Science and Technology for the Built Environment

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Naturel aggregate substitution by steel slag waste for

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concrete manufacturing
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Journal: Science and Technology for the Built Environment

Manuscript ID Draft
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Manuscript Type: Manuscript

Keywords: steel slag, concrete, valorization, compressive strength, water absorption

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The release of steel slag into the environment has environmental and
economic impacts. So, the management and valorization of this waste
must be taken into consideration. The present study is conducted in the
framework of the circular economy to determine how steel slag waste
could be used as a substitute aggregate for natural coarse and fine
aggregates used during the production of fine concrete. In this research,
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mixtures of concrete were formulated by considering 0, 25, 50, 75, and

Abstract: 100% steel slag waste rates of natural aggregate substitution. Physical,
mineralogical, chemical, and mechanical tests were conducted on steel
slag wastes to determine their main technical properties. Then,
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Laboratory tests have shown that the 28-day compressive and flexure
strength and water absorption of concrete increase with the slag content,
while workability decreases. The results show that slag can replace
natural aggregates in terms of the compressive and flexure strength of
concrete.

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Page 1 of 24 Science and Technology for the Built Environment

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Lahcen Es-samlalia* and Yassine EL Halouib and Fahd Oudrhiri-Hassania,
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and Abdelmonaim Tlidic
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11 aCadi Ayad University of Marrakech, Natl Sch Appl Sci, LMPEQ Labotary, Safi,
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13 Morocco; bChouaib Doukkali University of El Jadida, Natl Sch Appl Sci, Sci Engineer
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15 Lab Energy, El Jadida, Morocco; cAbdelmalek Essadi University, Natl Sch Appl Sci of
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Tetouan, Morocco.
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19 *corresponding author : lahcen Es-samlali, l.essamlali.ced@uca.ac.ma

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Naturel aggregate substitution by steel slag waste for concrete
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manufacturing
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9 The release of steel slag into the environment has environmental and economic
10 impacts. So, the management and valorization of this waste must be taken into
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12 consideration. The present study is conducted in the framework of the circular
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economy to determine how steel slag waste could be used as a substitute
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15 aggregate for natural coarse and fine aggregates used during the production of
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17 fine concrete. In this research, mixtures of concrete were formulated by
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considering 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% steel slag waste rates of natural aggregate
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20 substitution. Physical, mineralogical, chemical, and mechanical tests were
21 conducted on steel slag wastes to determine their main technical properties. Then,
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23 Laboratory tests have shown that the 28-day compressive and flexure strength
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and water absorption of concrete increase with the slag content, while workability
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26 decreases. The results show that slag can replace natural aggregates in terms of
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28 the compressive and flexure strength of concrete.
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Keywords: concrete, valorization, compressive strength, water absorption
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34 1. Introduction
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36 Steel slag waste is considered a by-product of steelmaking [1]. Annual world production
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39 of steel slag has been estimated at between 180 and 270 million tons [2]. In the same
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41 context, the local steel industry generates approximately 115,000 tons of steel slag per
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43 year. This waste is generally stored in landfills or purpose-built storage facilities at or
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46 near the manufacturing sites. This storage has negative impacts on the environment and
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48 risks to human health. In addition, the restoration of these levees and stockpiles is very
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50 costly.
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In general, there are two main families of co-products: the first type of steel slag is the
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56 basic oxygen furnace (BOF) and the second type is the electric arc furnace (EAF) [3].
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58 Steel production involves the removal of impurities such as sand, ash, and limestone
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60 from the raw materials and their combination with the molten metal, causing a slag

