Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Properties of pervious concrete with steel slag as aggregates and

different mineral admixtures as binders
Guofang Zhang a,⇑, Shunxiang Wang a,b, Bo Wang a, Yujing Zhao c, Ming Kang c, Peiming Wang a
a
Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
b
Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
c
Shanghai Baosteel New Building Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201999, China

h i g h l i g h t s

Pervious concretes with steel slag aggregates and different binders have excellent properties.

The connected porosity plays a key role in the performance of pervious concrete.

Binders with mineral admixtures optimize the interface transition zone of pervious concrete.

Hydration characteristics of binders slightly affect the strength of pervious concrete.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As one kind of solid waste produced during steel smelting, steel slag can be used as aggregates to produce
Received 12 December 2019 pervious concrete. This paper focused on the effect of binder-to-aggregate ratio and different binders on
Received in revised form 5 May 2020 the properties and microstructure of pervious concrete made with steel slag as aggregates. The results
Accepted 11 May 2020
show that increasing binder-to-aggregate ratio improves the mechanical properties, but decreases the
Available online 18 May 2020
connected porosity and water permeability coefficient. Compared with those of the reference pervious
concrete with only Portland cement as the binder, the compressive strengths of pervious concretes incor-
Keywords:
porating different binders with ground blast furnace slag, fly ash and/or silica fume to partially replace
Pervious concrete
Steel slag aggregate
Portland cement are lower, and the connected porosities are much higher. Different binders assume little
Binders with mineral admixtures impact on the hydration, but can optimize the interface transition zone of pervious concrete. Meanwhile,
Mechanical properties the connected porosity plays the key role in the properties of pervious concrete. Besides, pervious con-
Microstructure cretes with steel slag and different binders can assume good comprehensive properties.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction utilization of steel slag, many researchers have investigated the

With superior permeability, anti-skid performance, sound
absorption properties, pervious concrete has been widely used in
pavement projects such as walkways, parking areas, tennis court,
slope stabilization systems, alleys, light traffic roads and low-
grade roads [1–4] to improve water runoff rates [5,6] and relief
the city heat-island effect [6,7]. However, pervious concrete still
has some disadvantages, such as lower compressive strength
[8,9], poor durability and abrasion resistance [2,9–11].
As one kind of industrial by-product, steel slag can be used as
aggregates to produce cement concrete. In China, almost 100 mil-
lion tons of steel slag is discharged every year, to occupy farmland
and bring seriously environmental pollution. To realize resource
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zgftj@sina.com (G. Zhang).
possibility of using steel slag as aggregates to prepare pervious
pavements. Air-cooling electric arc furnace steel slag can be used
as aggregates to produce pervious concrete with excellent mechan-
ical properties and high water permeability coefficient [6]. Pervi-
ous concrete made with steel slag as aggregates and
sulphoaluminate cement as binder exhibits worst mechanical
properties and best water permeability coefficient [12]. Pervious
concrete made with steel slag as aggregates and alkali-activated
slag cement as binders possesses 35 MPa of 28-day compressive
strength and 4.9 mms1 of water permeability coefficient [13].
Pervious pavements incorporating steel slag as aggregates exhibits
excellent durability properties, especially the resistance to aging
and thermal cracking [14]. With porous structure compared with
ordinary aggregates [15–17], steel slag can be used as aggregates
to optimize the interface structure of pervious concrete.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.119543
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543

