Chavan, et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN2249–8974

Research Paper
PERFORMANCE OF COPPER SLAG ON STRENGTH
PROPERTIES AS PARTIAL REPLACE OF FINE AGGREGATE
IN CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
R R Chavan*1 & D B Kulkarni2
Address for Correspondence
1
Student, M.Tech. (Civil Structures), *Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Rajarambapu
Institute of Technology, Rajaramnagar
ABSTRACT:
This paper reports on an experimental program to investigate the effect of using copper slag as a replacement of fine
aggregate on the strength properties. Copper slag is the waste material of matte smelting and refining of copper such that
each ton of copper generates approximately 2.5 tons of copper slag. Copper slag is one of the materials that is considered as
a waste which could have a promising future in construction Industry as partial or full substitute of aggregates. For this
research work, M25 grade concrete was used and tests were conducted for various proportions of copper slag replacement
with sand of 0 to 100% in concrete. The obtained results were compared with those of control concrete made with ordinary
Portland cement and sand.
KEYWORDS: copper slag, Fine aggregate, compressive strength, Flexural strength, partial replacement.
1. INTRODUCTION Copper slag is a by-product obtained during the matte
In India, there is great demand of aggregates mainly smelting and refining of copper. Copper slag used in
from civil engineering industry for road and concrete this work was brought from Sterlite Industries Ltd
constructions. But now days it is very difficult problem (SIL), Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India. SIL is producing
for available of fine aggregates. So researchers Copper slag during the manufacture of copper metal.
developed waste management strategies to apply for Currently, about 2600 tons of Copper slag is produced
replacement of fine aggregates for specific need. per day and a total accumulation of around 1.5 million
Natural resources are depleting worldwide while at the tons. It is a by-product obtained during the matte
same time the generated wastes from the industry are smelting and refining of copper. To produce every ton
increasing substantially. The sustainable development of copper, approximately 2.2–3.0 tons copper slag is
for construction involves the use of nonconventional generated as a by-product material. Utilization of
and innovative materials, and recycling of waste copper slag in applications such as Portland cement
materials in order to compensate the lack of natural substitution and/or as aggregates has threefold
resources and to find alternative ways conserving the advantages of eliminating the costs of dumping,
environment. Copper slag is one of the materials that is reducing the cost of concrete, and minimizing air
considered as a waste material which could have a pollution problems.
promising future in construction industry as partial or 1.2 Uses of copper slag
full substitute of either cement or aggregates. It is a by- • Copper slag has also gained popularity in the
product obtained during the matte smelting and building industry for use as a fill material.
refining of copper. To produce every ton of copper, • Contractors may also use copper slag in place
approximately 2.2–3.0 tons copper slag is generated as of sand during concrete construction.
a by-product material. In Oman approximately 60,000 • Copper slag can also be used as a building
tons of copper slag is produced every year (Alnuaimi material, formed into blocks.
AS et al., 2012). Copper slag is a by-product material • Copper slag is widely used in the sand
produced from the process of manufacturing copper. blasting industry and it has been used in the
As the copper settles down in the smelter, it has a manufacture of abrasive tools.
higher density, impurities stay in the top layer and then • Copper slag is widely used as an abrasive
are transported to a water basin with a low temperature media to remove rust, old coating and other
for solidification. The end product is a solid, hard impurities in dry abrasive blasting due to its
material that goes to the crusher for further processing. high hardness (6-7 Mohs), high density (2.8-
1.1 Copper Slag: 3.8 g/cm3) and low free silica content.

Fig.1.1 Process of generation of copper slag

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 Chavan, et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN2249–8974

25), using a water-to-binder ratio of 0.52. The mix

proportion chosen for this study is given in Table 3.2
Table 3.2:Mix proportion (Kg/ m3)and mix ratio

3.2 Testing Procedures:

Fig.1.2 Grinded copper slags from industry
This project entailed subjecting the designed concrete
2. SELECTIONS OF MATERIALS:
mixes to a series of tests to evaluate the strength, and
2.1 Cement
other properties. For this project, it was important to
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is by far the most
monitor the strength development with time to
important type of cement. The OPC was classified into
adequately evaluate the strength of each concrete mix.
three grades, namely 33 grade, 43 grade and 53 grade
For each test, either 3 samples from each mix were
depending upon the strength of the cement at 28 days
tested at each curing age, and the average values were
when tested as per IS 4031-1988. If the 28 days
used for analysis. The following sections present the
strength is not less than 33N/mm2, 43N/mm2 and 53
procedures used for the various tests.
N/mm2 it called 43 grade and 53 grade cement
3.3.1 Compressive Strength Test:
respectively. Ordinary Portland cement 53 Grade of
One of the most important properties of concrete is the
Ultra Tech Cement brand conforming to IS: 8112-
measurement of its ability to withstand compressive
1989 and IS 12269-1987 is used in this experimental
loads. This is referred to as a compressive strength and
work.
is expressed as load per unit area. One method for
2.2 Fine Aggregate:
determining the compressive strength of concrete is to
The aggregate size is lesser than 4.75 mm is
apply a load at a constant rate on a cube
considered as fine aggregate. The sand particles should
(150×150×150 mm), until the sample fails. The
be free from any clay or inorganic materials and found
compression tests performed in this project were
to be hard and durable. It was stored in open space free
completed in accordance with IS standard 516
from dust and water. In our region fine aggregate can
“Methods of Tests for Strength of Concrete”. The
be found from bed of Krishna River. It conforms to IS
apparatus used to determine the compressive strength
383 1970 comes under zone II.
of concrete in this project was a testing machine. For
2.3 Coarse Aggregate:
this study samples were tested for compression testing
The aggregate size bigger than 4.75 mm, is considered
at 7, 28, days of curing.
as coarse aggregate. It can be found from original bed
rocks. Coarse aggregate are available in different shape
like rounded, Irregular or partly rounded, Angular,
Flaky. It should be free from any organic impurities
and the dirt content was negligible.
3. EXPERIMENTAL WORK:
3.1 Sieve Analysis:
The experimental work starts with the sieve analysis.
IS specified sieves of varying sizes are used. The
Figure 3.1 Compression Testing Apparatus.
details of sieve analysis are shown in Table 3.1 The compressive strength of the concrete in terms of
Table 3.1 Sieve Analysis of fine and Coarse Aggregate,
Bottom Ash and Copper Slag.
pressure was then calculated using the Equation:

