An Experimental Study on Alkali Silica Reaction of Concrete Specimen Using Steel Slag as Aggregate

In this study, the characteristics of the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion of steel slag itself, mortar bars, and concrete specimens using steel slag as aggregate are individually investigated by the expansion test method, to determine if steel slag aggregate in concrete can provide volume stability. The results show that when steel slag is aged in water for one month, its self-expansibility is below the permitted limit of 1.5% according to the JIS A 5015 standard. The ASR test results show that the ASR expansion of the mortar bars continuously increased with the increase in the test period. However, all mortar bars were below the permitted limit of 0.1% after 14 days according to the ASTM C 1260 standard. In contrast, the ASR expansion of concrete specimens was above the criteria prescribed by the ASTM C 1293 standard. From the results, the expansion of concrete specimens could not be controlled within the permitted limit by the ASTM 1293 criteria, even if the expansivity of steel slag did not exceed the criteria. Meanwhile, considering the crack propagation patterns of the concrete specimens, the cracks due to ASR expansion developed and connected even when the expansion was below the permitted limit. Besides, when mineral admixtures were used as the binder in the concrete specimens, there were discrepancies in the results between the expansion rate and the crack properties, such as maximum length and total crack length. Therefore, to accurately determine the change in volume due to ASR expansion in concrete using steel slag as coarse aggregate, it is necessary to check the crack patterns in addition to evaluating the expansion rate.