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3 layer to form on the surface of the molten metal [4]. Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag (BOF)
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is a by-product of the steelmaking industry and is created in the oxygen or open-hearth
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8 furnaces used in the steelmaking process [5]. These impurities are composed of carbon
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10 in the form of gaseous carbon monoxide of silicon, manganese, phosphorus, and iron in
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the form of liquid oxides, which are combined with lime and dolomitic lime to form
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15 steel slag [1] Slag Steel EAF (electric arc furnace) is a process in which steel scrap and
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17 other materials are melted in an arc furnace [6]. The furnace produces a by-product,
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19 slag, which is then recycled for use in other applications. According to Rees et al [7],
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22 the EAF uses cold scrap steel, pig iron, and direct reduction iron. An electric arc is
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24 introduced to obtain a sufficient heat to melt the scrap. An electric current pass through
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26 the three graphite electrodes to form this arc. During the smelting process, other
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minerals (ferrous alloys) are added to the steel to give it the required chemical
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31 composition.
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34 Concrete is the most demanded material in the world, so its production causes an
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increase in the consumption of natural materials. Each year, the world production of
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39 aggregates is about 40 billion tons to produce concrete [8]. The demand for concrete
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41 will increase significantly, which means that there will be an increase in the exploitation
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43 of natural aggregate deposits, since aggregates represent about 80% of the volume of
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46 concrete [9]. Therefore, to limit environmental destruction and protect natural resources,
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48 this study examines the replacement of natural aggregates used in concrete with steel
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50 slag aggregates. In the literature, we find several studies dealing with the use of steel
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slag as coarse aggregate, sand.
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56 From the following literature review, we can see that the use of steel slag in concrete
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58 takes many forms. Furthermore, in accordance with Liu and Guo [10], an ultra-high-
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performance concrete composed of steel slag powder and steel slag aggregate gave

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3 satisfactory compressive strengths, with a cement replacement rate of less than 10 % .
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In a study by Roychand et al [11], the authors examine the use of residual steel slag
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8 after the wastewater treatment process in concrete as a replacement for conventional
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10 coarse aggregate, His results showed that treated slag aggregate provides a significant
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improvement in compressive strength over conventional concrete . The research
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15 conducted by Qasrawi [12] focused on the partial or total replacement of natural coarse
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17 aggregate with steel slag; it was found that the slag negatively affects the workability
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19 and air content of fresh concrete, and on the other hand the mechanical properties were
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22 improved of concrete. According to studies by Wang and Dong [17,18], the use of
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24 100% steel slag in permeable concrete improves its tensile, compressive, and fracture
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26 strengths by 35% and 50% . According to Shen [15], the permeable concrete of the
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carbonated steel slag saved 75.8% in material cost, was 100% solid waste, and absorbed
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31 about 100 kg/m3 of CO2, which was found to be an environmentally friendly approach.
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33 The results of the research carried out by Abd El-Hakim et al [16], all the mechanical
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properties of the high performance concrete mixtures containing different percentages
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38 of electric arc furnace steel slag coarse aggregate with the use of steel slag powder
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40 (SSP) and silica fume (SF) as mineral filler are better than that of the natural aggregate
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42 mixture with optimal mechanical properties and performance for the concrete mixture
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48 The present research examines the ability to recycle steel slag waste in concrete
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50 manufacturing. The steel slag waste was prepared and separated as fine (0-5 mm) and
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coarse aggregates (5-15 mm) which were used to replace natural sand (0-5 mm) and
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55 coarse aggregates (5-15 mm) in concrete by choosing four variants: 25, 50, 75, and
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57 100% substitutions. The decision to alternate natural aggregates was made based on an
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economic reason which is the reuse of the steel slag waste in its existing condition.
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3 Many concrete mixtures were prepared using ordinary Portland cement in accordance
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with Moroccan standards. The aim is to compare the mechanical strengths of
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8 conventional concrete mixture made with natural aggregates and those of concrete
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10 mixtures made with steel slag waste.
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14 2. Materials and Methods
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17 2.1. Raw Materials
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20 The quality and behavior of a concrete mixture is mainly dependent on its constituents.
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22 i.e., cement, aggregates, water, and air voids. According to the Moroccan Association of
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the Concrete Industry [17], concrete generally has a solid phase of 70-90% in a mass of
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27 one cubic meter of concrete, and the variation of the water content is between 5.5 and
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29 9% and it is made from hydraulic cement with a content of 6-18% of the total mass of
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dry constituents.
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In this study, a Portland cement called CPJ 45 was used as a hydraulic binder of the
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37 concrete mixtures. The technical properties of the used cement are: 32.5 MPa
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39 compressive strength at 28 days, 205 min of initial setting and 301 min of finial setting,
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42 and 2.5% of SO3 content. Regarding the water quality, a drinking water tap was used.
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44 For all the mixtures, we kept the W/C ratio fixed, moreover, we used aggregates in a dry
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46 hydrous state.
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Natural sand (NS), of fraction 0-5 mm, and natural crushed limestone (NCA)
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52 aggregates, of fraction 5-15 mm were used as aggregates of the conventional concrete
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54 (reference concrete. These aggregates were provided by a local distributor. An
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illustration of the used natural aggregates is shown in Figures 1-a and 1-b.
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60 The steel slag (SS) aggregates were collected from the landfills of EL JORF SFAR EL

