Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Mechanical performance and resistance to carbonation of steel slag

reinforced concrete
Humberto Dias Andrade a,⇑, José Maria Franco de Carvalho b, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa a,
Fernanda Pereira da Fonseca Elói a, Keoma Defáveri do Carmo e Silva c, Ricardo André Fiorotti Peixoto a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Construction Materials, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, 35400-000 Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Composite Materials, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-900 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
c
Department of Engineering, Universidade Federal de Lavras, 37200-900 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

h i g h l i g h t s

 Total replacement of aggregates by BOF and EAF steel slag aggregates.

 Accelerated carbonation test method proposed.
 Chemical composition and physical characteristics influenced carbonation depths.
 Lower carbonation depth and better mechanical performance for steel slag concrete.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of residues as alternative materials in the production of cement-based composites is significantly
Received 24 November 2020 growing since it embraces the circular economy concepts. This alternative reduces the demand for nat-
Received in revised form 30 April 2021 ural resources by the construction sector and provides a proper destination for a range of industrial resi-
Accepted 6 June 2021
dues. However, the alternative materials must perform properly for safe applications. In this way, the
Available online 15 June 2021
steel slag, a residue of the steel industry, stands out. The steel slag is already applied in some cement-
based composites showing enhancement in the mechanical performance, although its durability is barely
Keywords:
evaluated. So, this research produced eco-friendly structural concretes of three compressive strength
Carbonation
Steel slag concrete
classes and for similar application parameters. The evaluations were performed in concretes with total
Reuse of industrial waste replacement of conventional aggregates by steel slag aggregates, containing no chemical admixtures
Recycled aggregates and in the presence of a PCE-based superplasticizer. The mechanical performance and resistance to car-
bonation of these products were evaluated. An accelerated carbonation test was proposed and adopted to
better understand the carbonation phenomenon within the research timeframe. The steel slag concretes
presented higher compressive strengths and reductions in carbonation depths up to 60% compared to
conventional ones. These results corroborate the technical feasibility of applying steel slag as aggregates
in cement-based composites.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction tive applications for industrial waste in construction elements is

an important current issue, with the potential to provide adequate
Currently, several industries are improving their processes to disposal of industrial liabilities, in addition to providing production
reduce environmental impacts, including waste generation and inputs for the construction sector [4,5]. In this way, the steel indus-
disposal. On the other hand, the consumption of resources in the try stands out. Brazil has the ninth biggest steel production in the
construction sector is enormous [1-3]. The evaluation of alterna- world and generated 18.8 million tonnes of residue in 2017, of
which one-third is steel slag [6].
⇑ Corresponding author. Steel slag is a by-product of the steel industry usually intended
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (H.D. Andrade), to be disposed of in landfills. It is generated during the refining
[email protected] (J.M.F. de Carvalho), [email protected] process by two different steel plants: basic oxygen furnace (BOF)
(L.C.B. Costa), [email protected] (Fernanda Pereira da Fonseca Elói), or electric arc furnace (EAF). As steel slag has good mechanical per-
[email protected] (Keoma Defáveri do Carmo e Silva), [email protected]
(R.A.F. Peixoto).
formance, several studies have produced technically competent

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0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

materials using this waste material to replace (total or partial) nat- Table 1
ural aggregates in cementitious composites, including structural Characterization of cement.

