OPTIMIZATION OF LADLE FURNACE SLAG FOR USE AS A SUPPLEMENTARY CEMENTING MATERIAL

Abstract

Ladle furnace slag is a by-product of the steel industry, deriving from the second stage of the production process, which presents some cementitious properties, mainly due to its high CaO content. A series of test mortars with 20% by weight of the cement substituted with ladle furnace slag was produced in the laboratory, in order to investigate its potential as a supplementary cementing material, the varying parameter being the fineness of the slag. Thus, following some screening of the material, four mortars were produced with slag of maximum grain size 105 m, 75 m, 60 m and 45 m and also two more test mortars were produced with ground slag retaining 31% and 21% at the 45 m sieve, all of which were compared to a test mor- tar with 100% cement as a binder. The test mortars developed compressive strength as high as 94% of the 100%-cement mortar, which shows that ladle furnace slag can be used as a supplementary cementing material. µ µ µ µ µ