REPLACEMENT OF NATURAL COARSE AGGREGATE BY BLAST FURNACE SLAG AS COARSE AGGREGATE FOR CONCRETE MANUFACTURING

Abstract

We are always looking for advances in construction methods in civil engineering, which reduce environmental impacts and which together can be financially profitable. So how can Civil Engineering obtain greater profitability and still reduce impacts on the environment in the face of the extraction of ores and coarse aggregates from nature? It is well known that the manufacture of pig iron generates an inert material, commonly known as blast furnace slag. And this by-product acquired from the manufacture of pig iron can have a very significant use in civil construction. Today the blast furnace slag is well used in the manufacture of Portland cement, by the cement industries. However, this by-product has been widely studied as a substitute for coarse and fine aggregates in the manufacture of concrete. his by-product has already been widely used in countries such as Japan, England and France, in Brazil, however, it still faces a lot of resistance in its use as a substitute for natural aggregates. Fortunately, nowadays, companies like CSN already offer the material for use in civil construction, such as for paving roads. The reuse of industrial materials is something that is always desired, let alone blast furnace slag, which is an abundant by-product in Brazil. The following study conclued that the blast furnace slag by-product can be used as a coarse aggregate in the manufacture of concrete for civil construction, in a very satisfactory way; we evidence that its use does not make the concrete, after its cure, a less efficient product, but it makes it an economically profitable and environmentally correct product.