concrete [7-13]. In addition, the technical and economic feasibility Parameter Value
of processing these by-products to produce aggregates has been Insoluble residue 1.00%
demonstrated [14]. Loss ignition 3.93%
Many studies have discussed the good performance of steel slag Fineness module 0.10%
aggregates in concrete regarding mechanical properties [22-27]. In Residue in sieve #325 1.00%
Normal consistency water 29.5%
fact, the potential of this by-product in improving the mechanical Expandability 0.00 mm
performance of composites due to some cementitious ability and/ Specific surface area (Blaine) 4.64 cm2/g
or grain-packing has been proved [8,27,28]. Despite the good Specific gravity 3.01 g/cm3
mechanical performance of concretes containing steel slag aggre- Setting time (initial – final) (167 – 226) min
Compressive strength (1, 3, 7 and 28) days (24.1 – 37.5 – 46.3 – 55.2) MPa
gates, studies on the durability of these products are scarce. How-
ever, this aspect cannot be neglected since concrete is mostly used
reinforced with steel rebars, and the durability of the resulting
structure is related to the integrity of the steel rebars under chem- the oxides present in the steel slag, mitigating deleterious behavior
ical attack [15,16]. (since the availability of expandable oxides reduced) and improv-
Carbonation occurs as a result of the reaction of CO2 present in ing technological properties [8,32-34].
the atmosphere with moisture and calcium hydroxide present in The steel slags (EAF and BOF) were processed in the laboratory
the cement-composite [17]. The main products of this reaction to produce fine and coarse aggregates with a reduced content of
are calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and water. Carbonation causes magnetic material. For the coarse fraction, the steel slag was sub-
cracks and a remarkable reduction in the concrete pH, which jected to a magnetic separation process in an Inbras HF CC mag-
results in steel depassivation favoring the corrosion of the rebars, netic roll (1500 gauss, 23 rpm and 30 Hz vibrating tray). The
which impairs the structural integrity of the reinforced concrete particle size distribution of the material was also adjusted to meet
elements [15,18-21]. Thus, the lifetime of a reinforced concrete the requirements of the Brazilian standard NBR 7211 [35].
system directly depends on the protection provided by the con- Production of steel slag fine aggregates started with the crush-
crete to the steel rebars, which is, in turn, closely related to the ing in a jaw crusher (BB 200, Retsch), followed by magnetic sepa-
composite porosity [15]. ration and particle size segregation by sieving. The resulting
However, there are few studies in the literature about the per- material met the specification NBR 7211 [35] for the optimum par-
formance of concretes produced with steel slag aggregates regard- ticle size range.
ing carbonation. Some of them have reported that concretes For comparison purposes, conventional aggregates: natural
produced with partial replacement of natural aggregates for steel river quartz sand and gneiss gravel were used as reference (REF).
slag aggregates performed similarly to the concretes produced The reference aggregates had the same particle size distribution
with natural aggregates [13,29]. In a very specific CO2 curing as those obtained for the steel slag aggregates, both meeting the
approach, Mo et al. [30] observed a higher resistance to carbona- optimum particle size ranges of the Brazilian specification NBR
tion for concretes made with steel slag aggregates in the total 7211 [35] (Fig. 1). Table 2 lists some physical characteristics of
replacement of conventional ones, as well as better mechanical the aggregates.
performance. The aggregates were also characterized according to their
In order to contribute to the knowledge regarding the durability chemical and mineralogical composition. So, for this microstruc-
of concretes produced entirely with steel slag and to the validation tural analysis, the sample preparation comprised grinding the
of this cement-based composite as a sustainable and technologi- aggregates using a low-efficiency program performed in a Marconi
cally suitable product, this study proposes a method of accelerated MA 500Ò horizontal ball mill, followed by a high-efficiency grind-
carbonation test in order to assess the durability of this new pro- ing performed in a Retsch PM 100Ò planetary ball mill. The quan-
duct entirely produced with slag from two refining processes: titative chemical analysis was performed using the x-ray
Basic Oxygen Converter (BOF) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). The fluorescence technique (PANalytical Epson 3x). X-ray diffraction
study of carbonation of steel slag concrete is recent and the results patterns were obtained with the equipment Brucker D2 Phaser
obtained in this work will contribute to the understanding of car- [Cuka (2.54184 Angstron) radiation; 30 kV; 10 mA; step size of
bonation in concrete produced entirely from steel slag. 0.018°; step time of 1 s; and 2h range of 7° to 70°]. A quantitative
mineralogical analysis was performed from the obtained diffrac-
tograms using the Rietveld refinement method [software X’pert
2. Experimental High Score v.3.0; databases COD and ICDD PDF+; internal pattern:
Fluorite (10% by mass)].
2.1. Materials and characterization The mix design of the concretes was performed following the
ACI/ABCP method [36] aided by computational software [37]. This
The concretes were produced using a Brazilian high early design method considers the physical characteristics of the aggre-
strength sulfate-resistant Portland cement (ASTM type III equiva- gates and provides a mixture design with low cement content.
lent). This cement was chosen since it has a low content of mineral Three strength classes were considered: C15 (15 MPa), C25
admixtures (less than 10% of limestone filler according to the (25 MPa), and C35 (35 MPa). The consistency was fixed at a slump
Brazilian standard NBR 16,697 [31]). Table 1 presents the cement of 80 mm (methods NBR NM 67 [38] and ASTM C143/C143M-20
characteristics. [39]) to produce concretes with similar applicability. A
Two different Brazilian steel plants provided the steel slags used polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer (SP) was used to adjust
as aggregates: one basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and one electric arc the concrete workability (MC – POWERFLOW 1180). The content
furnace (EAF). By-products were of particle size range of 4.75 to of the admixture added into the mixture corresponded to the sat-
12.5 mm. In order to stabilize the expansive oxides and produce uration point. Concretes containing no chemical admixtures were
durable composites, the slags were subjected to natural weather- also produced to evaluate the effect of the SP.
ing for four years. The wetting and drying cycles caused by the cli- The SP saturation point was determined according to Carvalho
matic changes along this time are reported to efficiently hydrate et al. [28] based on Aitcin [40]. For this test, a Ford Cup viscometer