Binder systems are the other key factor to affect properties of
pervious concrete. Many researchers investigated the effects of
various binder systems on the properties of pervious concrete.
Pervious concrete with ground blast furnace slag (GBFS) as a partial
replacement for cement and also as a partial replacement for nat-
ural aggregate exhibits different porosity, compressive strength
and permeability [18]. Literature [19] demonstrated that as partial
replacement for cement, GBFS and metakaolin can optimize the
pore structure and the interface transition zone (ITZ) of pervious
concrete.
Incorporating fly ash (FA) as a partial replacement for cement,
pervious concrete shows similar properties to pervious concrete
incorporating only cement as binder [20]. Literature [21] illus-
trated that FA significantly decreases the compressive strength
and durability of pervious concrete, but pervious concrete with
the optimized FA dosage and nano material dosage also exhibits
excellent properties. Moreover, pervious concrete incorporating
FA as the geopolymer binder can achieve satisfactory mechanical
properties [22].
Silica fume (SF) can also be used as a partial replacement for
cement in pervious concrete. Pervious concrete incorporating SF
exhibits higher compressive strength and flexural strength without
undermining permeability and abrasion resistance [1], and can
remove Ni and Cu heavy metals from wastewaters [23].
In conclusion, the influences of binary binder systems with
GBFS, FA or SF to replace partial cement on the properties of pervi-
ous concrete with natural aggregates have been reported in litera-
ture. Steel slag can be used as coarse aggregate and fine aggregate
in cement concrete [24–27]. However, few researchers investi-
gated the effect of ternary binder systems on the properties of per-
vious concrete made with steel slag as aggregates. Apart from that,
whether the mechanical strength and hydration of ternary binder
systems have apparent effects on the properties of pervious con-
crete incorporating steel slag remains to be studied. So this
research aimed to study the effect of binder-to-aggregate ratio
and ternary binder systems with various mineral admixtures on
the properties and hydration characteristics of pervious concrete
made with steel slag. For the purpose, different pervious concrete
mixtures were designed to investigate two binder-to-aggregate
ratio and binder systems with GBFS, FA and SF to partially replace
Portland cement. The research may promote the application of
steel slag aggregate and the above mineral admixtures for produc-
ing environment friendly pervious concrete.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
A PII 52.5R Portland cement (OPC) was used. The chemical
compositions, physical properties, and particle size distribution
are given in Table 1, Table 2, and Fig. 1, respectively. The ground
blast furnace slag (GBFS), the fly ash (FA), and the silica fume
(SF) were used to partially replace OPC. The chemical composi-
tions, physical properties, and particle size distributions of GBFS,
FA and SF are shown in Table 1, Table 3, and Fig. 1, respectively.
A polycarboxylate ether (PCE) surperplasticizers was also used.
The heat-stuffing treated steel slag was used as aggregates. The
chemical compositions, physical properties, particle size distribu-
tion and appearance, and XRD patterns of steel slag are shown in
Table1, Table 4, Fig. 2, and Fig. 3, respectively. It can be seen that
the size range of steel slag is mainly 5–10 mm. The steel slag has
rough surface, good volume stability and low clay content. The
main crystalline phases of the steel slag include tricalcium silicate,
dicalcium silicate, calcium hydroxide, dicalcium ferrite, and solid
solution of CaO, MgO, FeO and MnO (RO phases).
2.2. Mix proportion and preparation of pervious concrete
The mix proportions of pervious concrete were shown in
Table 5. To keep the pastes assuming the same consistency, differ-
ent water contents were added for different pervious concretes. To
prepare fresh pervious concrete, steel slag aggregates were pre-
mixed with 30% of total water consumption to obtain a wetting
effect. Immediately, the binder was put into the mixer and another
30 s mixing was conducted. Afterwards, the remaining water
mixed with the superplasticizer, was poured into the mixer, where
the following mixing time was 60 s.
For specimen preparation, the fresh pervious concrete was
poured into the molds in two layers, pre-compacted by hand 25
times. Afterwards, these molds were vibrated for 30 s on vibration
table. For unit weight, connected porosity and compressive
strength test, the specimens with dimensions of
100 mm  100 mm  100 mm were prepared. For water perme-
ability coefficient test, the cylindrical specimens with dimensions
of 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height were prepared. These
specimens were cured at a standard curing condition of 20 ± 2 °C
and 95 ± 5% relative humidity for 24 h, and then were demolded
and cured in 20 ± 2 °C water until the testing time.
For compressive strength test, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD)
analysis and thermal analysis, the binder pastes with dimensions
of 20 mm  20 mm  20 mm of pervious concrete were also pre-
pared, which were named SSPC-1 to SSPC-6 corresponding to per-
vious concretes SSPC1 to SSPC6. Moreover, the curing condition of
binder pastes is the same as that of pervious concrete.
2.3. Test methods
(1) Unit weight: The unit weight was measured according to
ASTM C138 [28].
(2) Connected porosity: For the connected porosity test, the
length, width and height of the specimen was measured by
vernier caliper firstly. Then the specimen was immersed in
water and its buoyant weight was measured when the spec-
imen was filled with water. After that, the specimen was
dried in 105 ± 5 °C oven until the weight was constant.
The connected porosity P was calculated according to Eq. (1).
 
ðW 2  W 1 Þ
1 ð1Þ
ðqw V Þ
where P is the connected porosity of pervious concrete, W 1 is
the constant weight of specimen dried under 105 °C, W 2 is

Table 1
Chemical compositions of different materials.

