Bond, Permeability, and Acid Resistance Characteristics of Ferrochrome Waste Concrete

The use of industrial by-products as ingredients of concrete has become widespread. However, by-products from the ferrochrome industry in such application has not received enough attention, even though these possess good engineering properties. This paper presents the potential of ferrochrome ash (FCA) as a supplementary cementitious material and air-cooled ferrochrome slag (FCS) as an alternate coarse aggregate. Characteristics such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, bond strength, permeability, and acid resistance of concrete were addressed. The results of the study revealed that 47% of the ordinary portland cement (OPC) could be replaced by 40% FCA and 7% lime without a decrease in properties of the concrete mixture and, thus, 100% of coarse aggregate can be replaced by FCS aggregates. Microscopic studies such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and petrography examination established the macrolevel results. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test established the environmental soundness.