International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

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Suitability of EAF slag and GGBFS mix as

cementitious base/subbase layer for low volume
road construction

Radha J. Gonawala, Siddharth Khapre, Rakesh Kumar & Krupesh A. Chauhan

To cite this article: Radha J. Gonawala, Siddharth Khapre, Rakesh Kumar & Krupesh A.
Chauhan (2021) Suitability of EAF slag and GGBFS mix as cementitious base/subbase layer
for low volume road construction, International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 15:2,
252-258, DOI: 10.1080/19386362.2019.1621458

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2019.1621458

Published online: 25 May 2019.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
2021, VOL. 15, NO. 2, 252–258
https://doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2019.1621458

Suitability of EAF slag and GGBFS mix as cementitious base/subbase layer for low
volume road construction
Radha J. Gonawala , Siddharth Khapre, Rakesh Kumar and Krupesh A. Chauhan
Civil Engineering Department, SV National Institute of Technology, Surat, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The purpose of the experimental study was to find the suitability of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) slag and Received 21 January 2019
Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) in base/sub-base layer of Flexible Pavement. Different Accepted 15 May 2019
trail mixes of EAF slag + Cement and EAF slag +GGBFS were tested to find an optimum mix. The GGBFS KEYWORDS
proportions were taken 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of the total dry weight of mix and cement was added LVR; EAF Slag; GGBFS; TCLP;
3%, 4% and 5% of total dry weight. The mechanical and chemical properties of mixes were found to IITPAVE
check the suitability of the material for the construction of cementitious base/sub-base in low volume
road (LVR). The IITPAVE Software was used to find out the pavement thickness with the optimum mix.
EAF Slag + 4% cement and EAF slag + 15% GGBFS satisfied the strength criteria of for Rural Road. The
strains obtained from the IITPAVE software were in a permissible limit. Further, the results of Toxicity
Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) analysis for various metals show that mixes of EAF Slag and
GGBFS were a non-hazardous material. This study supports the use of industrial waste in the construc-
tion of low volume road in India.

Introduction of slag is generated per tonne of liquid steel (Indian Minerals

Yearbook 2015). The need for natural aggregate could be
Uses of non-conventional material in the construction of
solved by using slag as aggregate. It could help to conserve
flexible pavement depend upon the technical, economic and
energy and reduce emission generated during the mining and
environmental condition of the region. Reduction in good
transportation process of the material. The Bureau of Indian
quality aggregate and non-availability of the natural material
Standards (BIS) and Indian Road Congress (IRC) allowed
within the required cost limits leads to search in the use of
using air-cooled blast furnace slag, in substitute of aggregate,
marginal materials for road construction work (Lewis 1982).
for road construction. However, the unstable behaviour of
Before using the marginal material in construction, their
Steel slag due to having free lime (CaO) and free magnesia
engineering properties need to check to determine the suit-
(MgO) leads to the consequent of expansion. Thus, it had
ability for use. The materials come under the marginal cate-
limited use in road construction and excluded as fill material
gory, i.e., wastes and byproducts vary from source to source
under structures. It recommended for steel slag to check for
of production.
durability before use as construction aggregated due to its
The specifications by Indian Road Congress (MoRTH
mineralogy, which contains free lime (CaO) or free magnesia
2013; MoRD 2014) provide the use of local materials in
(MgO) (Tiwari, Bajpai, and Dewangan 2016).
road construction. The use of industrial waste like fly ash,
Use of slag in the cementitious application is an overall
waste from iron and steel industries in road construction also
strategy to optimize the usage of available material in construc-
recommend in specifications. To save natural aggregate and
tion. In Netherlands steel slag used in a stabilized base layer
prevent natural resources, it is desirable to use the local
with 60% blast Furnace slag (0 to 60 mm), 25% steel-making
material as well as industrial waste in pavement construction.
slag (0 to 15 mm) and 15% GBFS (Emery 1982). The Steel Slag
Use of local material would be beneficial to the economy in
Aggregate (SSA) mixed with sand and marl to use a pavement
unit rate. For effective utilization of these materials, it is
as a base layer. The SSA was blended up to 65% with sand and
essential to carry out a detailed study for standardizing the
marl. The experiments results support the use of SSA as
procedures and acceptance criteria to use them.
a partial or full replacement with natural aggregate to use in
India became the 3rd largest producer of steel in 2015 and
a base layer, in consideration of index and engineering proper-
is now well on track to emerge as the 2nd largest producer
ties. The bland of SSA, sand, and marl gave more than twice
after China (National steel Policy, 2017). In an integrated
CBR as compare to the conventional material (Aiban 2006).
steel plant, 24 tons of wastes (including solid, liquid and
The tropical black clay stabilized with 8% lime and 705% slag,
gas) generated for every tone of steel produced. Typically,
to use as a base/sub-base layer of pavement for low traffic in
for ore feed containing 60% to 65% iron, blast furnace (BF)
West Africa. The 7 days UCS value and CBR found as 900 kN/
slag production ranges from about 300 to 540 kg per tonne of
m2 and 40% when samples compacted at standard proctor
a pig or crude iron produced, whereas 15 to 200 kg per tonne