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3 JADIDA city, Morocco. Different samples of SS waste were taken from altered
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positions of the SS landfills (top, middle, and bottom positions). The collected samples
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8 of SS were then mixed, homogenized, and reduced into smaller samples. It should be
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10 mentioned that the particle size curve of the SS aggregates (of the prepared SS sample)
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indicated that 45% of its fraction consists of sizes smaller than 5 mm and 35% of its
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15 fraction includes between 5-15 mm. Therefore, no crushing prosses was conducted on
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17 SS aggregates. 5- and 15-mm sieves were used to separate 0-5 mm and 5-15 mm
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19 fractions to obtain SS sand and coarse aggregates (see Figure 1-c and 1-d) that will be
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22 used for SS concrete manufacturing.

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40 (b) (c) (d)
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43 Figure 1. a) Naturel sand (NS), b) natural crushed aggregate (NCA), c) Steel slag fine sand (SSf), d) Steel
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45 Slag aggregate (SSA)

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48 2.2. Research methodology
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51 In this paper, the feasibility of replacing natural aggregates by steel slag waste in
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53 concrete production would be investigated. To achieve this goal, all raw materials were
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55 characterized. After that, concrete mixtures were formulated as follows: reference
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concrete (without SS waste (C0 (0% SSA)), Concretes with 25, 50, 75, and 100% of
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60 natural coarse aggregate replacement by SS coarse aggregate (C1 (25% SSA), C2 (50%

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3 SSA), C3 (75% SSA), and C4 (100% SSA)), and concretes with 25, 50, 75, and 100%
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of natural sand replacement by SS sand ((CS1 (25% SSf), CS2 (50% SSf), CS3 (75%
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8 SSf), and CS4 (100% SSf)). Finally, many laboratory tests (density, slump, water
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10 absorption, mechanical tests) were performed to quantify the potential valorization of
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SS waste. A summary of the adopted research methodology is shown in Figure 2.
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44 Figure 2. Illustration of the research methodology
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47 2.3. Concrete formulation
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50 The concrete formulation was determined using the DREUX-GORISSE method. It is
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52 done to achieve a mechanical strength of the material in its implementation of
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construction, workability, and durability of concrete. This method maximizes the
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57 compactness of the granular skeleton to improve the workability of the concrete and
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59 allows to reduce the amount of cement paste to be used and to minimize the cost of the
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3 concrete [18].
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In this study, a C25 concrete was studied. It should be mentioned that C25 means that
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strength of the concrete fcm (1) and then the determination of cement/water ratio (C/w)
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16 using equation (2). The next step is to estimate the dosage of cement C based on the
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21 𝑓𝑐𝑚 = 1.15 𝑓𝑐28 (1)
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23 𝐶 𝑓𝑐𝑚 (2)
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27 where, fcm is the desired compressive strength of the concrete, fc28 is the theoretical
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29 compressive strength (25 MPa) of the concrete, FCE is the average compressive
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strength of the cement at 28 days, and G is a coefficient related to the quality and
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34 maximum size of the aggregates. The considered assumptions to apply the DREUX
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36 GORISSE method are listed in Table 1.
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Table 1. Assumptions of concrete formulation
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41 Concrete data
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𝑓𝑐28 (MPa) 25
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44 Consistence plastic
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45 Vibration Normal vibration