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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution curve of aggregates.

Table 2
Physical characterization of the aggregates.

Characteristic Fine Aggregate Coarse Aggregate

Natural EAF BOF Natural EAF BOF
3
Specific gravity (g/cm ) 2.6 3.65 3.52 2.61 3.48 3.32
Bulk density (g/cm3) 1.60 2.14 2.04 1.40 1.98 1.94
Fineness Modulus 3.55 3.55 3.55 5.71 5.71 5.71
Content of Materials Finer than 75-lm (%) 6.16 6.55 7.89 1.21 1.31 1.58

was used (stainless steel, Ø4mm brass orifice) to correlate the SP table apparatus (15 drops in 15 s, defined in a pilot study of this
dosage with the viscosity of the paste. For the cement and SP used research). The samples were maintained in a moist chamber at
in this research, the saturation point obtained was 1% by cement 23 ± 2 °C and minimum relative humidity of 95% for 28 days
mass. (NBR 9479 [41] and ASTM C511-19 [42]). The concretes did not
Table 3 presents the unitary mixture proportions designed for present bleeding or segregation.
the studied concretes. All the composites had the same workability The experimental program of concrete characterization con-
(slump test 80 mm) and SP content of 1% (when used). For the sisted of the determination of the compressive strength (NBR
same strength class, all the concretes had the same water/cement 5739 [43] similar to ASTM C39 [44]); specific gravity, void index
ratio. The authors set these parameters to produce concretes for and water absorption (NBR 9778 [45] similar to ASTM C642
equivalent applications. [46]); and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) (NBR 8802 [47] similar
Cylindrical specimens measuring £5  10 cm were produced. to ASTM C597 [48]). Four specimens were used in each determina-
The molds were filled in two layers and compacted using the flow tion. Fragments of the ruptured samples were collected to investi-
gate the interfacial transition zone using scanning electron
microscopy images of polished surfaces (BSE-SEM, Tescan Vega 3,
Table 3
Mixture proportions of the concretes (by mass). high vacuum, 20 kV).
The accelerated carbonation tests were carried out in a carbon-
Mix* Cement Sand Gravel Water/Cement
ation chamber (SCO 26H ShelLab) using cylindrical specimens of
EAF15 1 2.6 3.5 0.64 size £5  10 cm. The accelerated carbonation test aimed to esti-
EAF25 1 2.02 2.9 0.48
mate the resistance to carbonation of the steel slag concretes. In
EAF35 1 1.46 2.31 0.44
EAF15-SP 1 5.62 4.75 0.64 this work, the parameters proposed by Sanjuán et al. [51] and Ho
EAF25-SP 1 3.33 2.9 0.48 & Lewis [52] have been adopted (Table 4).
EAF35-SP 1 3.11 2.81 0.44 The sample preparation for the accelerated carbonation test
BOFS15 1 2.63 3.45 0.64 consisted of removing a 5 mm layer of the top surface of the cylin-
BOFS25 1 2.02 2.9 0.48
BOFS35 1 1.24 2.08 0.44
drical specimen using a circular diamond saw blade. After that, the
BOFS15-SP 1 4.13 3.36 0.64 samples’ surfaces were covered with adhesive tape, leaving only
BOFS25-SP 1 3.33 2.9 0.48 the top surface uncovered. Lastly, the adhesive tape set was sealed
BOFS35-SP 1 2.27 1.99 0.44 with a thin layer of paraffin. This preparation procedure aims to
REF15 1 1.69 2.55 0.64
allow one-directional CO2 penetration along the length of the sam-
REF25 1 1.17 2.05 0.48
REF35 1 0.84 1.73 0.44 ple, creating a carbonation front, according to CPC 18 [53]. Fig. 2
REF15-SP 1 2.84 2.78 0.64 presents a schematic of the sample surfaces sealed in this experi-
REF25-SP 1 2.48 2.52 0.48 mental program.
REF35-SP 1 2.34 2.4 0.44 After 160 days of exposure in the carbonation chamber, the pro-
* EAF: mixes produced with electric arc furnace; BOF: mixes produced with basic tection layer was removed, and the samples were split in a plane
oxygen furnace; SP: mixes containing superplasticizer; 15: mixes designed to reach along the length. Measurements of the carbonation depths were
a compressive strength of 15 MPa; 25: mixes designed to reach a compressive made based on the colorimetric method using a phenolphthalein
strength of 25 MPa; 35: mixes designed to reach a compressive strength of 35 MPa.
solution as a pH indicator [53].

