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Use of Blast Furnace Slag as an Alternative of Natural Sand in Mortar and Concrete

Prem Ranjan Kumar, Dr. Pradeep Kumar T.B.

Construction Industry plays a crucial role in the economic development of any country. In India Construction industry is the second largest after agriculture, contributes about 11% in the GDP. Construction industry is directly related with the consumption of cement in the world. India is the second largest cement producer in the world after China. Sand is a major material used for preparation of mortar and concrete and plays a important role in mix design. Sand is required about two times the volume of cement used in concrete construction. Hence the demand of natural sand is very high in developing countries to satisfy the rapid infrastructure growth. As demand of natural sand is increasing day by day there is a need to find the new alternative material to replace the river sand, such that excess river erosion and harm to environment is prevented. In present study alternatives of natural sand, blast furnace slag were evaluated for their suitability of replacing natural sand for making mortar and concrete. Blast furnace slag as by– product, which is a non–biodegradable waste material from that only a small percentage of it is used by cement industries to manufacture cement.. Mortar with proportions (1:4) for 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% replacement and concrete of M-20 and M-30 grades for 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% replacement cube were also prepared respectively. From this study it is observed that Blast furnace slag can be used as an alternative to natural sand up to 60% and 75% in mortar and concrete respectively.