Chemical composition (%) SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO Fe2O3 MnO SO3 Na2O K2O TiO2 LOI
OPC 20.8 4.99 65.2 1.14 3.22 0.05 2.22 0.21 0.66 0.22 1.06
Steel slag 13.2 4.59 39.2 3.87 30.3 2.88 0.94 0.28 0.03 0.64 2.65
GBFS 28.70 11.90 43.40 – 0.24 0.25 1.93 – 0.30 0.61 8.25
FA 48.07 15.91 18.36 2.27 5.89 0.11 0.21 1.75 3.45 1.10 1.56
SF 89.62 0.65 1.11 2.51 2.28 0.18 0.42 0.50 2.55 – 0.10
 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543 3

Table 2
Physical properties of OPC.

Density (kgm3) Specific surface area (m2kg1) Setting time (min) Compressive strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa)
Initial Final 3d 28 d 3d 28 d
3200 380 100 155 32.0 57.8 6.6 9.5

Fig. 1. The particle size distributions of different materials.

Table 3
Physical properties of GBFS, FA and SF.

Materials Mean particle size Density Specific surface area Fig. 2. The particle size distribution and grain appearance of steel slag: (a) Particle
(lm) (kgm3) (m2kg1) size distribution; (b) Grain appearance.

GBFS 7.13 2750 623

FA 16.96 2410 535
SF 2.99 2160 16,820

Table 4
Physical properties of steel slag.

Bulk density Crushing Autoclave Water Clay

(kgm3) value (wt.%) expansion ratio absorption content
(%) (wt.%) (wt.%)
2070 8.9 0.2 1.4 0.1

the buoyant weight of specimen in water, qw is the density of

water, and V is the volume of specimen.

(3) Water permeability coefficient: The water permeability

coefficient of specimen was measured according to the
ASTM D 2434-68 [29]. The test process is shown in Fig. 4.
The water permeability coefficient k was evaluated accord-
ing to Eq. (2).

    Fig. 3. XRD patterns of steel slag.

aL h1
ln ð2Þ
At h2

where k is the water permeability coefficient (mms1), a is (4) Compressive strength: The 3-day, 7-day and 28-day com-
the cross section area of the standing acrylic pipe above the pressive strength of pervious concrete were
specimen (mm2), L is the length of the specimen (mm), A is determined based on the China standard GB/T 50081-2011
the cross section area of the specimen (mm), t is the elapsed [30]. The 3-day, 7-day and 28-day compressive strength of
time between h1 and h2 (s), h1 is the initial height of water hardened cement pastes were measured for
head (mm), and h2 is the final height of water head (mm). 20 mm  20 mm  20 mm cubic specimens.
4 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543

Table 5
Mix proportions of pervious concrete.

Specimen Steel slag (kgm3) Binder systems PCE (kgm3) Water (kgm3)
3
Total (kgm ) OPC (%) GBFS (%) SF (%) FA (%)
SSPC1 2050 300 100 – – – 0.45 97
SSPC2 2050 450 100 – – – 0.70 128
SSPC3 2050 450 84 16 – – 0.70 125
SSPC4 2050 450 84 8 8 – 0.70 150
SSPC5 2050 450 84 8 – 8 0.70 114
SSPC6 2050 450 84 8 4 4 0.70 128

Fig. 4. Water permeability coefficient test: (a) testing process and device; (b) testing sketch.