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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

3. Results and discussion Table 5

Chemical composition of the conventional aggregates and weathered slags (XRF in
oxides).
3.1. Chemical and mineralogical characterization of the aggregates
Oxide Natural sand Gravel (Gneiss) BOF EAF
Table 5 presents the chemical characterization of the aggre- SiO2 59.6% 69.3 14.6% 19.0%
gates, and Fig. 3 shows the mineralogical composition of the steel CaO 0.5% 2.6 36.8% 27.4%
Fe2O3 4.7% 1.6% 32.2% 33.5%
slags after weathering. The steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) are
P2O5 – 0.4% 1.6% 1.1%
multiphase materials, predominantly composed of CaO, SiO2 and Cr2O3 – – 0.7% 1.3%
Fe2O3 [12,24,28]. The EAF slag (Fig. 3a) presented a higher variety MnO 0.1% – 3.7% 4.0%
of phases than BOF slag (Fig. 3b) since the feed material of the EAF MgO – 0.7% 5.5% 5.6%
steel plant is steel scrap while the basic oxygen furnace processes a Al2O3 31.3% 15.9% 3.7% 6.5%
SO3 1% – 0.3% 0.3%
high proportion of pig iron.
TiO2 1.2% 0.3% 0.5% 0.8%
BOF had a higher content of CaO (36.8%) than EAF (27.4%) in the V2O5 – – 0.1% 0.1%
XRF analysis. This number causes concern since it is a harmful K2O 1.7% 2.8% – –
agent by its expansive property related to durability problems in
cement-based composites. However, this is an estimated result in
oxide given by the XRF analysis as a common form to exhibit composites. Alongside the high density of iron compounds, oxida-
chemical composition results. To better understand the expansive tion of the remaining metallic content in cement matrices is also
phases comprised in the steel slag, it is important to associate the related to expansion and durability depletion. However, the iron
XRF result with the XRD. The calcium content in steel slags is also content is a valuable resource suitable for being recovered in ded-
related to cementitious compounds (calcium silicates) and prod- icated processing plants [14]. For this reason, some discussion has
ucts of the stabilization process of the original lime content (cal- been proposed to optimize the recoverability before weathering
cium hydroxide and calcium carbonate) [54-57]. In this sense, [27].
BOF presented the highest content of the cementing compounds So, despite the other expansive oxides (MgO and FeO) present
larnite (C2S) and brownmillerite, a promising result for a material contents higher than CaO, this did not decrease the efficiency of
intended to be used in cementitious composites. weathering processes since this material is reactive only in the
The stabilization process proved to be efficient since the miner- powdery fraction, which implies the dilution of this content in
alogical evaluation showed small lime (CaO) contents in both slags the matrix.
and higher content of calcite (calcium carbonate). According to
Palankar et al. (2016) [56], calcium hydroxide and remaining lime
can generate calcite (CaCO3). As a result, weathered steel slag has a
low calcium hydroxide content, which is an important point in this 3.2. Concrete physical characteristics
study since fewer products will be available for carbonation in the
cementitious matrices [57,58]. Fig. 4, Fig. 5, and Fig. 6 show results of specific gravity, void
The high iron content is another remarkable characteristic of ratio, and water absorption of the concretes, respectively. In gen-
the steel slags, and it is also related to undesirable and deleterious eral, the use of steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) increased the
characteristics for a material intended to be used in cement-based specific gravity of the concretes and reduced the void ratio and
water absorption. Also, the incorporation of SP in the concretes