CONTACT Radha J. Gonawala radhagonawala@gmail.com Civil Engineering Department, SV National Institute of Technology, Surat, India
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

density. The results were higher when samples were compacted
according to the West African Standard (WAS). The UCS
found 1000 kN/M2 and CBR came 65% when sample prepared
as per WAS. The lime stabilization of tropical black clay treated
with a maximum of 8% lime and 7.5% slag contents. It com-
pacted at the standard Proctor, and West African Standard
(WAS) yielded 7-day UCS values of 900 and 1,000 kN/m2
and CBR value 40% and 65% respectively. The required UCS
value for lime stabilization is 1,034.25 kN/m2. Based on the
CBR it suggested using in sub base and base course of the
pavement for light traffic. By using 8%, lime and 7.5% slag
the strength gain depends upon the long-term pozzolanic
reaction (Osinubi 2006). The granulated blast furnace slag
(GBFS) material used stabilized using lime and 85% GBFS
with 15% lime found an optimum mix for use as a base layer
in pavement construction (Piratheepan, Gnanendran, and Lo
2010). The copper slag, fly ash and dolime with different
proportions studied to use in base layer construction in the
flexible pavement. A mix of 80% copper slag and 20% fly ash
stabilized with 15% dolime (80C+20F+15D) was found to be
the optimum for use in the base course of flexible pavements.
The Elastic Modulus (E) of rural road material for Water
bound macadam (WBM) and Wet mix macadam (WMM)
found as 45.6 MPa and 52.5 MPa, respectively. Whereas, the
E value of 80C+20F+15D mix found as 394 MPa (Shahu, Patel,
and Senapati 2013). The study conducts to identify the use of
slag as aggregates in cement-stabilized base courses in road-
construction practices. Steel slag and gravel bind with 2%, 4%
and 6% cement. The results support to use steel slag as aggre-
gate in the base layer. The compressive strength and indirect
tensile strength increase with the curing period. The mixes
have the 7-day strength of 1.5–5.5 MPa and 28-day strength
of 2.5–6.5 MPa (Barišić, Dimter, and Rukavina 2014). Ladle
furnace slag (LFS) studied for utilization in pavement base/
sub-base material in the laboratory. The LFS slag has 12.2 pH
value, with a high specific gravity which gives higher maximum
dry density (MDD), and low permeable material. The CBR of
the LFS found much higher than the conventional pavement
material(Maghool et al. 2017). The copper slag+fly ash mixes
with cement as stabilizer studied to use in road construction.
Results of experiment study support the use of copper slag+fly
ash mix with 6% to 9% cement as granular material in the sub
base/base layer of flexible pavement. The maximum UCS value
found as 10 MPa with 1.5 MPa of indirect tensile strength for
the sample with 9% cement content (Raj, Rai, and Havanagi
2018). The construction & demolition waste (CDW) material
was studied o use as sub base/base layer in the pavement. The
CDW had friction angle of 41°, which is lower than densely
graded crushed basalt. It found that cohesion 136 kPa,
Poisson’s ratio 0.38 and the resilient response of CDW were
quite like densely graded crushed basalt. Permanent strain test
results of CDW showed nearly elastic in nature and found safe
against rutting. The CDW might be used in the base layer for
low to medium traffic condition in urban pavement (Delongui
et al. 2018).
The aim of this study is to the utilization of EAF Slag in
cementitious Base/Sub-base Course of Flexible Pavement. The
properties of EAF slag treated with different percentages of
GGBFS and cement were investigated. The engineering
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 253
properties of the different mix were found to check the suit-
ability of material in the pavement layer. Based on the
strength properties the optimum mix was found and the
pavement design was carried out with the optimum mix
using IITPAVE software.
Materials
EAF slag
Different sizes of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Slag were col-
lected from the Essar Steel Ltd., Hazira, Gujarat, India. The
samples were having a nominal maximum aggregate size of
40 mm, 25 mm, 10 mm and dust collected from the Essar
Steel Ltd. The chemical composition of EAF slag is given in
Table 1. The physical properties of EAF slag presented in
Table 2. The physical properties on 40 mm, 25 mm, and
10 mm size EAF slag shows the suitability of the material to
use as coarse aggregate. All the results found in the permis-
sible limits of Indian Standards, MoRD (2014).
GGBFS
Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) collected
from the local distributor of the Surat city in the state of
Gujarat, India. As per the manufacturer (Essar steel, Surat)
and laboratory test, GGBFS mainly consists of CaO, SiO2, Al2
O3, and MgO as mention Table 1. As GGBFS possess
a cementitious components, it used as binder material with
EAF slag.
Cement
The ordinary Portland cement of 43 grade (Ultratech brand)
collected from the local vendor of Surat, Gujarat, India. In
this comparative study, apart from GGBFS, cement is also
used as a binder for the EAF slag in the study.
Methodology
Different trail mixes of EAF slag and cement further EAF slag
and GGBFS were prepared for experimental study to find the
optimum mix of cementitious base and sub-base layer for the
construction of low volume road. The proportion of the EAF
slag and binders (cement and GGBFS) were selected as per
the dry weight of the total mix. The cement added in 3%, 4%
and 5% whereas GGBFS added in 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of
the total dry weight. The gradation of the EAF slag carried
out with blending method for the base course as per Indian
standard, MoRD (2014). The final blend of mix with the
respective proportions of various samples of EAF slag is
Table 1. Chemical composition in EAF slag and GGBFS.
Composition EAF Slag GGBFS
Aluminium oxide Al2O3 (%) 26.68 43.44
Calcium oxide CaO (%) 29.72 33.29
Silica SiO2 (%) 16.54 12.74
Magnesium Oxide MgO (%) 1.03 7.95
Ferric oxide Fe2O3 (%) 25.89 1.934
254 R. J. GONAWALA ET AL.

