Efficient utilization of induction furnace steel slag for fine aggregate to develop sustainable Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC).

Eco-Friendly Ductile Cementitious Composites (EDCCs) are a new type of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) that consist of lower amount of cement and a higher amount of fly ash resulting in superior ductility. In steel-making furnaces, a secondary product is formed because of the induction process which is Steel Slag (SS) and it is called an induction furnace steel slag. This study explores the characteristics of fresh and hardened ECC made with SS. To minimize the usage of natural resources such as River Sand (RS), a partial replacement material from industrial by-products is considered. The reuse of SS as a partial replacement material for RS with 5%, 20%, 35%, 50% and 65% having various particle sizes on the characteristics of the ECC is studied. For microstructure analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used. The flowability of ECC is found to decrease as the quantity of SS in the mix is increased, especially for smaller particle-size mixes. The findings indicate that when up to 50% of the RS is replaced with SS in ECC, offers better performance at all particle sizes than the RS-ECC in terms of compressive strength, flexural strength, uniaxial tensile strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, electrical resistivity, carbonation resistance and temperature resistance. Furthermore, the findings also suggest that SS can be used to substitute sand in the production of ECC with better characteristics. Finally, the evaluations of the cost and environmental impact show that using SS in ECC is economical and environmentally sustainable.