(5) X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis and thermal analy-
sis (TG-DSC): To perform XRD and TG-DSC analyses, samples
were taken at a depth of more than 1 mm from the surfaces
of hardened paste specimens, broken into pieces, manually
ground to powders under 45 lm, and then washed with
absolute alcohol and dried in a vacuum-oven under 40 °C
for hydration interruption.
XRD analysis was conducted on a X-ray powder diffractometer
(Rigaku SmartLab, Japan) with CuK a radiation at a scanning rate
of 2°min1 from 5° to 70° (2-theta). TG-DSC analysis was con-
ducted on a differential scanning calorimetry (Mettler Toledo
TG-DSC 1600LF, United states) from 30 °C to 1000 °C at a heat-
ing rate of 10 °C min1 in N2 atmosphere.
 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543
(6) ESEM analysis: The morphologies of pervious concrete sam-
ples were observed by using the environmental scanning
electron microscope (ESEM) FEI Quanta 200 FEG. For the
analysis, freshly broken surfaces of samples were observed
in the ESEM using a beam voltage of 20 kV and a working
distance of about 10 mm, and exposed to an environmental
condition of 5 °C and 2.7 Torr.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Unit weight of pervious concrete
The unit weight variations of pervious concretes with different
binder systems are shown in Fig. 5. Compared SSPC1 with SSPC2 at
3 days and 28 days, it is clear that with Portland cement as binders
increasing from 300 kgm3 to 450 kgm3, the unit weight of per-
vious concrete apparently increases, up to 8.7%. It indicated that
the unit weight of pervious concrete increases with binder content
increasing, which is the same with the conclusion in literature [13].
Compared to that of SSPC2, the unit weight of pervious concrete
incorporating GBFS to replace 16% OPC (SSPC3) decreases to only
2316 kgm3, indicating that the unit weight decreases apparently
with GBFS as a partial replacement of Portland cement in pervious
concrete. The unit weights of pervious concretes with FA or/and SF
to partially replace GBFS in binder systems range from 2425 kgm3
to 2537 kgm3, all being higher than that of SSPC3 but still lower
than that of SSPC2. It is obvious that with FA and SF to partially
replace GBFS in binder systems, the unit weight of pervious con-
crete may be improved. In conclusion, compared to the binder sys-
tem with only Portland cement, binder systems with GBFS, FA or/
and SF as a partial replacement of Portland cement can decrease
the unit weight of pervious concrete to some extent.
3.2. Connected porosity of pervious concrete
The connected porosity variations of pervious concretes with
different binder systems are shown in Fig. 6. Compared SSPC1 with
SSPC2, it is obvious that with Portland cement content increasing
from 300 kgm3 to 450 kgm3, the connected porosity of pervious
concrete markedly decreases over 11%. This result indicates that
the connected porosity of pervious concrete decreases with binder
content increasing, which is consistent with the conclusion in liter-
atures [6,14]. The reason may be that increase in the binder con-
tent provides the thicker paste wrapping aggregates so as to
reduce the connected porosity [4]. Meanwhile, the connected
porosity of pervious concrete with different binder systems varies
slightly with curing time prolonging.
Compared to that of SSPC2, the connected porosity of pervious
concrete with GBFS to replace 16% OPC (SSPC3) increases from
Fig. 5. The unit weights of pervious concrete.
5
Fig. 6. The connected porosity of pervious concrete.
20% to 35%, indicating that the connected porosity increases appar-
ently with binder system incorporating GBFS and Portland cement
in pervious concrete. For pervious concretes with FA or/and SF to
partially replace GBFS in binder systems (SSPC4 to SSPC6), the con-
nected porosity ranges from 25% to 29%, all being much lower than
that of SSPC3 but still higher than that of SSPC2. This result indi-
cates that contrary to GBFS, FA and SF can decrease the connected
porosity of pervious concrete. However, compared to the binder
system with only Portland cement, binder systems with GBFS, FA
or/and SF as a partial replacement of Portland cement all can
increase the connected porosity pervious concrete to some extent.
In addition, there is a relationship between the unit weight and the
connected porosity regardless of the binder systems, that is, the
connected porosity increases with the reduction of the unit weight.
Literature [4] found the same relationship for pervious concrete
with pumice as partial aggregates and only Portland cement as
the binder.
3.3. Water permeability coefficient of pervious concrete
Water permeability coefficient is generally used to evaluate the
water permeability performance of pervious concrete. For pervious
concrete used in pavements or drainage layers, the water perme-
ability coefficient are generally required from 0.2 to 1.2 cms1
[31]. The water permeability coefficient variations of pervious con-
cretes with different binder systems are shown in Fig. 7. Compared
SSPC1 with SSPC2 at 3 days and 28 days, it is obvious that with
Portland cement content increasing from 300 kgm3 to
450 kgm3, the water permeability coefficient of pervious con-
crete dramatically decreased to only 2.6 mms1. It is obvious that
the water permeability coefficient decreases with binder content
Fig. 7. The water permeability coefficient of pervious concrete.
6 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543

