Use of furnace slag and welding slag as replacement for sand in concrete

In this project, a study was made to obtain low cost building materials using industrial wastes (welding and furnace slags). The objective of the study is to use these wastes in low-cost construction with adequate compressive strength. Different fine aggregate replacements have been studied by substituting 5%, 10%, and 15% of slag. The waste material was substituted for replacement of fine aggregates and for the preparation of concrete blocks. In this project, we have followed Indian standard methods and arrived at the mix design for M25 grade concrete. Experimental studies were conducted only on plain cement concrete. The preliminary studies were conducted by mixing the slag with the cement concrete cubes of standard sizes. The building material specimens were analyzed for compressive strength as per IS code. For the test and other specifications, it can be concluded that the welding and furnace slags can increase the strength of the concrete. The optimum compressive strength of concretes after 28 days has been found to be 41 N/mm2 for 5% welding slag and 39.7 N/mm2 for 10% furnace slag replacements. The results show that 5% of welding and 10% furnace slags replacement with sand is very effective for practical purpose.