixture to determine the tensile strength of concrete. They were tested after 28 days of curing. Also, to determine the exural strength (modulus of rupture) for each mixture, three 100 mm 100 mm 500 mm prisms were cast and tested after 28 days of curing. To evaluate the durability of concrete mixtures, three 150 mm 150 mm 150 mm cubes were prepared to determine surface absorption after 28 days of curing. Also, three specimens 10 cm 10 cm 4 cm with an average weight of 1 kg were cut from the prisms to determine percentage of voids in concrete.

3.2. Sample preparation Cement mortar samples were compacted in three layers using a vibrating table. After 24 h, specimens were removed from the moulds and cured in a water tank for later testing at 3, 7, 28, 56 and 90 days. Concrete specimens were prepared and compacted as required by ASTM C19298 [16]. The required amounts of coarse aggregate, ne aggregate, cement, water, and copper were weighed in separate buckets. The materials were mixed in accordance with ASTM C192-98. The slump of the fresh concrete was determined to ensure that it would be within the designed value. After 24 h, specimens were removed from the moulds and cured in a water tank for 7 and 28 days of curing.

3.3. Testing procedure After curing, the following tests were carried out on the concrete specimens: Table 1 Batch quantities per cube for cement mortars. Material Cement Sand Water Weight (g) 185 555 74

Table 3 Chemical composition and physical properties of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), copper slag (CS) and sand. Component SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 K2O Na2O TiO2 Mn2O3 CI Loss on ignition IR CuO Al2O3 + SiO2 + Fe2O3 Specic gravity Absorption (%) OPC (%) 20.85 4.78 3.51 63.06 2.32 2.48 0.55 0.24 0.25 0.05 0.01 1.75 0.21 0 29.14 3.15 CS (%) 33.05 2.79 53.45 6.06 1.56 1.89 0.61 0.28 0 0.06 0.01 0 0 0.46 89.29 3.4 0.17 Sand 2.77 1.36

Table 2 Batch quantities (kg/m3) for concrete mixtures (w/ b = 0.5). Component Water Cement Fine aggregate 10 mm aggregate 20 mm aggregate Weight (kg) 207 416 721 338 790

936

K.S. Al-Jabri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938

Table 4 Average compressive strength of cement mortars at different curing ages. Mix No. Mix type Compressive strength (MPa) 3 days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Control (100% S) 20% CS + 80% S 40% CS + 60% S 50% CS + 50% S 60% CS + 40% S 80% CS + 20% S 100% CS + 0% S 22 22.1 22.1 20.3 23 23.1 20.8 7 days 23.3 29 30.6 30 28 26.8 23.3 28 days 24.6 31 39.8 42.7 39.2 35 26.1 56 days 25.3 34.7 40 44.5 42 40.1 32 90 days 27 36 42 50.3 47.8 44.8 35.5

observations from other studies [8,9], where it has been reported that concrete with ne slag aggregates have a tendency to exhibit a larger amount of bleeding because of their high density and/or much water content for a given slump of concrete. Also, the density of concrete (Table 5) slightly increased as copper slag content increases. Density of concrete was increased by almost 5% (for Mixture #8), which is attributed to the high specic gravity of copper slag. 4.4. Effect of copper slag replacement on the strength of normal concrete The effect of copper slag substitution as a ne aggregate on the strength of concrete is given in Table 5, which presents the average 7- and 28 day cube compressive strength, the average 28 day tensile strength and the average 28 day exural strength of concrete. The unconned compressive strength values of concrete mixtures with different proportions of copper slag cured at 7 and 28 days are also plotted in Fig. 2. The test results indicate that for mixtures prepared using up to 60% copper slag replacement, the compressive strength of concrete is comparable to the strength of the control mix with 100% sand. However, for mixtures with 80% and 100% copper slag (i.e. Mixtures #7 and #8), the compressive strength decreased rapidly below the strength of the control mixture. Mixture #4 with 40% copper slag content yielded the highest 28 day compressive strength of 47.1 N/mm2 compared with 45 N/mm2 for the control mixture, whereas the lowest compressive strength of 34.8 N/mm2 was obtained for Mixture #7 with 80% copper slag. Here, the compressive strength yielded by Mixture #7 is almost 22% lower than that of the control mix. This reduction in compressive strength for concrete mixtures with high copper slag contents is due to the increase in the free water content that results from the low water absorption characteristics of copper slag in comparison with sand. This causes a considerable increase in the workability of concrete and, thus, reduces concrete strength as shown in Table 5. Also, Fig. 2 shows that the compressive strengths for different concrete mixtures at 7 and 28 days of curing were consistent where 80% of 28 day concrete strength was achieved after 7 days of curing. Wu et al. [12,13] observed that, after examining the microstructure of concrete specimens with different copper slag contents, that the strength improvement with 40% substitution was mainly attributed to the physical properties of copper slag. Copper slag has a better compressibility than sand, which can partially relieve the stress concentration, if the sand is still as the dominant ne aggregate holding the concrete matrix together. Also, the angular sharp edges of copper slag particles can improve the cohesion of the concrete matrix. It is known that the sand has good abrasion properties because of its rough surface, which can improve the cohesion between cement paste and coarse aggregate. However,

