EFFECT OF ADDING STEEL PARTICLES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE

ABSTRACT 

The industrial waste and metal by-products such as steel fibers, synthetic fibers, carbon fibers and steel particles can be used as reinforcement materials since they possess reinforcement properties. Steel particles are produced in millions of tons per year as waste material in metal shops. This enormous waste is currently not being harnessed productively in the metal shops in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana. In most cases, they are indiscriminately dumped into the environment causing environmental Pollution that deplete the Ozone layer causing global warming. The concrete industry offers an ideal remedy to deal with the steel particles produced from the steel shops in the environment. The purpose of the study was to investigate the strength performance of concrete with steel particles. Sample of steel particles with a particle size of 20um were collected from metal shops in the Cape-Coast Metropolis. The steel particles were added at different percentages (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) to the concrete at different curing times of 7 and 28 days. Sixty cubes and sixty beams were cast and tested using 1:2:4 mixes by weight with 0.5 water/ cement ratio. The results showed that at the 28days curing age, the compressive strength recorded 25.28 N/mm2, 26.61N/mm2, 27.05N/mm2 and 25.01N/mm2 which met the target strength of 25N/mm2 for 0% to 15% particles. Addition of 20% to 25% performed poorer than the control specimen. 10% replacement gave the highest compressive strength, about 7% higher than the control. The flexural and tensile strengths also followed the compressive strength trend. The results for water absorption resistance for both 7 and 28 days were 6.89%, 6.91%, 6.94%, 19.10% and 11.83% when 0% to 25% particles were added. The mean values increased from 6.91% to 11.83% when 5% to 25% particles where added for both 7 and 28 days. This showsthat, addition of particles increased both physical and mechanical properties content of about 60%.