46 Cement data:
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Compressive strength at 28 days (MPa) 32.5
49 Real density (g/𝑐𝑚3) 3.1
50 Aggregate data
51 Quality of aggregate Current (G=0.55)
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Moisture Dry
54 Aggregate form Crushed
55 Maximum size 15 mm
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3 2.4 Tests method
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6 The chemical composition of the aggregates was determined by an X-ray fluorescence
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8 (XRF) analysis device, while the microstructural analysis of the aggregates was
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11 performed by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) device. X-ray diffraction (XRD)
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16 The raw materials were subjected to a series of tests to determine their physical and
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mechanical properties. The particle size distribution of each used material was
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21 determined according to the NF P18-560 standard. The fineness modulus was calculated
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23 d according to the NF P 18-540 standard. The relative density (specific gravity) was
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25 determined based on NF EN 1097-3 standard. The hardness (mechanical test) of

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28 aggregates was determined using LOS ANGELOS and MDE tests according to the NF
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30 P 18-572 and NF P18-573 standards, respectively. The cleanliness of sand was
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32 determined by the NF P 18-597 standard.

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36 Concrete mixtures (fresh state) were prepared, and slump (workability) was measured
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38 according to the NF EN 206-1. The fresh density of all mixes was measured according
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40 to NF EN 12350-6. The fresh concrete was then poured into cubic molds (standard size
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cubic and prismatic steel molds (150 × 150 × 150 mm and 150 × 150 × 560 mm,
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45 respectively)) in order to perform mechanical tests. The demolition was done after 24 h
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47 and samples were cured in a humidity and temperature-controlled wet chamber (>95%
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49 and 20 + - 2 ◦C) at the required age. After curing (7 and 28 days), samples were
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52 subjected to mechanical tests in order to determine the compressive and bending
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54 strengths of the concrete mixtures according to NF EN 12390-2 and NF EN 12390-5
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60 According to NF EN 1097-6, the water absorption by immersion was determined using

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3 100 mm cubic specimens prepared for each concrete mixture at the age of 28 days. The
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samples were oven-dried at 105 ◦C for 72 h and then weighed (Wd) and immersed in a
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specimen mass as shown in equation (3).
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Wd
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19 Where, (WA) is the water absorption rate, (Ww) is the weight of the wet specimen, and
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25 3. Results and discussion

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3.1. Chemic-mineralogical and morphological Proprieties of steel slag