S: sand; CS: copper slag.

of strength is more rapid in the early curing days (i.e. 3, 7 and 28 days). Table 4 also indicates that all mixtures yielded comparable or higher compressive strength than the control mixture (100% sand) for all curing ages. Furthermore, as copper slag content increases the compressive strength of cement mortars increases up to 50% substitution of copper slag. Beyond that, the compressive decreased with an increase in copper slag content. However, Mixture #7 with 100% copper slag gave a higher strength than the control mixture. Mixture #4 with 50% copper slag yielded the highest average 28 day compressive strength of 42.7 N/mm2, almost 74% higher than the compressive strength of the control mix. For longer curing periods (i.e. 56 and 90 days), most of the samples showed no detrimental effect (i.e. a strength reversal) when using copper slag. Although all mixtures yielded a higher compressive strength than the control mixture, it can be said that the replacement of 50% copper slag as a sand replacement will give the highest compressive strength with more than 70% improvement in mortars strength. 4.3. Effect of copper slag replacement on the density and workability of normal concrete Table 5 presents slump values as measurement for the workability of fresh concrete, and concrete density for all mixtures with different proportions of copper slag. The test results indicate that there is a substantial increase in the workability of concrete as copper slag content increases. The measured slump for the control mixture with 100% sand was 65.5 mm, while the measured slump for the concrete mixture with 100% copper slag substitution (Mixture #8) was 200 mm. This signicant increase in the workability was due to the low water absorption characteristics of copper slag compared with sand, where more free water remains in the concrete matrix after hydration. However, segregation and bleeding were observed in concrete mixtures with high copper slag contents (Mixtures #7 and #8). This observation is in line with similar

Table 5 Strength of concrete at 7 and 28 days of curing. Mix No. Mix type Density (kg/m3) Slump (mm) Strength (MPa) (Fcu)a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Control (100% S) 10% CS + 90% S 20% CS + 80% S 40% CS + 60% S 50% CS + 50% S 60% CS + 40% S 80% CS + 20% S 100% CS + 0% S 2524 2515 2540 2550 2560 2601 2597 2653 65.5 80 80 110 130 165 190 200 36.2 38.8 40.2 38.7 38.1 37.7 27.8 29 (Fcu)b 45.0 46.0 47.0 47.1 47.0 46.0 34.8 35.1 (Ft)b 3 3.5 3.7 3.8 4.1 3.6 3.6 3.4 (Fcr)b 7.7 7.2 7.2 6.5 7.3 6.3 7.2 5.9

Fcu = cube compressive strength, Ft = tensile strength, Fcr = exural strength, S = sand, CS = copper slag. a Cured at 7 days. b Cured at 28 days.

K.S. Al-Jabri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938

937

50

Compressive Strength (N/mm )

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7-day 28-day

Mix No.
Fig. 2. Cube compressive strength of concrete at 7 and 28 days of curing.

