DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE AND RADIATION SHIELDING CONCRETE UTILIZING INDIGENOUS INDUSTRIAL WASTE MATERIALS
Mohammed Maslehuddin, Mukhtar Oluwaseun Azeez, Salah U Al.Duajian
كلية تصاميم البيئة-جامعة الملك فهد للبترول والمعادن · السعودية
Heavyweight concrete (HWC) is generally utilized for radiation shielding, for both medical and nuclear purposes. Since the unit weight of normal concrete is less than that required for radiation shielding, heavyweight aggregates or metallic components, such as lead, copper, barites, magnetite etc., are utilized. The density achieved will depend on the type of aggregate used. Many a time, steel shot or iron ore are utilized to produce HWC. However, these materials are not readily available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and are imported from other regions, thereby increasing their cost. However, certain industrial byproducts, such as steel slag aggregate together with locally available raw materials can be utilized to produce high performance and heavyweight concrete.In this study, high performance and heavyweight concrete mixtures were developed utilizing local industrial byproducts. Steel slag, which is a major byproduct from steel production, locally available limestone aggregate and conventional imported raw materials (steel shot and iron ore aggregates) were used to developed the HWC mixtures. The mechanical, durability and radiation shielding properties of the HWC mixtures were investigated, and comprehensive analysis of the experimental results was carried out.The mechanical properties (compressive, split tensile and modulus of elasticity) of the developed HWC mixtures were more than the minimum limit specified by ACI code of practice for conventional concrete. All the mixtures had high electrical resistivity and moderate chloride diffusion. Many of the blends had high radiation shielding resistance, which was comparable to the mixture produced with conventional iron ore aggregate.