Waste foundry sand and ground granulated blast furnace slag in self-compacting concrete: rheological characterization and thixotropic behavior
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/mc.2025.391024Keywords:
Self-compacting concrete, Waste foundry sand, Ground granulated blast furnace slag, Rheological parameters, ThixotropyAbstract
The construction sector seeks to enhance efficiency and reduce Portland cement use due to its environmental impact. Selfcompacting concrete (SCC) is a sustainable option as it can incorporate waste materials as substitutes for conventional components. The objective of the research was to analyze the rheological properties of SCC by adding waste foundry sand (WFS) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as substitutes for fine aggregate and cementitious material, respectively, at a maximum of 60% by weight. Fresh concrete properties were obtained by rheological measurements using a factorial design. The factorial design experiment revealed that the dynamic yield stress decreased with increasing concentrations of WFS particles, while the behavior of adding GGBFS particles was non-linear. The presence of WFS particles was the only factor that had a statistically significant impact on plastic viscosity. The breakdown area method indicates that WFS and their combined effect with GGBFS impact the mixture’s thixotropy.
Downloads
References
Adesina A. 2020. Recent Advances in the concrete industry to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Environ. Challenges. 1:100004. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2020.100004
Andrew RM. 2018. Global CO2 emissions from cement production. Earth Syst. Sci. Data. 10(1):195-217. htpps://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-195-2018
PMCid:PMC6007349
He Z, Zhu X, Wang J, Mu Mulan, Wang Y. 2019. Comparison of CO2 emissions from OPC and recycled cement production. Constr. Build. Mater. 211:965-973. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.289
Di Filippo J, Karpman J, DeShazo JR. 2019. The impacts of policies to reduce CO2 emissions within the concrete supply chain. Cem. Concr. Compos. 101:67-82. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.08.003
Bhargav Kumar KP, Krishna G, Umashankar B. 2019. Evaluation of waste foundry sand and blast furnace steel slag as geomaterials. Geo-Congress 2019: Geoenvironmental Engineering and Sustainability (GSP 312), 304-313. htpps://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482148.031
Senani, M, Ferhoune N, Guettala A, Aguiar JB. 2018. Eco-Concrete with incorporation of blast furnace slag as natural aggregates replacement. Sci. Technol. Mater. 30(3):144-50. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.stmat.2017.12.001
Tavasoli S, Nili M, Serpoosh B. 2018. Effect of GGBS on the frost resistance of self consolidating concrete. Constr. Build. Mater. 165:717-722. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.01.027
Liu G, Florea MVA, Brouwers HJH. 2019. Characterization and performance of high volume recycled waste glass and ground granulated blast furnace slag or fly ash blended mortars. J. Clean. Prod. 235:461-472. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.334
Isa Y. 2018. 12 - Blast-furnace slag, Editor(s): Rafat Siddique, Paulo Cachim. In Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering, Waste and Supplementary Cementitious Materials in Concrete, Woodhead Publishing, 361-415,. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102156-9.00012-2
Singh G, Siddique R. 2016. Effect of iron slag as partial replacement of fine aggregates on the durability characteristics of selfcompacting concrete. Constr. Build. Mater. 128:88-95. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.10.074
Hadjsadok A, Kenai S, Courard L. 2012. Durability of mortar and concretes containing slag with low hydraulic activity. Cem. Concr. Compos. 34(5):671-677. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2012.02.011
Sankh AC, Biradar PM, Naghathan SJ, Ishwargol MB. 2014. Recent trends in replacement of natural sand with different alternatives. IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE), 1:59-66. Retrieved from https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jmce/papers/ICAET-2014/ce/volume-1/10.pdf