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31 Mineralogical analysis was carried out on the steel slag powder using RDX diffraction.
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33 The results obtained are shown in Figure 3. The diffraction patterns show a highly
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crystalline nature, the predominant metallic phases in the steel slag are Silicon Iron
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38 Oxide, Calcium Silicate: CaSiO3, Calcium Carbonate: CaCO3, Magnesium Oxide
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40 MgO, Calcium Iron Aluminum Oxide: Ca2FeAlO5, Calcium Aluminum Silicate:
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Ca2Al(AlSi)O7, Calcium Magnesium Silicate: Ca3Mg(SiO4)2, Calcium Silicate:
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47 carbonate (CaCO3) and silicate (Ca2SiO4) are the major crystalline mineral phases
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49 contained in steal slag (wt. %= 62.7%). In addition, Iron Silicon Oxide and Calcium
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52 Aluminum Silicate represent for about 20%. Low proportions of Merwinite,
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Figure 3. RDX diffraction patterns of steel slag.
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X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was used to perform the chemical analysis of the steel
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30 slag. As shown in Table 3 and Figure 4, the main chemical constituents of the steel slag
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32 are the oxides CaO, SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, MgO and FeO.
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36 Table 3. Chemical composition of steel slag.
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Oxides Al2O3 MgO SiO2 P2O5 Na2O KO2 CaO TiO2 SO3 MnO Fe2O3 LOI
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39 Chemical 7.59 4.15 15.31 0.45 1.05 0.05 29.31 0.60 1.76 3.78 31.23 2.70
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43 The steel slag aggregates have irregular shapes with sharp angles and low sphericity that
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varies from sub-rounded to sub-angular. The slag particles were studied by SEM
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21 Figure 4. EDX and SEM analysis of steel slag
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24 3.2. Physical and mechanical proprieties of materials
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27 Figure 5 illustrates the grading curves of the raw materials (NS: natural sand, NCA:
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29 natural coarse aggregate, SSf: steel slag sand, and SSA: steel slag coarse aggregate).
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Natural sand (NS) contains more fines than steel slag sand (SSf). In addition, NCA and
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34 SSA have practically the same trend of the particle size curve. Table 4 shows the
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36 physical and mechanical behavior characteristics of the aggregates used. It can be
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revealed that the density (specific and bulk) of steel slag aggregates is higher than that
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41 of natural aggregates. Also, the mechanical properties, obtained from Los-Angelos and
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43 MDE tests, showed that the steel slag aggregates present higher hardness in comparison
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45 to that of natural aggregates. Moreover, the sand equivalent results indicate that steel
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48 slag sand (SSf) is very clean in comparison with natural sand. In addition, both sands
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50 SSf and NS present normal sand fineness modulus (ranging between 1.8 -3.2). It was
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Figure 5. Particle size distribution of material used
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25 Table 4. the characteristic mechanical and physics of the aggregate used.

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27 Fine aggregate (0- Crosse aggregate (5-
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30 Materials NS SSf NCA SSA
31 Specific density
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(t/m3)
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34 Bulk density (t/m3) 1.61 2.05 1.44 1.90 --
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35 Sand Equivalent (%) 67 84 -- -- > 60 %

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Sand fineness 1.8 < FM <
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39 Water absorption
40 1.5 2.3 1.1 1.2 < 2.5 %
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(%)
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42 Los-Angelos (%) -- -- 28 14 < 30 %
43 Micro-Deval (%) -- -- 21 9 < 30 %
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46 3.3 Mix design.
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49 DREUX-GORISSE method was used to determine the mix design. Table 2 shows the
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51 theoretical formulations of the concrete mixtures. The C/W ratio was calculated by the
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53 use of Eq.2 (C/W=1.70). The desired consistency of concrete is plastic. Therefore, the
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4 Table 5. Concrete design results of all mixtures
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6 SSA
7 Sample NS (0/5) NCA (5/15) SSA (5/15)
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9 986.9
C0 801.3 0
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740.2
12 C1 801.3 315.6
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15 C2 801.3 -- 631.2
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C4 801.3 1262.4
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22 CS1 601.0 213.3 986.9