(with all aggregate types) reduced the void ratio and water absorp-
tion but did not affect the specific gravity.
Table 4
The water absorption and voids content are parameters that
Parameters used in the accelerated carbonation test.
indirectly measure the porosity and permeability of the composite.
Parameter Value The incorporation of both steel slags produced concretes with
Relative humidity 50 ± 10% reduced permeability, although those fabricated with EAF aggre-
Temperature 25 ± 1 °C gates were less porous (for instance, a maximum decrease of the
Concentration (CO2) 8 ± 1%
voids content is observed in EAF35-SP compared to BOF35-SP).
Since all the concretes have the same volume of water (Table 3),
the differences in performance are caused by intrinsic characteris-
tics of the aggregates. The higher content of material finer than
75 lm in the steel slag aggregates (fine and coarse) (Table 2) can
refine the pore system of the matrix acting as supplementary
cementitious material or filler, as already reported in the literature
[58-60]. In the same direction, the calculated amorphous content
(Fig. 3) suggests the fines are potentially pozzolanic materials.
Additionally, the cubic morphology of the steel slag nonreactive
particles prevents water retention in the vicinity of the aggregates,
preventing weakening ITZ and increasing matrix porosity [15].
The specific gravity values of the mixtures for both steel slag
concretes (EAF and BOF) were similar and around 3.4 g/cm3. This
high specific gravity classifies these concretes as heavyweight (>3
g/cm3) [15,61]. Since the steel slags comprised high contents of
metallic compounds (Fe, Ca, Mg, Al), these aggregates were 30–
40% heavier than the reference one (Table 5). Thus, they produced
concretes with a specific gravity 30% higher than the reference
concrete, on average. In the literature, concretes produced with
Fig. 2. Schematic of the sample impermeabilization. partial replacement of coarse steel slag aggregates present a speci-
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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

Fig. 3. Diffractograms giving the results of mineralogical analyses of the slags: (a) BOF; (b) EAF.

fic gravity around 10% higher than conventional composites the cement content and the void ratio of the concretes due to the
[24,62]. reduction in water content and increase in cement hydration
The SP did not influence the specific gravity of the concretes. degree [63-65].
However, the voids content (and the water absorption) of con- The steel slag concretes (EAF and BOF) presented UPVs up to
cretes with superplasticizer decreased 11% on average, with a max- 35% higher than the reference concrete (Fig. 7). The available bib-
imum reduction of 24.3% observed in EAF35-SP concrete liography shows that concretes produced with steel slag aggre-
(compared to EAF35). This behavior indicates the production of a gates typically show an average 5% increase in UPV [68,69].
less permeable and more durable concrete. The SP promotes more However, the values found in the present studies are higher than
efficient cement hydration by dispersing cement particles through 5% compared to conventional concretes. Pang, Zhou, & Xu [69]
steric repulsion and aiding in the nucleation of hydration products observed that the UPV of the concrete increases with the increase
[63-67]. in the replacement content of steel slag aggregates. Based on UPV
The concretes with higher cement content presented a reduc- criteria [68], all the steel slag concretes in this study are classified
tion in the void ratio as expected. The addition of SP reduced both as good quality concretes (UPV  3.5 km/s).
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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

Fig. 4. Specific gravity of the concretes.