Table 2. Physical properties of the EAF slag. samples as per IS: 4332 (Part 5)-1970. For the CBR test,
EAF slag samples were prepared and tested according to the IS: 2720
Code of (Part 16)-1987. For CBR testing samples were first cured for
Property 40 mm 25 mm 10 mm MoRD 2014 Requirement practice three days and after three days soaked for four days. After
Flakiness 5.29 4.71 5.29 subbase: less than 30%, IS 2386 soaking, samples were kept draining out the excess water for
index (%) base: less than 25% (Part
I) 15 min before the testing. Resilience Modulus (MR) deter-
Elongation 7.06 9.60 7.84 NA IS 2386 mined from the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of
Index (%) (Part the material mix . For the cementitious granular base layer,
I)
Combined 12.35 14.31 13.13 maximum 35% (as per IS 2386 the laboratory-based Elastic modulus (E) value calculated
Index (%) MoRTH 2013) (Part from the following equations:
I)
Impact 17.00 16.90 16.50 subbase: less than 50%, IS 2386 E ¼ 1000  UCS (1)
value (%) base: less than 40% (Part
IV) Where UCS = 28 days strength of the cementitious gran-
Abrasion 21.68 19.36 17.54 maximum 40% (as per IS 2386
Value (%) MoRTH 2013) (Part
ular material in MPa.
IV) The Elastic modulus value obtained from the equation
Specific 3.26 3.30 3.28 NA IS 2386 used for the design work of low volume road. The Indian
Gravity (Part
III)
LVR design approach based on the cumulative traffic
Water absorption (%) 1.45 Equivalent Standard Axle Load (ESAL) and subgrade CBR
1.85 1.79 less IS 2386 (Part III) value (IRC:SP:72 2015). Using optimum mixes, LVR design
than
2%
(≥ 2 MSA) was carried with (IRC:SP:72 2015). The IITPAVE
software (IRC:37 2018) used for the stresses and strains ana-
lysis within the pavement layers. Further, the environmental
test has been also carried out to check the heavy metals,
toxicity and leaching and results are compared with limit
prescribed by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) Guidelines (1311 of July 1992) for
Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP).

Experiments results
Compaction tests
Standard Proctor test was conducted on the different mixes of
EAF Slag + Cement and EAF Slag + GGBFS to determine the
OMC to get MDD. To find out MDD of the mix is important
as it controls the stiffness and strength of the mix (Saride
Figure 1. Final Blend Gradation curve.
et al. 2015). The variation in the OMC and MDD with
different percentages of cement and GGBFS are illustrated
Table 3. Percentage of different material and nomenclature of mixes. in Figure 2 a) and b). For the mixes of EAF Slag + Cement, as
EAF Slag (%) GGBFS (%) Cement (%) Nomenclature the percentage of cement increasing from the 3% to 5%, OMC
97 0 3 EAF Slag + 3% Cement is rising from 4.35% to 6.15% whereas the MDD is decreasing
96 0 4 EAF Slag + 4% Cement from 2.43 to 2.31 gm/cc. The decrement in MDD found
95 0 5 EAF Slag + 5% Cement
95 5 0 EAF Slag + 5% GGBFS negligible as cement content varying in low amount, i.e. 3%
90 10 0 EAF Slag + 10% GGBFS to 5%. OMC Increased in EAF slag + cement mixes due to
85 15 0 EAF Slag + 15% GGBFS more water required to cement for hydration process (Raj,
80 20 0 EAF Slag + 20% GGBFS
Rai, and Havanagi 2018). In the case of GGBFS, the OMC, as
well as the MDD of a mix, is increasing with the increase in
the proportion of GGBFS. Increase in OMC is due to the
shown in Figure 1. The optimum proportion of EAF Slag, increase in finer material in the mix of EAF slag +GGBFS. As
cement, and GGBFS was mixed, and the nomenclatures of the the percentage of GGBFS increase in the mix, it required
different mixes are presented in Table 3. more amount of water as finer material has a more specific
The strength evaluation of different mixes includes finding surface area (Saride et al. 2016).
out the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC), Maximum Dry
Density (MDD), Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS),
Unconfined compressive strength test
Resilient Modulus (MR) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
value. The Standard Proctor test performed according to the The tests were performed on the size of 100 mm diameter and
IS: 2720 (Part 7)-1980 to find the OMC and MDD. Based on 200 mm height sample for all the mixes on their OMC and
Proctor density, the mixes specimen was prepared for UCS MDD. The prepared samples were stored in the control
test and CBR test. UCS test performed on 7 and 28 days cured temperature (27 ± 2 °C) condition. As per MoRD
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 255

a) Compaction curve of EAF Slag and Cement mixes in different proportion

a) Variation of UCS with cement content and curing period

b) Compaction curve of EAF Slag and GGBFS mixes in different proportion

Figure 2. (a) Compaction curve of EAF Slag and Cement mixes in different
proportion. (b) Compaction curve of EAF Slag and GGBFS mixes in different
proportions.