increasing. This trend of the water permeability coefficient con-

firms with the connected porosity, which is also illustrated in the
literature [13]. The reason may be that with binder content
increasing, more and more voids are filled by pastes to assume
the decrease of the water permeability coefficient.
Compared to that of SSPC2, the water permeability coefficient of
pervious concrete with GBFS to replace 16% OPC (SSPC3) increases
dramatically from 2.6 to 24.9 mms1 at 28 days, indicating that
the water permeability coefficient increases apparently with bin-
der system incorporating GBFS and Portland cement. For pervious
concretes with SF or/and FA to partially replace GBFS in binder sys-
tems (SSPC4 to SSPC6), the water permeability coefficient varies
from 6.3 to 13 mms1 at 28 days, all being much lower than that
of SSPC3 but higher than that of SSPC2. It is obvious that compared
to GBFS, SF and FA decreases the water permeability coefficient.
However, compared to the binder system with only Portland
cement, binder systems with GBFS, SF or/and FA to partially
replace Portland cement can increase the water permeability coef-
ficient to some extent. Additionally, a relationship between the
water permeability coefficient and the connected porosity of pervi-
Fig. 10. XRD patterns of hardened binder pastes.
ous concrete with steel slag as aggregates and different mineral
admixtures as binders, is given to be that the water permeability
coefficient increases with the connected porosity. Other studies
in literature [4,32] also found the same relationship for pervious
concrete with different aggregates and Portland cement as binders.

3.4. Compressive strength of pervious concrete

Compressive strength is a key mechanical property of pervious

concrete. The compressive strength variations of pervious con-
cretes with different binder systems are shown in Fig. 8. Compared

Fig. 11. TG curves of hardened binder pastes.

Fig. 8. The compressive strength of pervious concrete.

Fig. 12. DSC curves of hardened binder pastes.

SSPC1 and SSPC2 at 3, 7 and 28 days, it is obvious that with Port-

land cement content increasing from 300 kgm3 to 450 kgm3,
Fig. 9. The compressive strength of hardened binder pastes. the compressive strength of pervious concrete increases more than
 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543
twice, indicating the compressive strength increase of pervious
concrete with binder content increasing.
Compared to that of SSPC2, the 28-day compressive strength of
pervious concrete SSPC3 dramatically decreases to only 11.4 MPa,
indicating that the binder system incorporating GBFS as a partial
replacement of Portland cement greatly decreases the compressive
strength of pervious concrete. For pervious concretes SSPC4 to
SSPC6, the 28-day compressive strength varies between 19.4 MPa
and 24.2 MPa, all being much higher than that of SSPC3 but lower
than that of SSPC2. It indicated that compared to GBFS, SF and FA
can increase the compressive strength of pervious concrete. How-
ever, compared to the binder system with only Portland cement, all
the binder systems with GBFS, SF or/and FA as a partial replace-
ment of Portland cement assume the compressive strength
decrease of pervious concrete to some extent.
3.5. Compressive strength of hardened binder pastes
The compressive strength variation of different hardened binder
pastes is shown in Fig. 9. The 28-day compressive strength of the
binder paste SSPC-2 is 91.3 MPa, only 15 percent higher than that
of the binder paste SSPC-1. While, as presented above, the com-
pressive strength of pervious concrete SSPC2 is twice that of SSPC1.
It may be concluded that the compressive strength improvement
of hardened cement paste is beneficial to the compressive strength
increase of pervious concrete, but may not play the key role.
Fig. 13. Typical SEM micrographs of hydrates for hardened binder pastes: (a) SSPC-2; (b) SSPC-3; (c) SSPC-4; (d) SSPC-5.
7
Compared to that of SSPC-2 paste, the compressive strength
of hardened SSPC-3 paste increases remarkably, indicating that
the compressive strength of hardened paste incorporating GBFS
and Portland cement increases, especially at the late period,
which is consistent with the conclusion in literature [33]. With
SF or/and FA to partially replace GBFS, the compressive strength
of hardened pastes of different binder systems (SSPC-4, SSPC-5
and SSPC-6) are lower than that of SSPC-3. However, as pre-
sented above, the compressive strength variation of pervious
concrete with different binder systems shows the opposite trend.
It can be concluded that the compressive strength of hardened
binder pastes is not the major factor to affect the compressive
strength of pervious concrete.
3.6. XRD analysis
To evaluate the hydrates formation of hardened binder pastes,
the mineralogical phases were tested by XRD and TG-DSC. Fig. 10
shows the XRD patterns of different hardened binder pastes at
28 days. In the XRD patterns, the characteristic peaks of ettringite
(AFt), Portlandite (Ca(OH)2), alite (C3S) and belite (C2S) were
detected. The formation of hydrates in hardened binder pastes
incorporating GBFS, FA and/or SF is similar with that of the hard-
ened Portland cement paste SSPC-2, expect the smaller peaks for
Ca(OH)2 at 18° of 2h. It seems that there is no big difference for
the hydration of these hardened binder pastes.
8 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543

