Ganeshprabhu et al. (2021) — Engineering Behaviour of Sustainable Concrete with Steel Mill Scale

Citation

Ganeshprabhu, P., Chandrasekaran, P., & Farzana, A. S. (2021). Engineering Behaviour of Sustainable Concrete with Steel Mill Scale. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 30(2), 1129–1137.

DOI: 10.15244/pjoes/124895
Atlas layer: extension
Related Victor Li book chapter: Chapter 9: Green ECC (Alternative Aggregates and Industrial Solid Waste Recycling)
Source PDF: ganeshprabhu-2021-engineering-behaviour-of-sustainable-concrete-with.pdf
Extracted text: full_text/ganeshprabhu-2021-engineering-behaviour-of-sustainable-concrete-with_full_text.md
Source note: source_notes/ganeshprabhu-2021-engineering-behaviour-of-sustainable-concrete-with_source_note.md

Why this paper matters

Investigates the complete substitution range (0 % to 100 %) of natural river sand with industrial steel mill scale waste in M30 concrete, proving that 60 % replacement simultaneously increases compressive strength by 18.2 %, split tensile strength by 26.8 %, and flexural strength by 18.6 % through micro-filler void filling and angular particle interlock.

Main contribution

Evaluates steel mill scale—an iron oxide industrial waste generated during steel hot rolling and casting—as a sustainable substitute for natural river sand.
Formulates six replacement levels (0 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, 100 % by weight of fine aggregate) in Grade M30 concrete.
Conducts comprehensive mechanical and microstructural testing: compressive strength, cylinder splitting tensile strength, prism flexural strength, and SEM morphology.
Discovers the optimum replacement threshold at 60 % steel mill scale: compressive strength reaches 43.5 MPa (+18.2 %), splitting tensile strength reaches 4.12 MPa (+26.8 %), and flexural strength reaches 5.75 MPa (+18.6 %).
SEM analysis confirms that fine, high-density mill scale particles densify the Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) and enhance mechanical interlocking with the cement paste.

Evidence summary

Material System: Grade M30 concrete ($w/c = 0.45$, OPC 53 Grade).
Fine Aggregate Replacement: Natural river sand replaced by steel mill scale (specific gravity 3.45 vs. sand 2.65, rich in $\text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3, \text{Fe}_3\text{O}_4, \text{SiO}_2, \text{Al}_2\text{O}_3$).
Hardened Mechanical Properties (28-day):
0 % (Control): $f_c = 36.8\text{ MPa}$, $f_{sp} = 3.25\text{ MPa}$, $f_r = 4.85\text{ MPa}$.
20 % Mill scale: $f_c = 39.1\text{ MPa}$, $f_{sp} = 3.55\text{ MPa}$, $f_r = 5.15\text{ MPa}$.
40 % Mill scale: $f_c = 41.6\text{ MPa}$, $f_{sp} = 3.88\text{ MPa}$, $f_r = 5.48\text{ MPa}$.
60 % Mill scale (Optimum): $f_c = 43.5\text{ MPa}$ (+18.2 %), $f_{sp} = 4.12\text{ MPa}$ (+26.8 %), $f_r = 5.75\text{ MPa}$ (+18.6 %).
80 % Mill scale: $f_c = 40.2\text{ MPa}$, $f_{sp} = 3.72\text{ MPa}$, $f_r = 5.30\text{ MPa}$.
100 % Mill scale: $f_c = 37.4\text{ MPa}$, $f_{sp} = 3.38\text{ MPa}$, $f_r = 4.95\text{ MPa}$.

Linked Atlas nodes

04_material_systems/green_ecc.md
05_experiments/flexural_testing.md
05_experiments/splitting_tensile_test.md
02_concepts/circular_economy_materials.md

Relationship to Victor Li book

Relates to Victor Li (2019) Chapter 9 (Green ECC) regarding the replacement of non-renewable natural river sand and silica sand with industrial mineral wastes to reduce environmental burdens without degrading mechanical performance.

Claim-evidence rows to add

Atlas node	Claim	Evidence summary	Page/Figure/Table	Status
`02_concepts/circular_economy_materials.md`	Replacing 60 % of natural sand with industrial steel mill scale increases concrete compressive strength by 18.2 % and split tensile strength by 26.8 %	Mechanical testing across 0 to 100 % replacement ratios in M30 concrete	Section 3.1 & 3.2, Table 4, Fig. 5-7	verified_from_pdf
`04_material_systems/green_ecc.md`	High specific gravity and angular geometry of steel mill scale particles improve ITZ density and void filling in concrete	SEM microstructural investigation of paste-aggregate interfaces	Section 3.4, Fig. 9	verified_from_pdf

Verification status

PDF preserved: yes (ganeshprabhu-2021-engineering-behaviour-of-sustainable-concrete-with.pdf)
Text extracted: yes (full_text/ganeshprabhu-2021-engineering-behaviour-of-sustainable-concrete-with_full_text.md)
DOI verified: yes (10.15244/pjoes/124895)
Metadata verified: yes (Pol. J. Environ. Stud., Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 1129–1137, 2021)
Claim-evidence matrix ready: yes

Cautions

Beyond 60 % replacement, workability decreases and excess heavy iron oxide fines cause slight strength regression, though 100 % replacement still matches control strength.
Evaluates conventional coarse-aggregate concrete; does not examine fiber-reinforced strain-hardening ECC.