Where,
fc = Compressive Strength of Concrete,
P = Maximum load applied (KN), and
A = The cross-sectional area of the sample (mm2)
3.3.2 Flexural Strength Test:
Another important strength property of concrete is the
flexural strength of a concrete. Samples were tested for
flexural strength at 28 days of curing. The testing
machine apparatus used to measure the flexural
strength of concrete in this project is operated by
hydraulics and has Dial Gauge displays for monitoring
the rate of loading and the peak load on the sample at
3.2 Mix design and sample preparation the time of failure. The strain rate was manually
Concrete mixtures with different proportions of controlled by turning a knob either clockwise or
Copper slag used as a partial or full substitute for fine counter clockwise. The flexural strength was then
aggregates were prepared in order to investigate the calculated using Equation:
effect of Copper slag substitution on the strength
normal concrete. Concrete mixtures were prepared
with different proportions of Copper slag. The Where
proportions (by weight) of Copper slag added to = Flexural Strength of Concrete, (kPa or psi)
concrete mixtures were as follows: 0% (for the control P = Maximum load applied (KN or lb),
mix), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 75%, and l= Length of the specimen between the lower supports (mm
or in),
100%. The control mixture was designed to have a b = Width of the beam (mm or in), and
target 28 day compressive strength of 25 N/mm2 (M- d = Depth of the beam (mm or in)

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 Chavan, et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN2249–8974

compressive strengths of the concretes tested. Figures

4.4 graphically display the compressive strength of
concrete composites tested.
Table 4.1: Compressive Strengths test result

Figure 3.2 Flexural Strength Testing Machine

4. TESTS AND RESULTS:
The different tests conducted in laboratories are shown
in fig. 4.1 to fig. 4.3 It consist mixing of concrete in
the laboratory by replacing Copper Slag as fine
aggregate with proportions (by weight) of Copper Slag Table 4.2 Strength Gained By Copper Slag
added to concrete mixtures were as follows: 0% (for
the control mix), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%,
60%,75%, and 100%. Concrete samples were prepared
and cured in the laboratory, and are tested, to evaluate
the concrete fresh and harden properties like
compressive strength and flexural strength
requirements.

From the test results, it can be seen that the

compressive strength of Copper Slag concrete mixes
with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%,75% and 100%
fine aggregate replacement with Copper Slag, were
higher than the control mix at all ages. It is evident
from Table 6.1 and Fig 6.1 that compressive strength
of all mixes continued to increase with the increase in
age. From Fig. 6.1, it can be seen that there is increase
in strength with the increase in Copper Slag
Figure 4.1 Compressive strength test for Cube percentages; However, from table 6.1 the highest
compressive strength was achieved by 40%
replacement of copper slag, which was found about
28.48 Mpa compared with 18.29 Mpa for the control
mixture. This means that there is an increase in the
strength of almost 55% compared to the control mix at
7 days. However, mixtures with 100% replacement of
copper slag gave the lowest compressive strength
18.31 Mpa which is almost 1% greater than the
strength of the control mix.

Figure 4.2 Flexural strength test of Beam

Figure 4.4 Compressive Strengths test result for copper

slag
4.3 Flexural Strength:
Table 4.3 Flexural Strengths of the Concrete

Figure 4.3 Flexural strength test of Beam

4.2 Compressive Strength:
Compression tests were performed on samples made
during at various curing ages. As discussed earlier, a
targeted compressive strength was used for this
investigation. Results from compression strength tests
performed.
Here cube samples of size 150 x 150 x 150 mm, were Here samples of size 500 x 100 x 100mm, were
prepared and tested at 7, 28 days of curing in water prepared and tested for flexural strength at 28-days of
under controlled laboratory conditions. 3 samples were curing. At least 3 samples were tested at each curing
tested at each curing age. Tables 4.7 show the average age. The average flexural strengths of the concrete
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 Chavan, et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN2249–8974

composites measured during this phase of the project strength concrete” ,Material and design,Vol.31,pp-
2878-2883.
are presented in Table 4.3 and graphically on Figure
11. Wei Wu ,Weide Zhang , Guowei Ma(2010) “Mechanical
4.5 properties of copper slag reinforced concrete under
dynamic compression”, Construction and Building
Materials,Vol.24,pp-910-917.

Figure4.5 Flexural Strengths of the Concrete

5. CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were drawn from this study
1. Maximum Compressive strength of concrete
increased by 55% at 40% replacement of fine
aggregate by copper slag, and up to 75%
replacement, concrete gain more strength
than control mix concrete strength.
2. It is observed that for all percentage
replacement of fine aggregate by Copper slag
the flexural strength of concrete is more than
control mix.
3. It is observed that, the flexural strength of
concrete at 28 days is higher than design
mix (Without replacement) for 20%
replacement of fine aggregate by Copper
slag, the flexural strength of concrete is
increased by 14%. This also indicates
flexural strength is more for all percentage
replacements than design mix.
4. Compressive strength and flexural Strength is
increased due to high toughness of Copper
slag.
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