Fig. 5. Void ratio of the concretes.

Fig. 6. Water absorption of the concretes.

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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

Regarding the SP’s contribution, densification of the matrices is The concretes produced with steel slag aggregates (EAF and
evidenced by enhancing UPV by 12% on average. The maximum BOF) presented compressive strength 7–31% higher than the
UPV increment of 19% was observed in concretes EAF35-SP and reference ones. Many authors reported in the literature that
EAF35, relative to their corresponding reference mixtures. the incorporation of steel slag aggregates improved the
mechanical performance of the concretes [71-74]. Pang et al.
3.3. Compressive strength [69] and Özbay et al. [4] observed that concrete compressive
strength increased with the increase in the incorporation of
Fig. 8 shows the compressive strengths of the steel slag con- steel slag aggregates.
cretes. The incorporation of superplasticizer and steel slag aggre- Compared to conventional aggregates, the steel slag aggregates
gates (EAF and BOF) produced cement-based composites with present a high hardness which contributes to the better mechani-
better mechanical performance. In general, this result shows a cal performance of concretes [75,76]. The steel slags contain high
good correlation with the other parameters, as void content, water contents of iron (around 20–30%) in their chemical composition
absorption and specific gravity. [12,58], which results in aggregates with high strength and low
The use of superplasticizer in the mixtures reduced the void abrasion [77]. The high temperature (1500 °C 1700 °C) at which
ratio of the concrete, which implies an improvement of around the steel slag is separated also contributes to the formation of
18% in the compressive strength. This better performance is due products with a higher density [8,69].
to reduced water content and improved hydration of the cement Additionally, the steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) have a
particles. The observed improvements result from the cement par- high content of material finer than 75-lm (Table 2), which results
ticles’ efficient dispersion and an improved nucleation effect in the densification of the matrix and refinement of the pore sys-
[63,70]. Fig. 8 also presents the cement contents of all concrete tem. The literature reported that steel slag powders contribute to
mixtures. On average, the use of superplasticizer allowed a reduc- the development of concrete mechanical strength [58,60]. The
tion of about 20% in cement consumption. presence of larnite (C2S) in the mineralogical composition of the

Fig. 7. Ultrasonic pulse velocity.

Fig. 8. Compressive strength and cement content of the concrete mixtures.

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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

slags (Fig. 3) indicates long-term gains in compressive strength, as aggregate and the cement paste also presented greater homogene-
observed by Qiang et al. [29]. ity and no fractures (Fig. 10b).
Furthermore, the cubic morphology of the steel slag particles On the other hand, in the reference concretes, a well-defined
contributes to a denser matrix by presenting better mobility and failure line was noticed through the ITZ (Fig. 10a). These consider-
increasing the grain packing density. It is also worth mentioning ations are in line with reports in the literature and confirm stron-
that the rough surface of the steel slag aggregates (Fig. 9), which ger ITZ in EAF concretes. The soundness of the ITZ is a decisive
can store water into their pores, creates conditions for the autoge- factor in ensuring a good mechanical performance of concretes
nous cure, contributing to increased hydration of the cement par- [79], and this is believed to have played an important role in the
ticles and cementing compounds of the steel slag powder. The better mechanical performance of the steel slag concretes in this
elongated shape of reference aggregates promotes an enhance- study (Fig. 9).
ment of the porosity in the aggregate particle vicinity due to inter-
nal bleeding [15]. Moreover, the rough surface of the EAF aggregate 3.4. Carbonation depths of the concretes
increases interlocking in the system. Fig. 9 shows the morpholog-
ical aspect of the aggregates used in this research. In the present study, concretes containing superplasticizer and
Another aspect being speculated is the interfacial transition steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) showed lower carbonation
zone (ITZ). Fig. 10 shows SEM images of the typical interfacial tran- depths. Table 6 lists the carbonation depths measured in the con-
sition zones (ITZ) observed for EAF concrete samples (Fig. 10b) and crete samples after 160 days of exposure in the accelerated carbon-
REF concrete samples (Fig. 10a). ation chamber. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12Err or ! Reference source not
There is a noticeable reduction in thickness of the ITZ around found. show the concretes after applying phenolphthalein spray.
the steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) in comparison to REF Concretes containing steel slag aggregates (EAF and BOF) exhi-
aggregates. This fact can be explained by the reduction in the con- bit similar behavior, with a 59–83.3% average decrease in carbon-
tent of Ca(OH)2 and an enhancement in the C-S-H content in the ation depth when compared to REF concretes. Physical
vicinities of the steel slag aggregates [78]. The shape and rough characterization indicates that the concretes produced with steel
surfaces of the steel slag aggregates prevent a thicker water layer slag had a smaller void ratio, which explains the remarkable lower
surrounding the aggregate but instead permits storing water for carbonation depths for these concretes. This observation also cor-
long-term hydration of the supplementary cementitious materials roborates the results of UPV, where all concretes produced with
and deeper hydration of the cement particles. Pang et al. [69] also steel slag aggregates presented higher values. The steel slag aggre-
observed reductions in the porosity of ITZ in concretes containing gates produced cement-based composites more compact with less
steel slag aggregates. The observed ITZ between the steel slag internal porosity, hindering the permeability of moisture and car-