specifications, UCS of material for stabilized base/sub base
should be minimum of 1.7 MPa for low volume road.
According to the IRC: 37–2018 material UCS should be
a minimum of 4.5 MPa for stabilized base/subbase layer.
Figure 3 a) and b) shows the variation in UCS with curing
period for the different combinations of EAF slag with
cement and GGBFS. As cement content increases, the con-
tinuous increment in UCS value was observed. It was
observed that as the GGBFS increase the UCS also increase
because of better bonding at the higher content of GGBFS.
The strength of mixes also increases with curing time as well.
From the results, it found that when EAF slag mixed with
cement, it satisfies the requirement of the Indian Standard
IRC: 37–2018. However, with GGBFS stabilizing EAF slag
+15% GGBFS and EAF slag + 20% GGBFS fulfil the MoRD
requirement of 1.7 MPa within 7 days curing period. The
strength development in mixes was due to the pozzolanic
reaction. When EAF slag+ cement and EAF slag +GGBFS
mixed with water, the calcium ions of the cement and GGBFS
react with the silica and alumina present in the EAF slag and
b) Variation of UCS with GGBFS content and curing period
Figure 3. (a) Variation of UCS with cement content and curing period. (b)
Variation of UCS with GGBFS content and curing period.
form unsolvable cementitious calcium silicates and alumi-
nates, identified as gel impart the strength (Shen et al. 2009;
Shahu, Patel, and Senapati 2013; Sharma and Sivapullaiah
2016).
Resilient modulus of the material
The Resilient modulus value derived from the UCS value as per
Equation (1). UCS value of 28 days cured sample was multiplied
by 1000 to get the MR value. For the design of the flexible
pavement, 20% of the MR value derives from the equation should
be taken as per the IRC:37 (2018). The MR value restricted to
1700 MPa when it is derived from the UCS test. The values are
given in Table 4 below. The cementitious base/sub-base should
have 450 MPa MR according to the IRC: 37–2018 when sample
cured for 28 days. As per MoRD (2014) and IRC: SP: 72-2015

Table 4. Resilient Modulus values for different mixes.

