Brick fine aggregate and ladle furnace slag as alternative to natural river sand

Abstract

An experimental investigation was carried out to explore the possibility of utilizing brick fine aggregate (BFA) and ladle furnace slag (LFS) as alternative to natural river sand as fine aggregates in concrete. For this, cylindrical concrete specimens of 100 mm x 200 mm size were made by varying the replacement ratios of natural river sand to the alternative fine aggregates, W/C ratios, and fine aggregate-to-total aggregate (f/a) volume ratios. Workability of concrete was measured by slump cone test. The concrete specimens were cured under water and tested at 28 days for compressive strength, tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity of concrete. From the experimental results, it was observed that BFA absorbs more water compared to natural river sand and LFS. With the increasing replacement ratios of the alternative fine aggregates, the workability of concrete increased for the concrete made with LFS but decreased for the concrete made with BFA. Compressive strength of concrete increased with the increased replacement of natural river sand by BFA and LFS up to 30% and 20% replacement ratios respectively. The trend of tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of concrete were found similar to that of the compressive strength of concrete. It was concluded that it is possible to utilize BFA and LFS as alternative fine aggregates to natural river sand in concrete without reducing the compressive strength of concrete for up to 30% and 20% replacement ratios respectively. Utilization of BFA and LFS as fine aggregates will reduce the demand of natural river sand in the construction works and may help toward achieving the sustainability of construction materials in Bangladesh.