Fig. 9. Morphological aspects of the coarse aggregates. (a) REF (b) EAF (c) BOF.

Fig. 10. Interfacial transition zone (ITZ): (a) REF (b) Steel slag (EAF).

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Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

bon dioxide present in the carbonation chamber. These observa-

tions are also in line with the results showing better mechanical
performances for the steel slag concretes.
Despite the reduction in cement consumption, the concretes
produced with SP were more resistant to carbonation. On average,
the carbonation depths were 26% lower for the composites con-
taining SP than those produced without chemical admixtures.
The best results were observed for concretes containing EAF and
SP, with a 51% reduction in the carbonation depths than EAF con-
cretes with no chemical admixture. The main reason for the lower
carbonation depths in concretes made with SP is the reduction in
porosity (noticed in the void content - Fig. 5) due to reduced
water/cement ratio and improvement in dispersion and hydration
of the cement particles [64,70].

Table 6
Results of the carbonation depth measurements in the concrete specimens.

Compressive strength REF (mm) EAF (mm) BOF (mm)

C15 40.5 12.5 13.3
C15SP 36.0 6.0 9.5
C25 27.0 11.0 10.0
C25SP 23.5 4.8 9.0
C35 25.0 7.8 8.5
C35SP 21.0 3.8 8.0

Fig. 12. Photographs of specimens containing the PCE-based superplasticizer after

applying the phenolphthalein solution.

The Brazilian standard NBR 6118 [80] specifies a minimum con-

crete cover of 25 mm for reinforced concrete systems in urban
areas. All studied steel slag concretes (EAF and BOF, Table 6) pre-
sented a carbonation depth smaller than half of the concrete cover
for the 160 days exposition. This result indicates the feasibility of
applying steel slags to produce durable concretes.
Santamaria et al. [5] reported carbonation depths of concretes
fabricated only with steel slag aggregates similar to conventional
ones when exposed to a marine environment. The good perfor-
mance of concretes produced with steel slag aggregates is also
reported by Qiang et al. [29], which produced concretes with 15%
replacement of natural aggregates for BOF steel slag and observed
a decrease of 22% in the carbonation depth. Meanwhile, the con-
cretes produced in this study with 100% substitution of the natural
aggregate with steel slag aggregates presented reductions in car-
bonation depths up to 83% when compared to conventional
concretes.

4. Conclusion

Concretes produced with steel slag aggregates presented a

superior performance compared to the reference ones for all the
Fig. 11. Photographs of specimens containing no chemical admixtures after parameters evaluated in this experimental program. The main
applying the phenolphthalein solution. findings are summarized below:
9
Humberto Dias Andrade, José Maria Franco de Carvalho, Laís Cristina Barbosa Costa et al. Construction and Building Materials 298 (2021) 123910

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