UCS (MPa)
Combinations (28 days) Resilience Modulus (MR) (MPa) Design value of MR (MPa) CBR (%)
EAF Slag + 3% Cement 3.85 3847 769 44.08
EAF Slag + 4% Cement 4.26 4260 852 60.93
EAF Slag + 5% Cement 5.2 5200 1040 72.88
EAF Slag + 5% GGBFS 1.08 1080 216 45.59
EAF Slag + 10% GGBFS 2.54 2540 508 55.74
EAF Slag + 15% GGBFS 3.67 3670 734 69.14
EAF Slag + 20% GGBFS 4.37 4370 874 82.97
256 R. J. GONAWALA ET AL.
guidelines all the combinations expect EAF Slag + 5% GGBFS,
could use for the base/sub-base layer for the rural road.
California bearing ratio tests
The bearing capacity of the different mixes determined from
CBR test. The variations of CBR value for different mixes are
shown in Table 4. A low CBR value of 44.08% observed with
the EAF Slag+3% cement mix. The CBR increase with
increases with the percentage of the cement increases. The
increment in the CBR noticed by 65% when cement percentage
increase with 3% to 5%. The same trend observed with the
GGBFS binder as the percentage of GGBFS increases the CBR
also increases. The increment of 22%, 52% and 82% found
when GGBFS added 10%, 15% and 20% respectively. The
reason for increment in CBR is the GGBFS percentage incre-
ment; as a lower percentage of GGBFS, the voids would be
more in the mix which allows the plunger to penetrate in the
sample. Further, the percentage of the GGBFS increases in the
mix the voids between EAF slag filled by the GGBFS particles
and would resist the penetration of the plunger. Except two
combinations, i.e. EAF Slag+3% cement and EAF Slag+5%
GGBFS; all combinations satisfied the limits of minimum
50% CBR for the lower base layer (layer immediately above
the sub base), and EAF Slag +20% GGBFS satisfied the require-
ment of the upper base course minimum CBR value of 80%.
Further, an improvement in strength would be observed if the
specimen cured more than 3 days before soaking.
In the laboratory experimental study, it was observed that as
EAF slag +cement and EAF slag +GGBFS could use as bound
sub-base/base layer of the flexible pavement. The UCS
improved with the percentage of the binder increase in the
mix. Hence, EAF Slag+ 4% cement and EAF Slag +15%
GGBFS consider for the design of flexible pavement. As these
combinations fulfill the Indian standard criteria (MoRD 2014)
for the cementitious base/sub-base layer of a rural road.
Toxicity leaching testing on the mix
According to the IRC:SP:89 (Part-II)- 2018 the sample was
tested for the metals viz. Chromium, Nickel, Lead and Copper
as per Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) of
USEPA (1311 of July 1992). The test performed on the EAF
slag, GGBFS and; EAF slag +4% cement and EAF slag + 15%
GGBFS mixes. The sample used for the 28 days UCS testing
crushed and tested for the leaching of metals, i.e. Chromium,
Nickel, lead and Copper. The crushed material first mixed
with distilled water and after 24 h, the pH of the sample
measured by pH meter. After that samples were extracted in
closed vessels with the leasing solution at pH 2.88 ± 0.05 at 30
