Effect of Recycled Iron Powder as Fine Aggregate on the Mechanical, Durability, and High Temperature Behavior of Mortars

Md Jihad Miah; Md Kawsar Ali; Suvash Chandra Paul; Adewumi John Babafemi; Sih Ying Kong; Branko Šavija

doi:10.3390/ma13051168

Effect of Recycled Iron Powder as Fine Aggregate on the Mechanical, Durability, and High Temperature Behavior of Mortars

Materials (Basel). 2020 Mar 5;13(5):1168. doi: 10.3390/ma13051168.

Authors

Md Jihad Miah¹, Md Kawsar Ali¹, Suvash Chandra Paul², Adewumi John Babafemi³, Sih Ying Kong⁴, Branko Šavija⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh.
² Department of Civil Engineering, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
⁴ Discipline of Civil Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ Microlab, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft 2628CN, The Netherlands.

Abstract

This study evaluates the mechanical, durability, and residual compressive strength (after being exposed to 20, 120, 250, 400 and 600 °C) of mortar that uses recycled iron powder (RIP) as a fine aggregate. Within this context, mechanical strength, shrinkage, durability, and residual strength tests were performed on mortar made with seven different percentages (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30% and 50%) of replacement of natural sand (NS) by RIP. It was found that the mechanical strength of mortar increased when replaced with up to 30% NS by RIP. In addition, the increase was 30% for compressive, 18% for tensile, and 47% for flexural strength at 28 days, respectively, compared to the reference mortar (mortar made with 100% NS). Shrinkage was observed for the mortar made with 100% NS, while both shrinkage and expansion occurred in the mortar made with RIP, especially for RIP higher than 5%. Furthermore, significantly lower porosity and capillary water absorption were observed for mortar made with up to 30% RIP, compared to that made with 100% NS, which decreased by 36% for porosity and 48% for water absorption. As the temperature increased, the strength decreased for all mixes, and the drop was more pronounced for the temperatures above 250 °C and 50% RIP. This study demonstrates that up to 30% RIP can be utilized as a fine aggregate in mortar due to its better mechanical and durability performances.

Keywords: durability; mechanical properties; mortar; recycled iron powder; temperature resistance.