J.C.L. CARVALHO(1) , M.L.C. BORGES(2), R.V. JANUZZI(3), R.A.F. PEIXOTO(4) and A.A. CURY(5)
(1) Undergraduate student of Civil Engineering, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, João Monlevade, Brazil
jaqueline.z.lima@gmail.com
(2) Undergraduate student of Civil Engineering, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, João Monlevade, Brazil
marilucaborgesgbi@gmail.com
(3) Civil Engineer at Essol Engenharia, João Monlevade, Brazil
rafael@vitaljanuzzi.com
(4) Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil
ricardofiorotti@em.ufop.br
(5) Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
aacury1@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Currently the generation of solid waste due to various industrial processes is a concern. This scenario is experienced by both the coal and steel industry and results in the generation of tailings. The steel industry generates blast furnace slag, historically characterized as waste, but now widely used as a raw material for the cement industry. In order to transform blast furnace slag into a useful raw material for civil construction, a range of techniques exist for different applications. For example, structural concrete blocks use blast furnace slag as aggregate. This waste from both the transformation of pig iron into steel, by either the LD (Linz-Donawitz) process or by the electric arc, poses major environmental problems for the steel industry. The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the use of steel slag for the production of structural blocks. Because these are a relatively new material, slag blocks have not been studied deeply. No studies in the literature that characterize this material regarding the mechanical behaviour when subjected to compression exist, and consequently this study examines this aspect. The use of this material enables waste from steel production to be reused. In order to validate the proposal of the present work, that is, to evaluate the use of slag for the production of structural blocks, theoretical and experimental analyses were carried out. A comparison was also made between the resistance measured in the experimental tests and the results obtained using numerical models obtained through the finite element method. Further, the characterization of these blocks for structural use has been studied.