Bhardwaj B, Kumar P. 2017. Waste foundry sand in concrete:a review. Constr. Build. Mater. 156:661-674. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.09.010
Sawai H, Rahman IMM, Fujita M, Jii N, Wakabayashi T, Begum ZA, Maki T, Mizutani S, Hasegawa H. 2016. Decontamination of metal-contaminated waste foundry sands using an EDTA-NaOH-NH3 washing solution. Chem. Eng. J. 296:199-208. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2016.03.078
De Barros Martins MA, Mambeli Barros R, Silva G, Silva dos Santos IF. 2019. Study on waste foundry exhaust sand , wfes , as a partial substitute of fi ne aggregates in conventional concrete. Sustain. Cities Soc. 45:187-196. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.11.017
Jiao D, Shi C, Yuan Q, An X, Liu Y, Li H. 2017. Effect of constituents on rheological properties of fresh concrete-a review. Cem. Concr. Compos. 83:146-159. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2017.07.016
Abraham J, Sharika T, Mishra RK, Thomas S. 2017. Rheological characteristics of nanomaterials and nanocomposites. Micro and Nano Fibrillar Composites (MFCs and NFCs) from Polymer Blends, Elsevier Ltd, 2017:327-350. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101991-7.00014-5
Faleschini F, Jiménez C, Barra M, Aponte D, Vázquez E, Pellegrino C. 2014. Rheology of fresh concretes with recycled aggregates. Constr. Build. Mater. 73:407-416. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.09.068
Ahari RS, Erdem TK, Ramyar K. 2015. Thixotropy and structural breakdown properties of self consolidating concrete containing various supplementary cementitious materials. Cem. Concr. Compos. 59:26-37. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2015.03.009
Kala K, Subramaniam KVL. 2022. Alkali-Activated fly ash-blast furnace slag blend rheology:evaluation of yield and maxwell responses. Clean. Eng. Technol. 6:100398. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.clet.2022.100398
Güneyisi E, Gesoglu M, Naji N, Ipek S. 2016. Evaluation of the rheological behavior of fresh self-compacting rubberized concrete by using the herschel-bulkley and modified bingham models. Arch. Civ. Mech. Eng. 16(1):9-19. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.acme.2015.09.003
Boukendakdji O, Kadri EH, Kenai S. 2012. Effects of granulated blast furnace slag and superplasticizer type on the fresh properties and compressive strength of self-compacting concrete. Cem. Concr. Compos. 34(4):583-590. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2011.08.013
Ashish DK , Surender KV. 2021. Robustness of self-compacting concrete containing waste foundry sand and metakaolin:a sustainable approach. J. Hazard. Mater. 401:123329. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123329
PMid:33113711
Tittarelli F. 2018. Waste Foundry Sand. In Waste and supplementary cementitious materials in concrete, Elsevier Ltd, 121-47. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102156-9.00004-3
American Society for Testing & Materials. 2023a. Annual Book of ASTM Standards ASTM C188-23: Standard test method for density of hydraulic cement.
American Society for Testing & Materials. 2019. Annual Book of ASTM Standards ASTM C136-19: Standard test method for sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates.
American Society for Testing & Materials. 2022. Annual book of ASTM standards ASTM C128-22: Standard Test method for relative density (specific gravity) and absorption of fine relative density (specific gravity) and absorption of fine aggregate aggregate.
American Society for Testing & Materials. 2023b. Annual Book of ASTM Standards ASTM C29-23: Standard test method for bulk density ("unit weight") and voids in aggregate.
Okamura H, Ouchi M. 1998. Self-compacting high performance concrete. Prog. Struct. Eng. Mater. 6(4):378-383. htpps://doi.org/10.1002/pse.2260010406
EFNARC. 2005. The european guidelines for self compacting concrete the european guidelines for self-compacting concrete:specification, production and use.
Ctn, Technical Committee. 2020. Testing fresh concrete part 8 : self-compacting concrete slump-flow test.
EFNARC. 2002. 44 Report from EFNARC Specification and guidelines for self-compacting concrete.
Montgomery DC. 2013. Design and analysis of experiments. 8th Edition. John Wiley & Sonc, Inc.