± 2 rpm for 18 ± 2 h at 23 ± 2 °C temperature. Here the pH of
Table 5. Material properties used for the pavement design.
Properties Bituminous layer
Poisson’s ratio 0.35
Modulus of resilience (MPa) 3000
all samples found in between 10 and 12. For pH more than 5
the extraction fluid 2# (5.7 mL glacial CH3CH2OOH diluted
in 1 L deionized water) used in the testing. The resultant
leachates were filtered and then processed and analysed on
the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) for different
metals (Chromium, Nickel, Lead and Copper) using
American Public Health Association (APHA), 2005.
According to the regulatory limits given by the USEPA the
permissible limits for Chromium, Nickel, Lead and Copper
are 5, 1.2, 5 and 15 ppm, respectively. For the tested samples
all the heavy metals were below predicting level. Hence, the
EAF slag, GGBFS, and mixes of EAF slag + cement and EAF
slag + GGBFS found non-hazardous to the environment.
Flexible pavement design
Three-layer pavement having the bituminous surface course
with cementitious base and a sub grade was designed. The
highest traffic for LVRs of 2 million standard axles (MSA)
was considered as design traffic. The pavement design was
carried out for 10 years of existence with a traffic develop-
ment rate of 5%. The wheel load of 80 kN which gives
a 560 kPa contact pressure on the structure was considered.
The thickness of each layer of pavement found from the
IRC: SP: 72-2015. Subgrade strength evaluated by CBR and
after that, the relating subgrade CBR plate used to choose
the thickness of each suggested pavement layer for given
traffic. The layer thickness with their material properties
and wheel loads was the input for IITPAVE to obtain the
stresses, strains, and deformations in the pavement layers.
A horizontal tensile strain occurred at the base of the
bituminous layer causes weakness breaking, and vertical
compressive strain on the surface of subgrade was found
as it causes a permanent deformation or rutting.
Pavement design work EAF slag + 4% Cement and EAF
Slag + 15% GGBFS mixes were considered. LVR comprises of
a bituminous surface, a base layer, and natural subgrade was
designed. The surface and the subgrade properties were kept
up steady in the IITPAVE analysis, and the base material
properties were varied as in Table 5. From IRC:SP:72 (2015)
the bituminous thickness of 50 mm, crack relief layer 75 mm,
aggregate base layer 150 mm and subbase layer 150 mm was
selected. The pavement layer thicknesses and material proper-
ties were included the IITPAVE programming to get the
allowable strains. The last thickness is finalized by the experi-
mentation strategy of try and error with various thicknesses
to achieve the fatigue and rutting strains inside the permis-
sible limits. For the above-stated pavement thickness, the
fatigue and rutting strains were found under allowable limits
as in Table 6, and hence the design is suitable for given traffic
condition.
Subgrade EAF Slag + 4% Cement EAF Slag + 15% GGBFS
0.35 0.25 0.25
55.4 852 734

