The Behaviour of Concrete by Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate and Cement with Copper slag - An Experimental Study

Concrete has occupied an important place in construction industry in the past few decades and it is used widely in all types of constructions ranging from small buildings to large infrastructural dams or reservoirs. It is the most widely used man-made construction material in the construction world. Ever since concrete has been accepted as material for construction, civil engineers have been trying to improve its quality, strength etc., against adverse conditions. The OPC is one of the main ingredients used for the production of concrete. However in the context of increased awareness regarding over exploitation of natural resources to manufacture cement, an eco-friendly technology has to be developed for the effective management of resources. The replacement of natural resources in the manufacture of cement and sand is the present issue in the present construction scenario. Copper slag is an industrial by-product material produced from the process of manufacturing copper. Use of Copper slag does not only reduce the cost of construction but also helps to reduce the impact on environment by consuming the material generally considered as waste product. Hence in the current study an attempt has been made to minimize the cost of cement and sand with concrete mix grade M25 by studying the mechanical behavior of these concrete mixes by partial replacing with advanced mineral admixture such as Copper slag in concrete mixes as partial replacement of cement and sand. In this study, partial replacement of Cement and fine aggregate with Copper Slag considered. Experimental study is conducted to evaluate the workability and strength characteristics of hardened concrete, by partially replacing the cement and sand by various percentages of copper slag for M25 grade of concrete at different ages. The mixes were designed using IS Code method. In this project, properties of concrete have been assessed by partially replacing cement and sand with Copper slag is separately done in two different phase. The cement has been replaced by Copper slag accordingly in the range of 0% (without Copper slag), 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% is one phase and sand has been replaced by Copper slag accordingly in the range of 0% (without Copper slag), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% is second phase by weight of cement for M25 mix. Concrete mixtures were produced, tested and compared in terms of compressive, flexural and split strength with the conventional concrete.