the abrasion properties of sand is weakened with time after years of weathering causing sand particles to have rounded edges, which are detrimental to the interlocking properties of composite materials. The angular sharp edges of copper slag particles have the ability to compensate to some extent the adverse effects of sand and, thus, further improve the cohesion of concrete. On the other hand, the glassy surface texture of copper slag particles has a negative effect on the cohesion. Also, the low absorption properties of copper slag can leave excess water in concrete, which can cause excessive bleeding at higher copper slag content. This results in the formation of internal voids and capillary channels in the concrete, causing a reduction in its quality. Therefore, the strength of concrete with lower copper slag contents can be improved by the positive effect of copper slag, whereas if copper slag content exceeds 40%, the strength of concrete can be decreased substantially with a reduction in cohesion governed by copper slag. Also it is worth mentioning that there was more than 70% improvement in the compressive strength of mortars (Table 4) with 50% copper slag replacement, whereas there is a slight increase of 4.4% in the compressive strength of concrete (Table 5) with 50% copper slag replacement. This difference in the strength improvement between cement mortars and concrete may be attributed to the bonding between the particles within the cement paste. Furthermore, coarse aggregates are introduced in concrete mixtures, which could contribute to the different behaviour observed for the same mixture in mortars and concrete. The increased porosity in concrete weakens the bond between the concrete components, which is one of determining factors for the strength of concrete. The 28 day tensile strength of concrete is also given in Table 5. The results show that the average tensile strength was within the permissible values in accordance with the design specications. For design purposes, the tensile strength can be empirically taken p as 0.45 Fcu [23]. The 28 day average exural strength (modulus of rupture) values for concrete are presented in Table 4. The results indicate that the exural strength values for all concrete mixtures were slightly higher than the permissible design values. The exp ural strength of concrete is normally taken as 0.75 Fcu [23]. The experimental average exural strength of concrete was 6.9 N/ mm2,compared with 5 N/mm2 calculated from the empirical relationship.

test measures the surface water absorption of concrete [20], while the second test measures the percentage of volume of permeable voids in concrete [21]. The results from the initial surface absorption test are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 indicates that all mixtures showed a similar trend of decreasing surface water absorption with time. The decrease was generally rapid during the rst 30 min, which later decreased afterwards up to 120 min. All mixtures yielded ow rate values within the specied limits, which were between 0.05 ml/m2 s and 3.6 ml/m2 s in the rst 10 min [20]. Also, Fig. 3 demonstrated that Mixture #4 with 40% copper slag replacement showed the lowest surface water absorption for the entire testing time, while Mixture #8 with 100% copper slag replacement showed the largest surface water absorption. Fig. 4 shows that there is a general decrease in the surface water absorption with an increase in copper slag content up to 40% copper slag substitution. Beyond that, absorption increases as copper slag content increases. This is primarily due to the increase in the free water content leading to more voids created in the hardened concrete. However, at 120 min, up to 50% replacement of copper slag gave comparable surface water absorption values to the control mixture with 100% sand. Fig. 5 shows volume of water permeable void contents for different concrete mixtures at 28 day curing. The results show that the percentage of permeable voids slightly decreased with an in-

0.8 0.7 0.6

100%S+0%CS 80%S+20%CS 60%S+40%CS 50%S+50%CS 40%S+60%CS

Flow(ml/m2.s)

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 30 60 90

20%S+80%CS 0%S+100%CS

120

150

Time(Minutes)
Fig. 3. Surface water absorption of concrete versus time for different concrete mixtures.

0.8 0.7 0.6

10 min

30 min

120 min

Flow (ml/m2.s)

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1

4.5. Effect of copper slag replacement on the durability of normal concrete Two tests were conducted to assess the durability of concrete made with copper slag as a ne aggregate substitution. The rst

0
0 20 40 50 60 80 100

Copper slag content (%)

Fig. 4. Effect of copper slag addition on the surface water absorption for different concrete mixtures.

938

K.S. Al-Jabri et al. / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 933938

Volume of Permeable Voids (%)

