Sustainable use of induction furnace slag as coarse aggregate in pervious concrete: Strength and hydrological properties

Induction furnace slag (IFS), a waste product from the steelmaking industry, was used in this study to make pervious concrete (PC) for pavement application. 18 mixes of PC were prepared using IFS as the coarse aggregate, varying the aggregate gradation (two single-sized and one dense), the fine aggregate (FA) contents (10 % and 15 %), and the w/c ratios (0.28, 0.32, and 0.36) to investigate the hardened PC's mechanical properties, abrasion resistance, porosity, and permeability. It was found that the compressive strengths of PC made from single sized IFS gradation were between 4.8 MPa and 10.9 MPa, and for dense graded IFS PC, 9.0 MPa to 22.5 MPa. The split tensile and flexural strength of single graded IFS PC was between 0.77 MPa and 1.46 MPa and 1.24 MPa and 3.45 MPa, respectively. Porosity of PC from single sized IFS gradation could exceed design porosity of 20 % and was between 21.1 % and 31.3 %. However, for dense graded IFS PC, it was much lower (6.2 %) than design porosity (20 %) for one case and varied up to 20.7 % for other cases. Permeability of single graded IFS PC varied between 0.90 cm/s to 4.84 cm/s, and for dense graded IFS PC, between 0.04 cm/s to 2.13 cm/s. Single graded IFS PC showed satisfactory performance regarding workability, paste drain down, and abrasion resistance tests. An analysis of the economic and environmental impact shows that IFS PC works better than PC mixes made with stone aggregate that are designed to have 20 % porosity. Hence, PC made from single-grade IFS aggregate may be a viable alternative to PC made from stone aggregate. • Induction Furnace Slag aggregate show excellent film forming ability with cement mortar. • The strengths as well as the abrasion resistance was above the minimum requirement according to ACI 522 R. • The permeability and the effective porosity were also above the minimum requirements. • An optimum w/c ratio of 0.32 is suggested which exhibits sufficient strength, abrasive and hydrological properties.