3.7. TG-DSC analysis
Figs. 11 and 12 show the TG-DSC curves of hardened binder
pastes at 28 days. As shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, mass loss takes
place apparently from 40 to 100 °C, corresponding to the evapora-
tion of physical bound water. The peak at about 85 °C also corre-
sponds to the AFt decomposition. The following major mass loss
between 100 and 210 °C, is related to the dehydration of hydrates,
including calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gels and AFt mainly
[34]. The third mass loss appears at 410 to 460 °C, corresponds
to the decomposition of Ca(OH)2. At 700 to 740 °C, the fourth mass
loss appears, attributed to the decomposition of calcium carbonate
[34].
Compared to that of the SSPC-2 paste, the mass loss at 100 to
210 °C of different binder pastes changes slightly, indicating the
similar content of hydrates including C-S-H gels and AFt in the dif-
ferent binder systems. It can be concluded that the hydration
degree of these binder pastes is similar. The mass losses at 410
to 460 °C of binder pastes incorporating GBFS, FA and/or SF are
smaller than that of the SSPC-2 paste, indicating that the less con-
tent of Ca(OH)2 in these binder pastes. It may be due to the con-
sumption of Ca(OH)2 by these mineral admixtures to form C-S-H

Fig. 14. Typical SEM micrographs of ITZ for pervious concrete: (a) SSPC-2; (b) SSPC-3; (c) SSPC-4; (d) SSPC-5.
 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543
gels and other hydrates, and due to the less formation of Ca(OH)2
since their partial replacement of Portland cement. At 700 to
740 °C, the mass loss of binder pastes changes slightly, indicating
the similar content of calcium carbonate in these binder systems.
Accordingly, based on the XRD and TG-DSC analyses, it can be con-
cluded that the different binder systems for pervious concretes
assume the similar hydration degree. However, the properties of
pervious concretes are quite different as mentioned above. There-
fore, the hydration of binder systems is yet not the major factor to
affect the properties of pervious concrete.
3.8. SEM analysis
Typical SEM micrographs of hydrates for different binder pastes
of pervious concrete are shown in Fig. 13. A large number of Ca
(OH)2 and fibrous C-S-H gels were observed in the hardened
SSPC-2 paste. Some lamellar hydrates were observed in the hard-
ened SSPC-3 and SSPC-4 pastes, which were believed to be mono-
sulphate and calcium hydroaluminates [35,36]. AFt crystals
coexisted with C-S-H gels and Ca(OH)2 in the hardened SSPC-5
paste.
Typical SEM micrographs of ITZ for pervious concrete are shown
in Fig. 14. From SEM for SSPC2, the ITZ between steel slag particle
and hardened paste showed weak link between hydrates and steel
slag particle (Fig. 14(a)). However, hardened binder pastes incorpo-
rating different mineral admixtures optimized the ITZ (Fig. 14(b) to
(d). The optimized ITZ is beneficial to improving compressive
strength of pervious concretes, since the ITZ has great influence
on the strength of cement concrete [37,38].
Based on the above analyses, it is obvious that both the com-
pressive strength and the hydration of hardened binder pastes
have negligible impact on the compressive strength of pervious
concrete, while the binder pastes with different mineral admix-
tures can optimize the ITZ of pervious concrete to improve the
compressive strength. However, the compressive strengths of
these pervious concretes are actually smaller than that of the ref-
erence pervious concrete SSPC2 with only Portland cement as the
binder, and the connected porosities are much higher. Therefore,
the connected porosity plays the key role in the properties of per-
vious concrete with steel slag and different binder systems. Defi-
nitely, the pervious concrete with excellent properties can be
made by using steel slag as aggregates and different binder sys-
tems with partial replacement of GBFS, FA and/or SF to Portland
cement.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions can
be drawn:
(1) The properties of pervious concrete with steel slag as aggre-
gates are sensitive to the binder content. With higher binder
content, the unit weight and the 28-day compressive
strength increase, but the connected porosity and the water