Bentz DP, Ferraris CF, Galler MA, Hansen AS, Guynn JM. 2012. Influence of particle size distributions on yield stress and viscosity of cement-fly ash pastes. Cem. Concr. Res. 42(2):404-409. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2011.11.006
Wallevik JE. 2006. Relationship between the bingham parameters and slump. Cem. Concr. Res. 36(7):1214-1221. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2006.03.001
Germann Instruments A/S. 2024. Rheology using the ICAR Plus - An introduction. Retrieved from https://www.germanninstruments.com/concrete-rheometer-icar-plus/ (September 5, 2024)
Qian Y, Kawashima S. 2018. Distinguishing dynamic and static yield stress of fresh cement mortars through thixotropy. Cem. Concr. Compos. 86:288-296. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2017.11.019
Ferraris CF. 1999. Measurement of the rheological properties of high performance concrete: state of the art report. J. Res. Nist. Inst. Stand. Technol. 104(5):18. Retrieved from http://www.nist.gov/jres htpps://doi.org/10.6028/jres.104.028
PMCid:PMC4878862
Campos RS, Maciel GF. 2021. Test Protocol and rheological model influence on determining the rheological properties of cement pastes. J. Build. Eng. 44:103206. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103206
Feys D, Verhoeven R, De Schutter G. 2008. Fresh self compacting concrete, a shear thickening material. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(7):920-929. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2008.02.008
Singh R, Singh B. 2018. Rheological behaviour of different grades of self-compacting concrete containing recycled aggregates. Constr. Build. Mater. 161:354-364. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.11.118
Feys D, Wallevik JE, Yahia A, Khayat KH, Wallevik OH. 2013. Extension of the Reiner-Riwlin equation to determine modified bingham parameters measured in coaxial cylinders rheometers. Mater. Struct./Materiaux et Constructions 46:289-311. htpps://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-012-9902-6
Feys D, Verhoeven R, De Schutter G. 2007. Evaluation of time independent rheological models applicable to fresh selfcompacting concrete. Appl. Rheol. 17(5): 56244-1-56244-10. htpps://doi.org/10.1515/arh-2007-0018
Feys D, Verhoeven R, De Schutter G. 2009. Why is fresh self-compacting concrete shear thickening?. Cem. Concr. Res. 39(6):510-523. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2009.03.004
Maranzano BJ, Wagner NJ. 2001. The effects of particle size on reversible shear thickening of concentrated colloidal dispersions. J. Chem. Phys. 114: 10514-10527. htpps://doi.org/10.1063/1.1373687
Vance K, Kumar A, Sant G, Neithalath N. 2013. The rheological properties of ternary binders containing portland cement, limestone, and metakaolin or fly ash. Cem. Concr. Res. 52:196-207. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2013.07.007
Li Z, Lu D, Gao X. 2020. Multi-objective optimization of gap-graded cement paste blended with supplementary cementitious materials using response surface methodology. Constr. Build. Mater. 248:118552. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118552
Ongpeng JM, Clemente SJ, Ong CG, Te DD, Tecson JV, Roxas CL. 2022. Influence of supplementary cementitious materials in the concrete's compressive strength through artificial neural network. 2nd International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (ICCEE 2022). E3S Web of Conferences. 347:02004. htpps://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202234702004
Divsholi BS, Darren Lim TY, Teng S. 2014. Durability properties and microstructure of ground granulated blast furnace slag cement concrete. Int. J. Concr. Struct. Mater. 8:157-64. htpps://doi.org/10.1007/s40069-013-0063-y
Assaad J, Khayat KH, Mesbah H. 2003. Assessment of thixotropy of flowable and self consolidating concrete. ACI Mater. J. 100(2):99-107. htpps://doi.org/10.14359/12548
Dai X, Ren Q, Aydin S, Yardimi MY, Lesage K, De Schutter G. 2021. Enhancing thixotropy and structural build-up of alkaliactivated slag/fly ash pastes with nano clay. Mater. Struct./Materiaux et Constructions 54:163. htpps://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01760-4
Roussel N. 2006. A Thixotropy model for fresh fluid concretes :theory , validation and applications. Cem. Concr. Res. 36(10):1797-1806. htpps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2006.05.025
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the print and online versions of this journal are the property of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may read the basic information and the legal text of the licence. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 licence must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the final version of the work produced by the publisher, is not allowed.
Funding data
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Grant numbers 4288