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 20 40 50 60 80 100

References
[1] Gorai P, Jana RK, Premchand. Characteristics and utilisation of copper slag a review. Resour Conserv Recycl 2003;39:299313. [2] Mobasher B, Devaguptapu R, Arino AM. Effect of copper slag on the hydration of blended cementitious mixtures. In: Chong K, editor. Proceedings the ASCE materials engineering conference; materials for the new millennium; 1996. p. 167786. [3] Tixier R, Devaguptapu R, Mobasher B. The effect of copper slag on the hydration and mechanical properties of cementitious mixtures. Cem Concr Res 1997;27(10):156980. [4] Moura W, Masuero A, Molin D, Dal Vilela A. Concrete performance with admixtures of electrical steel slag and copper slag concerning mechanical properties. Am Concr Inst 1999;186:81100. [5] Akihiko Y, Takashi Y. Study of utilisation of copper slag as ne aggregate for concrete. Ashikaya Kogyo Daigaku Kenkyu Shuroku 1996;23:7985. [6] Ayano T, Kuramoto O, Sakata K. Concrete with copper slag as ne aggregate. J Soc Mater Sci Jpn 2000;49(10):1097102. [7] Al-Jabri K, Taha R, Al-Ghassani M. Use of copper slag and cement by-pass dust as cementitious materials. Cem Concr Aggr 2002;24(1):712. [8] Ishimaru K, Mizuguchi H, Hashimoto C, Ueda T, Fujita K, Ohmi M. Properties of copper slag and second class y ash as a part of ne aggregate. J Soc Mater Sci Jpn 2005;54(8):82833. [9] Ueno K, Kokubu K, Uji K. A fundamental study on bleeding control of concrete containing slag ne aggregates. In: Banthia et al. editors. Proceedings of the third international conference on construction materials: Performance, innovations and structural implications and mindess symposium, August 2005, Vancouver, Canada. p. 224. [10] Al-Jabri KS, Taha RA, Al-Hashmi A, Al-Harthy AS. Effect of copper slag and cement by-pass dust addition on mechanical properties of concrete. Construct Build Mater 2006;20:32231. [11] Shi C, Meyer C, Behnood A. Utilization of copper slag in cement and concrete a review. Resour Conserv Recycl 2008;52:111520. [12] Wu W, Zhang W, Ma G. Mechanical properties of copper slag reinforced concrete under dynamic compression. Construct Build Mater 2010;24(6): 9107. [13] Wu W, Zhang W, Ma G. Optimum content of copper slag as a ne aggregate in high strength concrete. Mater Des 2010;31(6):287883. [14] Omanian Standard, OS26: Methods of testing cement-physical tests. Directorate General for Specications and Measurements, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; 1981. [15] BS 882, Specication for aggregates from natural sources for concrete. London (UK): British Standards Institution; 1992. [16] ASTM C192/C192M-98. Standard Practice for making and curing concrete test specimens in the laboratory. West Conshohocken (PA): ASTM International; 1998. [17] BS 1881: Part 116. Testing concrete: method for determination of compressive strength of concrete cubes. British Standard Institution (BSI); 1983. [18] ASTM C496-96. Standard test method for splitting tensile strength of cylindrical concrete specimens. West Conshohocken (PA): ASTM International; 1996. [19] ASTM C78-94. Standard test method for exural strength of concrete (using simple beam with third-point loading). West Conshohocken (PA): ASTM International; 1994. [20] BS 1881: Part 208. Testing concrete: recommendations for the determination of the initial surface absorption of concrete. British Standard Institution (BSI); 1996. [21] ASTM C642-97. Standard test method for density, absorption, and voids in hardened concrete. West Conshohocken (PA): ASTM International; 1997. [22] Al-Jabri KS, Hisada M, Al-Oraimi SK, Al-Saidy AH. Copper slag as sand replacement for high performance concrete. Cem Concr Comp 2009;31(7): 4838. [23] Jackson N, Dhir KR. Civil engineering materials. 5th ed. London: Macmillan; 1996.

Copper slag content (%)

Fig. 5. Water permeable void contents for different concrete mixtures at 28 day curing.

crease in copper slag content up to 40% replacement. Beyond that, the volume of voids increases to become comparable to the control mixture. Thus, it is recommended that the replacement of 4050% copper slag (by weight) as a partial replacement for ne aggregates will produce a concrete with good durability requirements. 5. Conclusions The following conclusions are drawn regarding the use of copper slag as a ne aggregate in cement mortars and concrete:  For cement mortars, all mixtures with different copper slag proportions yielded comparable or higher compressive strength than the strength of the control mixture. There was more than 70% improvement in the compressive strength of mortars with 50% copper slag substitution in comparison with the control mixture.  There is almost 5% increase in the concrete density, when copper slag was used as a sand replacement, whereas the workability increased substantially with an increase in copper slag content. This was attributed to the low water absorption and glassy surface of copper slag.  The compressive, tensile and exural strength of concrete were comparable to the control mix using up to 50% copper slag substitution for sand, but they decreased with a further increase in copper slag contents.  The surface water absorption of concrete was reduced with up to 40% copper slag replacement for sand.  The volume of permeable voids decreased with the replacement of up to 50% copper slag.  Copper slag, in the range of 4050%, could potentially replace sand in concrete mixtures.

Acknowledgment The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Sultan Qaboos University for the nancial support provided to perform throughout this project.