permeability coefficient decrease dramatically.
(2) The pervious concretes incorporating different binders with
GBFS, FA and/or SF to partially replace Portland cement
assume good comprehensive properties. By using steel slag
as aggregates and different mineral admixtures as binders,
the pervious concrete can be produced with excellent
properties.
(3) The compressive strength of pervious concrete is hardly
impacted by the compressive strength and the hydration of
hardened binder pastes, while the binder pastes with differ-
ent mineral admixtures can optimize the ITZ to improve the
9
compressive strength of pervious concrete. However, the
connected porosity plays the key role in the properties of
pervious concrete with steel slag and different binder sys-
tems, since the compressive strengths of these pervious con-
cretes are actually smaller, and the connected porosities are
much higher than that of the reference pervious concrete
with only Portland cement as the binder.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Guofang Zhang: Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Inves-
tigation, Methodology, Formal analysis. Shunxiang Wang: Investi-
gation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft. Bo
Wang: Investigation, Data curation. Yujing Zhao: Investigation,
Methodology, Data curation. Ming Kang: Investigation, Data cura-
tion. Peiming Wang: Writing - review & editing, Methodology.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The authors greatly acknowledge the financial support of this
work by the Fund of National Key Research and Development Pro-
grams in the 13th Five-year Plan of China (2018YFD1101003,
2016YFC0700905), the Fund of Science Research Project of STCSM
(17DZ1200303).
References
[1] J. Yang, G. Jiang, Experimental study on properties of pervious concrete
pavement materials, Cem. Concr. Res. 33 (3) (2003) 381–386.
[2] M. Gesoğlu, E. Güneyisi, G. Khoshnaw, S. Ipek, _ Abrasion and freezing–thawing
resistance of pervious concretes containing waste rubbers, Constr. Build.
Mater. 73 (73) (2014) 19–24.
[3] M. Scholz, P. Grabowiecki, Review of permeable pavement systems, Build.
Environ. 42 (11) (2007) 3830–3836.
[4] H.Ö. Öz, Properties of pervious concretes partially incorporating acidic pumice
as coarse aggregate, Constr. Build. Mater. 166 (2018) 601–609.
[5] Y. Zaetang, A. Wongsa, V. Sata, P. Chindaprasirt, Use of coal ash as geopolymer
binder and coarse aggregate in pervious concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 96
(2015) 289–295.
[6] W. Yeih, T.C. Fu, J.J. Chang, R. Huang, Properties of pervious concrete made with air-
cooling electric arc furnace slag as aggregates, Constr. Build. Mater. 93 (2015) 737–745.
[7] J.S. Golden, K.E. Kaloush, Mesoscale and microscale evaluation of surface
pavement impacts on the urban heat island effects, Int. J. Pave. Eng. 7 (1)
(2006) 37–52.
[8] R. Zhong, K. Wille, Material design and characterization of high performance
pervious concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 98 (2015) 51–60.
[9] H.A. Ibrahim, H.A. Razak, F. Abutaha, Strength and abrasion resistance of palm
oil clinker pervious concrete under different curing method, Constr. Build.
Mater. 147 (2017) 576–587.
[10] H. Wu, Z. Liu, B. Sun, J. Yin, Experimental investigation on freeze–thaw
durability of Portland cement pervious concrete (PCPC), Constr. Build. Mater.
117 (2016) 63–71.
[11] Q. Dong, H. Wu, B. Huang, X. Shu, K. Wang, Investigation into laboratory
abrasion test methods for pervious concrete, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 25 (7) (2013)
886–892.
[12] W. Yeih, J.J. Chang, The influences of cement type and curing condition on
properties of pervious concrete made with electric arc furnace slag as
aggregates, Constr. Build. Mater. 197 (2019) 813–820.
[13] J.J. Chang, W. Yeih, T.J. Chung, R. Huang, Properties of pervious concrete made
with electric arc furnace slag and alkali-activated slag cement, Constr. Build.
Mater. 109 (2016) 34–40.
[14] M. Skaf, E. Pasquini, V. Revilla-Cuesta, V. Ortega-López, Performance and
durability of porous asphalt mixtures manufactured exclusively with electric
steel slags, Mater. 20 (2019) 3306.
[15] N. Ortiz, M.A. Pires, J.C. Bressiani, Use of steel converter slag as nickel adsorber
