Physical and Mechanical Properties of Rural-Road Pavement Concrete in South Korea Containing Air-Cooled Blast-Furnace Slag Aggregates

• Published in: Applied sciences 2021-06, Vol.11 (12), p.5645
• Main Authors: Ahn, Byung-Hwan, Lee, Su-Jin, Park, Chan-Gi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregates; Agricultural production; Air Content; air-cooled slag aggregate; Blast furnace chemistry; Blast furnace practice; By products; Cement; Chemical properties; Chloride resistance; Chlorides; Compressive strength; Concrete; concrete aggregates; Concrete mixing; Contamination; Design criteria; Flexural strength; Highway construction; Humidity; Mechanical properties; Mechanical tests; Pavements; Penetration resistance; Permeability; Physical properties; Quality standards; Roads; rural-road concrete pavement; Slag; Splitting; steel manufacturing byproduct; Tensile strength; Test methods
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app11125645

The purpose of this study was to assess the physical and mechanical properties of pavement concrete for rural roads of South Korea made with air-cooled slag aggregate, which is an industrial byproduct. This study assessed the physical and chemical properties according to the following performance requirements based on the design criteria of the Korea Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Production Infrastructure Maintenance Business Plan and the Korea Expressway Corporation’s Highway Construction Specialized Specifications: slump of 80 mm or greater, air content of 4.5 ± 1.5%, compressive strength of at least 21 MPa, splitting tensile strength of at least 4.2 MPa, and a chloride penetration resistance of less than 4000 C. The slump, air content, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and chloride ion permeability of the aggregate-containing concretes were measured. The air-cooled slag aggregates provided the necessary physical and chemical properties and presented no environmental issues. Furthermore, the slump and air content of concrete made with the aggregates met the target values. The slump decreased and the air content increased with increasing amounts of air-cooled slag aggregate. Mechanical testing of the concretes containing air-cooled slag aggregate established that they met the performance requirements for rural road pavement.