Table 6. Strains obtain from the IITPAVE software analysis.
Horizontal Tensile Vertical Compressive Horizontal Tensile
Strain in Bituminous Strain on Subgrade Strain in Cementitious ●
Layer (microstrain) Layer (microstrain) Layer (microstrain)
Combination Allowable Computed Allowable Computed Allowable Computed
EAF Slag + 654.41 70.99 960.06 476 113.92 106.3
4%
Cement
EAF Slag + 654.41 70.85 960.06 477 114.42 106.5
15%
GGBF
Conclusions
The experimental study carried out to know the use of EAF
slag in the cementitious base/subbase layer of low volume
roads. The binder namely, cement and GGBFS were used in
the experimental study. The strength of the different combi-
nations was verified by UCS, MR, and CBR specifications
and meet the prerequisite for the design of LVR. From the
experimental laboratory study the following conclusions
drawn down:
● The oxides viz. Calcium Oxide (27.59), Ferric Oxide
(25.70%), Alumina (21.18%), Calcium Oxide (27.59)
and Silica (13.53%) are present in the EAF Slag. As the
EAF slag is the byproduct of the steel industry, it con-
tents more percentage oxides.
● The Specific Gravity of the EAF slag determined for four
different size samples. The specific gravity of Sample
with NMAS 40 mm, 25 mm, 10 mm, and Dust are
3.26, 3.3, 3.28 and 3.39, respectively.
● The high quantity of oxides contents increases the
specific gravity of slag The Physical, Mechanical and
Chemical test performed on the EAF slag and all
results are in the specified limit as per MoRTH and
MoRD.
● For the mixes of EAF Slag + Cement, as the percentage
of cement increasing from the 3% to 5% OMC is rising
from 4.35% to 6.15% whereas the MDD is decreasing
from 2.43 to 2.31 g/cc. OMC increased as for the hydra-
tion reaction of cement more water required. In the case
of GGBFS, the OMC, as well as the MDD of the mix,
increased with the increase in the proportion of GGBFS.
● The addition of cement and GGBFS in the mix increases
the UCS. The percentage of cementitious material and
curing period has a positive effect on the strength of the
material. The MR value varies from 216 to 1040 MPa for
different mixes. The UCS value of EAF Slag + 4%
Cement and EAF Slag + 15% GGBFS is selected as the
optimum mix as its satisfying the minimum criteria of
UCS value for Rural Road Specified in the MoRD.
● For EAF Slag+ Cement and EAF Slag + GGBFS slag mixes
CBR value are increasing as the cement, and GGBF per-
centage is increasing. All the mixes satisfy the sub base and
lower base requirement of the MoRD specifications.
● TCLP analysis is carried out on the optimum mix to check
the heavy metals present the EAF Slag. Mixes were alkaline
in nature, as pH found nearly 10 to 12. The test result for
the TCLP for heavy metals (Chromium, Nickel, Lead and
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 257
Zinc) found under detection level. Hence, use of the EAF
Slag in road construction would non-hazardous.
Overall, EAF slag stabilized with the cement and GGBFS
fulfil the strength, stiffness and bearing capacity criteria
to use as a base/sub base material in low volume road.
For the pavement thickness of following layers such as;
50 mm bituminous layer, crack relief layer 75 mm, the
aggregate base layer 150 mm and sub base layer
150 mm, respectively, were analysed. The strains values
were found under the permissible limit using IITPAVE
software (IRC:37 2018).
This study exhibited promising characteristics for
a cementitious base/sub base layer for low volume road and
was confirmed with experimental testing. Using of industrial
waste in Indian rural roads has the advantage in waste utili-
zation with contributing to sustainability. Further, it is essen-
tial to consider the durability with long time curing period of
these mixes under extreme conditions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Radha J. Gonawala http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4082-013X
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