to wastewater treatment, Waste Manage. 21 (7) (2001) 631–635.
[16] J. Guo, Y. Bao, M. W, Steel slag in China: treatment, recycling, and
management, Waste Manage. 78 (2018) 318–330.
[17] I.Z. Yildirim, M. Prezzi, Chemical, mineralogical, and morphological properties
of steel slag, Adv. Civ. Eng. (2011) 1–13.
10 G. Zhang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 257 (2020) 119543
[18] J. Endawati, J. Endawati, Permeability and porosity of pervious concrete
containing blast furnace slag as a part of binder materials and aggregate, Solid
State Phenom. 266 (2017) 272–277.
[19] P. Duan, Z. Shui, W. Chen, C. Shen, Enhancing microstructure and durability of
concrete from ground granulated blast furnace slag and metakaolin as cement
replacement materials, J. Mater. Res. Technol. 2 (1) (2013) 52–59.
[20] Y. Aoki, R.S. Ravindrarajah, H. Khabbaz, Properties of pervious concrete
containing fly ash, Road Mater. Pave. Des. 13 (1) (2012) 1–11.
[21] V. López-Carrasquillo, S. Hwang, Comparative assessment of pervious concrete
mixtures containing fly ash and nanomaterials for compressive strength,
physical durability, permeability, water quality performance and production
cost, Constr. Build. Mater. 139 (2017) 148–158.
[22] T. Tho-In, V. Sata, P. Chindaprasirt, J. Chai, Pervious high-calcium fly ash
geopolymer concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 30 (5) (2012) 366–371.
[23] A. Yousefi, S. Matavos-Aramyan, Mix design optimization of silica fume-based
pervious concrete for removal of heavy metals from wastewaters, Silicon (5)
(2018) 1–8.
[24] A.S. Brand, J.R. Roesler, Steel furnace slag aggregate expansion and hardened
concrete properties, Cem. Concr. Comp. 60 (2015) 1–9.
[25] N. Palankar, A.U.R. Shankar, B.M. Mithun, Durability studies on eco-friendly
concrete mixes incorporating steel slag as coarse aggregates, J. Clean. Prod. 129
(Complete) (2016) 437–448.
[26] P. Bo, Z. Zhou, H. Xu, Utilization of carbonated and granulated steel slag
aggregate in concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 84 (2015) 454–467.
[27] S. Saxena, A.R. Tembhurkar, Impact of use of steel slag as coarse aggregate and
wastewater on fresh and hardened properties of concrete, Constr. Build. Mater.
165 (2018) 126–137.
[28] ASTM C138/C138M-14, Standard test method for density (unit weight), yield,
and air content (gravimetric) of concrete, ASTM International, PA, USA, 2014.
[29] ASTM D2434-68, Standard test method for permeability of granular soils.
(Constant Head), book of standards volume: 04.08, 2006.
[30] Ministry of Housing and Urban-Ural Construction of the People’s Republic of
China GB50081-2011 Standard for test methods of mechanics performance of
common concrete.
[31] P.D. Tennis, M.L. Leming, D.J. Akers, Pervious concrete pavements, EB302.02,
Portland cement association, Illinois, and National Ready Mixed Concrete
Association, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, 2004, p. 36.
[32] Y. Zaetang, V. Sata, A. Wongsa, P. Chindaprasirt, Properties of pervious concrete
containing recycled concrete block aggregate and recycled concrete aggregate,
Constr. Build. Mater. 111 (2016) 15–21.
[33] A. Gholampour, T. Ozbakkaloglu, Performance of sustainable concretes
containing very high volume Class-F fly ash and ground granulated blast
furnace slag, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 162 (2017) 1407–1417.
[34] L. Alarcon-Ruiz, G. Platret, E. Massieu, A. Ehrlacher, The use of thermal analysis
in assessing the effect of temperature on a cement paste, Cem. Concr. Res. 35
(3) (2005) 609–613.
[35] J. Pourchez, P. Grosseau, B. Ruot, Current understanding of cellulose ethers
impact on the hydration of C3A and C3A-sulphate systems, Cem. Concr. Res. 39
(8) (2009) 664–669.
[36] L.G. Baquerizo, T. Matschei, K.L. Scrivener, M. Saeidpour, L. Wadsö, Hydration
states of AFm cement phases, Cem. Concr. Res. 73 (2015) 143–157.
[37] K. Wu, W. Kang, L. Xu, D. Sun, F. Wang, G. De Schutter, Damage evolution of
blended cement concrete under sodium sulfate attack in relation to ITZ
volume content, Constr. Build. Mater. 190 (2018) 452–465.
[38] I.S. del Bosque, W. Zhu, T. Howind, A. Matías, M.S. de Rojas, C. Medina,
Properties of interfacial transition zones (ITZs) in concrete containing recycled
mixed aggregate, Cem. Concr. Comp. 81 (2017) 25–34.