Effect of Steel Slag and Granulated Blast-furnace Slag on the Mechanical Strength and Pore Structure of Cement Composites

Reuse of solid industrial wastes is an effective approach to develop low-carbon construction materials. This paper examines how two materials, steel slag (ST) and granulated blast-furnace slag (SL) impact the mechanical performance and pore structure of cement-based systems. Analysis was done on the variations of the porosity, pore size, and pore volume distribution with the curing age and replacement content, and the fractal dimensions of pore surfaces. The results suggested that systems with both supplementary materials had lower early strengths than pure cement, but could generally surpass pure cement paste after 90 d; higher SL content was particularly helpful for boosting the late strengths. The addition of ST increased the porosities and mean pore sizes at each age, and both increased with ST content; SL was helpful for decreasing the system’s late porosity (especially harmless pores below 20 nm); The lowest porosity and mean pore size were obtained with 20% SL. Both systems had notably fractal characteristics on pore surfaces, with ST systems showing the highest dimensions at 10% ST, and SL systems at 20% SL. Compressive strength displayed a significant linear increase with fractal dimension.