Assessment of strength and durability characteristics of copper slag incorporated ultra high strength concrete

Feasibility of using copper slag as replacement for quartz sand in the production of Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC) is investigated in this research work. Strength and durability performance of Copper Slag incorporated Ultra High Strength Concrete (CS-UHSC) was evaluated. Two type of mix proportions were used to assess the performance, one with untreated copper slag obtained as it is from industry and another with copper slag subjected to mechanical treatment. Mechanical treatment involves the grinding of copper slag to have finer size than the standard size available. Test results indicated that it is possible to produce UHSC of compressive strength more than 150 MPa with 100% untreated copper slag and 200 MPa with 100% treated copper slag as replacement for quartz sand. For complete replacement of quartz sand, reduction in compressive strength was observed with untreated copper slag, whereas an increase in strength behaviour was observed for specimens with treated copper slag. A similar trend was noticed with flexural strength and splitting tensile strength. Superior durability performance was observed in CS-UHSC compared to control UHSC with quartz sand. Thus, it is viable and advantageous to produce UHSC with copper slag as a replacement material for quartz sand. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.