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24 CS2 400.7 426.6 986.9
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37 The density of conventional concrete was found equal to 2271 kg/m3 and that of
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39 concrete containing full replacement of coarse aggregate SSA and sand SSf are 2698
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44 natural aggregates provides high-density concrete as shown in Figure 6. In addition, it
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46 should be noted that the high density of concrete with SSA (and SSf) is advantageous
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48 for retaining structures where the high weight of concrete can increase stability as well
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as for basements or offshore structures where the weight can improve buoyancy
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20 steel slag content (%)
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23 Figure 6. Density results of all mixtures
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26 3.4.2. Workability
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29 The workability of mixtures was calculated using the slump test. Figure 7 shows the
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31 results of the slump test for concrete mixtures varying the percentages of steel slag used
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33 as aggregate or sand. Despite a very high cement/water ratio of 1.70, it is observed that
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36 replacing natural aggregates with steel slag produces poor workability of the concrete.
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38 Conventional concrete is plastic, then depending on the slag content, the concrete
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40 becomes firmer. The slump decreases from 79 to 51 mm for concrete containing coarse
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43 steel slag and to 58 mm for concrete containing fine slag. This can be explained by the
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45 high angular and rough surface of steel slag aggregate compared to natural aggregate.
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47 The replacement of sand by slag results in a reduction of fine grains, which results in
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poor workability of the concrete being used.
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slump value (mm)

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19 steel slag content (%)
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22 Figure 7. Variation of the slump value with the steel slag content.
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3.4.3. Compressive strength Test
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28 The compressive strength test was conducted on all designed mixtures. The obtained
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results are presented in Figure 8 and the relative difference between reference and waste
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33 mixtures is plotted in Figure 9. It was found that, whatever the rate of substitution and
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35 age of the test, the compressive strength of all mixtures containing steel slag waste is
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37 higher than that of reference concrete. This later provides compressive strengths of 18
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40 and 27.5 MPa at 7- and 28- days, respectively. When natural coarse aggregates are
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42 substituted, at 28 days, the highest strength value (29 MPa) was detected for steel slag
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44 content of 25%. This strength value is decreasing as the steel slag content is increasing
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and achieves 28 MPa for the full coarse aggregate substitution. In fact, the improvement
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49 of compressive strength is about 12% for 25% of coarse aggregate replacement.
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52 Regarding natural sand substitution, it provides a high improvement in compressive
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strength in comparison with coarse aggregate substitution. The highest strength value
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57 (36 MPa) was found for steel slag content of 50%. The improvement of compressive
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59 strength, in this case, is about 32 %.
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3 The above results can be justified by the fact that the higher unit weight and the higher
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crushing strength of steel slag improves the compressive strength, which gives the
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8 concrete its durability. In addition, steel slag has a porous and tough outer texture that
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10 promotes cohesion between the mortar phase and coarse aggregate. The inclusion of
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fine slag aggregate improves the cleanliness of the sand and is a fundamental factor
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15 influencing the mechanical performance of the concrete.
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37 Figure 8. Compressive strength of concretes types at 7 and 28 days
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4 Figure 9. Relative deference of compressive strength at 7 and 28 days
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3.4.4. Flexural strength test
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10 The flexural strength of conventional concrete at 7 and 28 days is an important indicator
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of the durability and strength of concrete. As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the flexural
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15 strength of conventional concrete at 7 and 28 days is 1.8 and 2.9 MPa, respectively. The
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17 use of fine aggregates in concrete mixtures can significantly increase flexural strength at
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7 and 28 days. For example, mixtures containing 25 and 50% fine aggregate can
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22 increase the 28-day flexural strength to 3.2 and 3.4 MPa, respectively. In addition, the
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24 use of coarse aggregate in concrete mixtures also improves flexural strength. Mixtures
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26 containing 75% coarse aggregate can achieve higher flexural strength than conventional
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29 concrete, up to 3.1 MPa. Thus, the use of both fine and coarse aggregates can improve
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31 the flexural strength of concrete mixtures.
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29 Figure 11. Relative deference of flexure strength at 7 and 28 days.

