Mechanical and environmental behavior of granular materials. Application to national steel slag

Abstract

Nowadays, there is strong pressure to use industrial byproducts and waste in construction of transport infrastructures and geotechnical works. The possibility of recycling of these materials benefits environmental issues, resulting in reduction of deposits and the preservation of raw materials. This paper presents the geotechnical and geoenvironmental results obtained in the processed Portuguese electrical arc furnace steel slag that are studied during the PhD research. These test results were in a first step compared with those based in the empirical tests used in the national specifications for the embankments and structural layers of transport infrastructures. It was concluded that performance laboratory test results show a much better material performance than the results based in empirical tests (Los Angeles and micro-Deval). In addition, this material, when compared with results of mechanical tests of natural unbound granular materials used in road construction, has showed better mechanical performance. Additionally, leaching test results show that this by-product is inert and became titled “Inert Steel Aggregates for Construction (ISAC)”. These laboratory conclusions were validated in a full-scale trial by end performance testing, where were applied raw materials and ISAC.