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The long-term performance of concrete depends on interactions with the service
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37 environment, where the penetration of deleterious substances impacts the quality of
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39 concrete, which can only be controlled by the permeability properties of the concrete
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near the surface [20]. Specifically, the transport capacities of water and dissolved
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44 chloride ions in unsaturated concrete are largely related to the amount of water in the
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46 pores of the concrete, in combination with the convective action caused by water
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48
absorption [21]. Water absorption (WA), both of which depend on the number and size
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51 of pores [22]. It is observed in Figure 12 that the 28-day water absorption rate of the
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53 concretes increases with the steel slag content. Thus, the absorption rate of the
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55 conventional concrete is 1.17 and the concretes CS4 (100% replacement of fine
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58 aggregates) and C4 (100% replacement of coarse aggregates) are 2.63 and 3.81%,
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3 significant influence on water absorption compared to fine aggregates and this can be
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explained by the porous texture of steel slag.
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fine aggregate remplacement Croarse aggregate remplacement
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Water absorption (%)

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0 25 50 75 100
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Figure 12. Water absorption of mixtures

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3.4.6. Microstructural characterization of mixes
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(a) (b)
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53 Figure 13. SEM images of the two types of concrete after 28 days of curing. a) the
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55 conventional concrete; b) concrete made of steel slag.
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57 In this section, microstructural characterization of the mix’s microstructure (both natural
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3 between cement paste and aggregate. Reference concrete (C0) and steel slag concrete
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(CS4) was evaluated using SEM device after 90 days of curing. The microstructure and
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8 ITZ of C0 and CS4 are depicted in Figure 13.
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11 As observed in Figure 13, the appearance of microcracks and pores formed around the
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interfacial transition zone are different, which suggests the difference in mechanical
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16 performance between steel slag concrete and conventional concrete. It is obvious that
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18 the interfacial transition zone of steel slag concrete is more homogeneous than the ITZ
Fo

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20 of conventional concrete. Thus, the aggregate-cement paste bond appears to be strong in
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23 the steel slag concrete, which positively affects the mechanical strength of the concrete.
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25 This agrees with the results showing that the mechanical performance of concrete with
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27 slag is significantly higher than that of natural concrete.
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31 4. Conclusion
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34 Although the steel slag material has better physical and geotechnical properties to be
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36 used as aggregate for concrete, this is due to the low value of the coefficient of LOS
37
38 ANGELOS and the high value of sand equivalent compared to natural aggregates, on
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40
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41 the contrary, its use in concrete remains limited. Thus, our approach aims to introduce
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43 slag aggregates in concrete to replace natural aggregates. For this investigation, concrete
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45 mixtures, containing 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% steel slag aggregates, were formulated and
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48 tested. The basic conclusions of this study are:
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51  Steel slag aggregates can be successfully incorporated into concrete
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53 manufacturing. In fact, making concrete with Steel slag aggregates provides
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higher mechanical performance.
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59  The recommended steel slag content is 50%. In fact, this content provides the
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3 maximum strengths and slightly reduces workability (about 11%).
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7  Mixes containing steel slag aggregates offer a little less workability compared to
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9 the reference concrete. If workability should be respected, it is recommended to
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11 use cement additives like superplasticizers.
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15  It is believed that the substitution of natural sand by steel slag sand could be
16
17 cost-effective in comparison to natural coarse aggregate substitution by steel
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19 slag aggregate. Actually, the manufacturing costs of natural sand are higher than
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those of gravel.
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24 Author Contributions: Conceptualization, L.E. and Y.E.; methodology, L.E.; software,
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26 Y.E.; validation, F.O.H., A.T. and Y.E.; formal analysis, L.E.; investigation, Y.E.;
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28 resources, F.O.H.; data curation, L.E.; writing—original draft preparation, L.E.;
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writing—review and editing, Y.E.; visualization, F.O.H.; supervision, A.T.; project
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31 administration, A.T.; funding acquisition, F.O.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version
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of the manuscript.”
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34
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
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37 Acknowledgments: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
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39 agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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41 Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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44 References
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46 [1] C. Shi, “Steel Slag—Its Production, Processing, Characteristics, and Cementitious
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48 Properties,” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 230–236, 2004, doi:
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55 [3] G. J. MOTZ H., “Products of steel slags an opportunity to save natural resources,”
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